urbanMSP

According to the Pioneer Press, 2 apartment buildings with a total of 180 units, as well as expansion of Nova Classical Academy on the way.

34. VICTORIA PARK

St. Paul hopes to have the former ExxonMobil "tank farm" and adjoining Koch land off Otto Avenue and West Seventh Street cleaned up in 2013. Part of the land will then be turned over to the city's parks department for playing fields or a new park.

It's already a busy site: A Mississippi Market opened in 2009, the Shalom campus offers independent and assisted living, and Brighton Development Corp. has rented out about a dozen homes.

Next up, Stonebridge Development has proposed 180 apartments in two buildings. And Nova Classical Academy, a K-12 college preparatory charter school, is merging its two campuses into one, opening in the fall.

http://www.twincities.com/stpaul/ci_205 ... g-up-whats

Stonebridge Development plans to soon break ground on two new 3 story townhome style apartments in the Victoria Park neighborhood along West 7th Street in St. Paul. It will total 215 units in phase 1. BKV is the architect. Phase 2 will be a 182 unit 5 story building. That building is meeting some neighborhood opposition as it overlooks the Mississippi River.

What are they opposed to? that it has too high of an impact or not enough, or both? I would think if it's designed well it would be nice to see from the river, and afford a lot of residents nice views.

Seriously....it doesn't sound like the neighborhood opposers have a leg to stand on, unless that 5 story building is adjacent to a 2 story SFH.

I like the way the townhomes look in this proposal. Done well, townhomes can look really classy. Are these going to be affordable (or market rate)?

The project is all privately financed and will be market rate rentals. Here is a site plan. Phase 1 is the two buildings on the left. Phase 2 the one on the right. Councilmember Thune is apparently supportive of the 5-story building. But Stonebridge has said that piece probably won't start till two years after Phase 1 is complete. So maybe 2016-17 start date. Thune is not seeking reelection in '15 and lots can change in a couple years. Besides being opposed to the height, the neighborhood is worried about the density (ie people). They'd prefer just trees, vegetation, etc.



The new Nova Classical Academy school was recently finished adjacent to where these apartments will be built (lower left hand corner of the above site plan).


More pictures can be found here, http://allmetroglass.com/portfolio/nova ... l-academy/

I also really like the look of those townhomes. Hopefully they're done right, and hopefully only minimal amounts of surface parking are visible up to the street.

Was this the once-dirty petroleum site that was the subject of the lawsuits about whether or not they'd let them build residential?

Was this the once-dirty petroleum site that was the subject of the lawsuits about whether or not they'd let them build residential?

Yes, but those parcels are west of where these buildings and the new school are located. The city had planned some soccer fields there among other things, but those were shot down by the neighborhood. The plan now is a more natural parkspace.

The larger curved structure at the southeast corner of Otto Ave & Victoria Way has been under construction since May, and most of the framing is now complete. Excavation on a second structure at the southeast corner of Otto Ave & Mercer St began last month.

IMG_4248 by bptenor, on Flickr

Here are a few photos I took of the site about a week ago. Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/50093971@N ... 869555126/

Looks like there's a website for this one:

http://www.victoriapark-apts.com/

The east building is topped out and west building is ready for stick.

So do you think the image on their site of St Paul's Cathedral in London is due to a sly sense of humor or a lazy intern?

http://www.victoriapark-apts.com/images/img_11.jpg

The view of the Mississippi River from these apartments is also excellent.

I love this one from the 'Neighborhood' tab:

Downtown? Just downstairs. Outdoors? Right outside.

That's a really funny, sloppy bit of website.

It also mentions the Light Rail as if it's an amenity...

Must have seen a fantasy map that used this development as a transition from the CP Ford Spur to West 7th and thought it was real....

I can't stop laughing at that website. How did the neighbors approve of a building tall enough to offer views of both London and New Orleans.

My sister is moving in here. She has a lease starting February 1. Does that seem about right or like it might be pushing it?

I drove past this again yesterday (because I am moving my sister in 2 weeks) and it is very slow going. It does not look ready for residents.

One building looks complete with interior work continuing and the exterior is barely touched. Some of the brick accents are being worked on.

The second building is still mid stick construction.

Does anyone know what occupancy requirements are?