Rochester development could create 900 units

A combined 301 units of single-family homes and townhomes are being pitched at the Rochester Planning Commission’s Thursday meeting, and the plan leaves room open for quite a bit of expansion.

The Prairie Ridge development would contain 250 townhome units along with 51 single-family homes and will have three parcels designated for a future multifamily development intended to hold 600 apartment units, according to Rochester planning documents.

City staff have recommended the development for approval, according to documents, with hopes that it will further address the city’s shortage of affordable, for-sale housing. It is being developed by North Rock Real Estate and Integrate Properties and is located near the border of the city, at the southwest intersection of Valleyhigh Road Northwest and 50 ^th Avenue Northwest.

Rochester Principal Planner Desmond McGeough said the process for preparing this site for residential development started a couple years ago, when the city started to extend its sewer services out to the area. Then last year it underwent a rezoning to make it consistent with the comprehensive plan guidance.

In July, Rochester gave $4 million to the subdivision as a part of its Home Ownership Creation Program, where all the created units will need to be purchasable under $500,000 and 40 units will need to be priced between $368,000 and $422,000. The 40 units are called “Economic Vitality Affordable Units” and will be purchasable for people making 115% of the area median income, as previously reported on by Finance & Commerce. Taryn Edens, Rochester’s manager of housing and neighborhood services said the properties are also not allowed to be rented for a period of time.

According to documents, even though just the single-family homes and townhomes are being put forward currently, grading for all 900 potential units will happen at the same time. Ian Peterson, the president of Integrate Properties, said in an interview that once the three parcels for the apartment units are graded, they will likely sell the site and have another developer build up the units.

“Once we get the site graded, those multifamily pads will be a little more marketable in the eyes of the end user, you go out there right now, it’s a big hill of corn,” Peterson said.

The Planning Commission will give its recommendation this Thursday and the City Council will hold a public hearing on the preliminary plat on Oct. 21, according to McGeough. Should the plat be approved, Peterson said the plan is to start grading right away, finish in the spring and “go vertical” by the summer.

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