Ground is broken for next phase projects at St. Paul’s Highland Bridge

With a ceremonial toss of a shovel of dirt St Paul Mayor Melvin Carter joined developers with the Ryan Cos along Ford Parkway this week to break ground on a long-stalled million phase of construction within Highland Bridge which will include the first retail additions since Lunds and Byerlys relocated a nearby store there in September Highland Bridge which is about developed was once the site of the Ford Motor Co s Twin Cities assembly plant which closed in December leading into more than years of planning soil remediation and building construction That construction has slowed though not entirely stopped in the era of high interest rates softer urban housing demand and rent control which the city of St Paul permanently rolled back last month for new construction Work on the five new additions spanning four single-level retail buildings a -unit mixed-use apartment building with ground-level retail and a two-level parking structure is expected to get underway in earnest this summer and continue into October or November Given the current state of interest rates financing and urban housing demand it is challenging right now to do market-rate multi-family mentioned Maureen Michalski a senior vice president of rise with the Minneapolis-based Ryan Cos but we re committed to the site Weidner Apartment Homes is committed to the site We re willing to advance the site based on this being a legacy project for us One of the single-story structures to be erected closest to Lunds and Byerlys already has a tenant lined up Tierra Encantada a Spanish-immersion daycare that plans to make Highland Bridge its th Minnesota location The three other single-story structures which will front Ford Parkway will be built on more of an if you build it they will come model with hopes of attracting retail to one of the more affluent corners of the city Together with the ground-level of the future mixed-use building they ll total square feet of retail Michalski announced The -acre Highland Bridge maturation also houses a two-story physiological office building anchored by M Vitality Fairview though the majority of the other construction to date has been residential and until now hundreds of units of planned market-rate housing have been on pause for years Pause is over That pause is over according to the Ryan Cos We have a variety of actions taken at the city council level that helped Michalski explained noting modern changes to tax increment financing agreements and other site controls We essentially looked at the existing redevelopment agreement and minimum assessment agreement and made specific reallocations and rebalancing there basically changing chosen timing of things The latest buildings to be developed by the Ryan Cos and located between Cretin Avenue and Mount Curve Boulevard will be bisected by a new pedestrian promenade that will emerge at an angle from a small plaza to be located near Lunds at Ford Parkway and Cretin Ave The future promenade will extend to an existing plaza located near Marvella the senior independent living apartment complex at Hillcrest Ave It s a very desirable location Michalski commented Marvella which just opened in the spring was fully leased when it opened in March Roads infrastructure Roads and infrastructure along the far southern end of the site are being completed south of Montreal Avenue and east of Cretin Avenue Throughout Highland Bridge four parks have opened to the masses Michalski declared Weidner Apartment Homes plans to begin work next year on a roughly -unit apartment building south of the site toward Bohland and Cretin avenues and Presbyterian Homes plans additional senior housing Elsewhere within the -acre evolution six of single-family lots have been sold Michalski disclosed and about upscale Pulte rowhomes have been completed to date Overall Highland Bridge at present spans about units of residential housing much of it located within multi-family developments and senior apartments built close to Ford Parkway Of that total about units would qualify as affordable housing much of it assembled with the help of tax incentives known as tax increment financing using market-rate rise to subsidize the affordable units The Lumin affordable senior apartments developed by CommonBond Communities and Project for Pride in Living s Restoring Waters which caters to families that have experienced homelessness were constructed with funding derived in part from the two market-rate Marvella senior housing projects Restoring Waters is now the headquarters for Emma Norton Services Related Articles St Paul At Highland Bridge Weidner Homes Ryan Cos win concessions St Paul City Council ends rent control for housing built after St Paul Ryan Cos plan for four one-story buildings along Ford Parkway inch closer to approval by default