SECOND: And I still could not get past the subscription page, for the full item, this link, with the online opening showing use of a rendering of the Ramsey Town Center planned thing, not the Edina planned rental thing.
Apt. plans for Southdale Center
Premium content from Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal - by Sam Black, Staff Writer
Date: Friday, August 19, 2011, 5:00am CDT - Last Modified: Thursday, August 18, 2011, 7:30pm CDT
An Indianapolis developer is in the early stages of planning a 300-unit apartment complex next to Southdale in Edina.
Flaherty & Collins Properties is working with the shopping mall’s owner, Simon Property Group Inc., on a development plan for a collection of four- and five-story luxury apartment buildings on what is now parking lots at York Avenue and West 69th Street, said Chris Kirles, vice president of development for Flaherty. The site is across 69th Street from The Westin Edina Galleria hotel.
“The market there is very strong, and it’s a great time to develop apartments and a great site and location,” Kirles said. “But there’s still a lot of details to be figured out.”
It isn’t clear if Flaherty plans to buy the land from Simon or work out some sort of land lease. Kirles said there are many moving parts to the project. The company hasn’t selected an architect.
Les Morris, a spokesman for Simon, also based in Indianapolis, declined to comment.
Edina City Manager Scott Neal said that Kirles and David Flaherty, CEO of the development company, met with city staff informally about the project a few weeks ago, but did not submit plans or a timeline for development.
Neal said he recommended developers come back with a formal plan and share their proposal with the neighborhood, which is primarily the 80 condos attached to The Westin.
Warren Beck, owner of the Galleria, said he’s not familiar with the apartment plans for Southdale, but the idea seems compatible with the area and would attract renters who like the nearby amenities.
Tom Melchior, a multifamily housing consultant at LarsonAllen in Minneapolis, said it makes sense for Southdale’s owners to convert excess parking to housing, and it’s a good idea for Flaherty to pursue a high-profile site like this in a fully developed area.
The site would attract empty nesters and seniors who want to stay in the neighborhood, plus businesspeople who work nearby, Melchior said. The location’s proximity to the mall is a plus, but he’s concerned about how the project would fit into a sea of parking.
“How they design the site is the only issue,” he said.
Mall updates
Simon, a real estate investment trust, or REIT, bought the shopping center in 2007 as part of its merger with the Mills Corp.
The 1.3 million-square-foot center, which is known as the world’s first enclosed regional mall, is in the midst of adding a new anchor and other renovations. Herberger’s will open a 130,000-square-foot store in November in the former Mervyns space. Simon also is relocating the food court and a handful of stores, including The Buckle, The Fixery and Zumiez.
Ramsey project, too
Flaherty hasn’t developed apartments in Minnesota before, but it does have one other project at a site that was formerly part of the Ramsey Town Center, which has been renamed The Cor.
Bob Ramsey, the mayor of that Twin Cities suburb, said he helped recruit Flaherty to Minnesota when he met its executives at a shopping center convention in Chicago two years ago. He’s toured many of the company’s projects in Indianapolis and Chicago.
“They have a wonderful product,” he said.
The Ramsey project, called The Residence at The Cor, is a $28 million luxury apartment complex. It has been approved by the city, but still faces some financing hurdles, Ramsey said.
The 230-unit project was designed by UrbanWorks Architecture, based in Minneapolis. Flaherty & Collins Construction will serve as the general contractor.
The one- and two-bedroom luxury apartments in The Residence range from 650 to 1,200 square feet. There also are 1,600-square-foot townhome units. Monthly rents for the apartments are expected to range from $900 to $1,900. Amenities will include a conference room, a health and fitness club, a resort-style pool, a cafe and terrace and outdoor gathering spaces.
When Flaherty announced The Residence at The Cor in January, it planned to be under construction by July, but it hasn’t set a date to start construction.
The project is well on its way to getting financing and has a commitment from a major East Coast lender, Ramsey said, adding that the city is studying how it could help fill a financing gap.
“The challenge that Flaherty has had is that Ramsey is an unproven market,” the mayor said.
Ryan Cronk, a Flaherty operative who is working with Darren Lazan of Landform, ostensibly as another of Ramsey's fiduciaries in addition to Lazan and his firm, appears to not be involved in Edina; the Flaherty rep there being a Christopher "Chris" Kirles.