Tag: Development

Star Tribune: Giant apartment, retail complex is planned in Rochester’s medical district

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Two developers are teaming up to bring some Twin Cities flavor to ­Rochester’s apartment scene.

Minneapolis-based Alatus LLC is partnering with the Pompeian family, longtime real estate developers in Rochester, on a proposed 13-story apartment tower that would visually change the main entrance from Hwy. office and apartments complex52 into the city’s downtown and Mayo Clinic ­complex.

The $100-million plan is unique for Rochester in both size and style, introducing a luxury class of apartments that have become common in bigger cities, including the Minneapolis-St. Paul metro area, in recent years.

Medical Alley: Destination Medical Center: The Why, The How

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The Destination Medical Center (DMC) investment in the Rochester community is more $6B; most of that privately funded. It is a 20-year initiative that will redesign the city creating a spillover benefit to the state of Minnesota as a whole. Rochester is home to the famed Mayo Clinic and a growing startup health technology community. The DMC will accelerate and complement what is already happening in Rochester, and will help Minnesota retain its place as the great state of everything healthcare.

The project is much more than a city planning and economic development effort as attendees at the first Board of Directors Senior Executive Briefing learned on February 17th at our Medical Alley Association (MAA) headquarters. Lisa Clarke, Executive Director of the DMC and Patrick Seeb, the head of economic development, delivered a briefing to approximately 40 guests of the MAA board, laying out the details of the enormous DMC effort, providing the why and the how.

Post Bulletin: Our View: Change requires defined expectations

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After waiting a few minutes to speak during a downtown press conference on transportation this week, Rochester City Council Member Michael Wojcik glanced over his shoulder and referenced the possibility that new buildings may have popped up during his wait.

The joke featuring unrealistic expectations in the midst of Destination Medical Center efforts draws attention to blossoming realities: Developers are looking for local opportunities, and growth is coming.

In the wake of St. Cloud-based developer Larry Brutger’s decision to back off plans to erect a new Holiday Inn across from Mayo Clinic’s Saint Marys Hospital, a related reality is being brought to light — development takes time, and everything doesn’t always go as planned.

Star Tribune: Rochester is in the midst of an apartment boom

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Maine Heights will have 359 new units and will be built along Hwy. 52 in the southwestern part of the city.
Maine Heights will have 359 new units and will be built along Hwy. 52 in the southwestern part of the city.

A wave of new apartments opened in Rochester last year, and even more are planned this year with both suburban and downtown projects in the development pipeline.

It’s unclear whether the surge is just a normal upturn in the Rochester market’s building cycle or if it’s being spurred by the Mayo Clinic’s effort, with local and state help, for expansion. That development is called Destination Medical Center and has a goal to add 45,000 new jobs over 20 years to the city. Some apartment developers are specifically mentioning the Mayo’s expansion as a reason for investing in the market.

The city’s surge in new multifamily units — while small in numbers compared to the apartment-building binge in the Twin Cities — is impressive for sheer magnitude.

Urbanization in Rochester

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Rendering: Heart of the City

Metropolitan areas are growing faster than the country as a whole. In fact, it is estimated that 86% of Americans will live in a metro area in 2016.

With the anticipation of adding about 35,000 additional jobs in Rochester over the next 20 years as part of the DMC plan, a surge in urbanization, which is the increase in the proportion of people living in urban areas, is highly likely.

There are a number of factors driving this urban growth, not the least of which is an innate desire for humans to be connected to one another. “We are social beings by nature. Even introverted people want to feel a sense of community,” says Lindsey Meek, civil engineer, neighborhood leader for the Downtown Neighborhood Association, and downtown resident.