After delays, Snelling Yards work set for fall

A two-building, affordable housing complex that Lupe Development, The Wall Cos. and Ecumen plan to build at 3601 44th E. St. is moving ahead after delays caused by the financial markets. (Submitted illustration: Pope Architects)

By Kelly Busche
June 24, 2021

About 200 units of affordable housing are coming to south Minneapolis as part of the Snelling Yards residential project.

After facing delays due to changes in the financial markets, the development team — consisting of Minneapolis-based Lupe Development Partners and The Wall Cos. as well as Shoreview-based Ecumen — will start work on the project’s senior housing component this fall. Snelling Yards, located at 3601 E. 44th St., also has a workforce housing component, the construction of which will likely start next year.

Snelling Yards is in the Hiawatha neighborhood of Minneapolis. It’s directly east of Hiawatha Avenue and one block north of East 46th Street. A Walgreens store neighbors the site one block south, and a Blue Line light rail stop sits across Hiawatha Avenue from the project.

“The project is designed to be the first connective block of bike and pedestrian access along this rail line between the Sabo Bridge and Minnehaha Park,” according to a city affordable housing document.

The senior housing portion of the project will be constructed first, bringing 100 units of affordable rental housing to a four-story building. There will be studios as well as one- and two-bedroom units available for people making 30%, 50% and 80% of the area median income, according to the city documents.

Through a partnership with the state’s Veterans Affairs Department, eleven units will also be reserved for veterans who are homeless, the documents said.

Finance & Commerce reported Ecumen will own the senior building. Ecumen operates and develops senior housing and services, with operations reaching Minnesota, Idaho, North Dakota and Wisconsin.

The second phase of the project will be home to 90 to 100 units of family and workforce housing. This component of the project is still seeking financial and subsidies, with work likely to begin in 2022, according to city background on the project.

The project’s amenities include walking paths through rain gardens, outdoor picnic areas, bicycle parking, fitness and business centers, as well as a dog run, visiting clinic space and community room, the city document said.

“The site and the building are thoughtfully designed to blend with the existing neighborhood, break up building massing and invite pedestrian traffic through the site,” the document said.

The developers are working with contractor Frana Cos., based in Hopkins, as well as St. Paul-based Pope Architects for design, according to the document.

In mid-June, the Minneapolis City Council approved an 18-month extension of the developers’ exclusive project rights — marking the project’s third extension.

The city first selected the development team in 2016, and later granted it exclusive development rights to the projects for two years. These rights expired in 2019, and the council granted the team a one-year extension that expired in 2020 and later a six-month extension that expired in March of this year, according to city background information.

“The first phase of Senior Housing was expected to close in March 2021, but the project has been delayed due to changes in the financial market and the requirements of the tax credit investor,” according to the background.

Specifics of financial market delays weren’t detailed in the city background. The developer couldn’t be reached for comment by publication time.

The senior housing project’s total development costs are estimated to be $24 million or $239,804 per unit. In 2019, the overall project was estimated to cost over $49 million, with the senior housing side costing $1 million less than today’s predicted costs, the city document said.

Before work can begin, however, the development team must purchase the city-owned land. The city scheduled a mid-July hearing for the sale as well as the developers’ nearly $1.8 million tax increment financing request.