The Free Press, Mankato, MN

Local News

July 25, 2012

Apartment complex planned for northeast hilltop

Parcel is near Wow Zone, Hy-Vee

By Tim Krohn Free Press Staff Writer

— A large apartment complex is planned for Mankato’s northeast side.

The three-building 144-unit complex will be built east of the hilltop Hy-Vee and the Wow Zone.

“It’s a big deal,” Mankato Community Development Director Paul Vogel said. The  $12 million project is to begin within 45 days.

City studies have shown a considerable shortage of apartment units in the area. “It looks like the private sector is stepping up to fill the need,” Vogel said.

A 60-unit complex also is nearing completion on Sibley Parkway near downtown and a 60-unit complex is moving through the approval process for a site behind the downtown Cub Foods. 

The hilltop project, called Woodside Apartments, is being built by Drummer Development. Drummer owns a 30-acre parcel and the apartments will be built on 12 acres farthest to the east. The land in between Wow Zone and the apartments is slated for future commercial/office development.

The apartments will be market-rate rentals and the project is privately financed. The City Council approved infrastructure work, including road and storm sewer extensions, that are estimated to cost about $563,000. Those costs will also be paid by the developer.

The downtown proposal behind Cub is being led by Silverstone Partners, which is planning a three-story 60-unit project that would include 54 units at affordable rates, four units for the homeless and six market-rate units.

The project depends, in part, on the group getting approval for a federal tax credit program.

The affordable rates are aimed at a single person earning $29,000 per year and a three-person household earning $37,000 a year. Sixty percent of all jobs in the Mankato region pay $33,000 or less.

The $8 million project would be on the site of former city Public Works garages.

The city would subsidize part of the project through soil correction and demolition of old buildings paid for through tax increment financing, in which   increased property tax revenue from a project is used to help pay for the project.

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