Swervo Development Corp. and Lupe Development Partners have refined plans to build apartments in Minneapolis’ trendy Bryn Mawr neighborhood, modifying a year-old proposal to include only senior housing.

The two Minneapolis developers plan to build 100 affordable senior apartments, 100 market-rate senior apartments and a 72-unit assisted-living building at 2800 Wayzata Blvd., according to documents submitted to the city. The housing would share the 8.63-acre property with a 100,830-square-foot office building the developers will renovate.

Read more in Finance & Commerce.

Two Minneapolis developers — Ned Abdul and Steve Minn — are partnering on a plan to build 200 units of senior housing in Minneaoplis’ Byrn Mawr neighborhood.

The project is at the 8.3-acre site of a three-story, 1956 office building that was most recently home to CenturyLink Inc. Abdul is renovating that 100,000-square-foot building. It’s surrounded by a large surface parking lot. The plans would take much of the western half of the parking for two six-level senior housing buildings. One would be market rate; the other would be affordable. 

Read more in the Minneapolis-St.Paul Business Journal.

Star Tribune by Jim Buchta

During the 1990s, Steve Minn served on the Minneapolis City Council and later in Jesse Ventura’s administration as commissioner of public service and commissioner of commerce, but for decades he has been an active, outspoken and sometimes controversial housing developer in the Twin Cities metro area.

Minn, a co-owner and CFO of Lupe Development Partners, is now one of the most active affordable-housing developers in the Twin Cities metro. The company has six income-restricted projects with a combined 750-plus units in the pipeline including several that are along transit lines.

Minn isn’t going it alone. He’s partnering with other developers and is partnering with several community organizations and service providers. We asked Minn about Lupe’s strategy. 

Read the full Q&A with Steve here.

Finance & Commerce by Anne Bretts

Minneapolis developer Steve Minn had planned to redevelop an MGM Wine & Spirits store in Woodbury into a bank or credit union as part of a larger gateway redevelopment around the Valley Creek Road interchange along Interstate 494.

Minn, vice president of Lupe Development, confirmed this week that he and Dan Regan, principal in Minneapolis-based Launch Properties are nearly done assembling five parcels to create a 9-acre site in the southeast quadrant of the interchange, but will let a St. Paul-based credit union tackle the MGM redevelopment on its own longer timeline.

Hiway Federal Credit Union closed Feb. 15 on the $3.8 million purchase of the fully-leased 13,829-square-foot building and 1.2-acre site lot at 1580 Woodlane Drive. The seller was Next-Tech Development LLC, an entity related to Minn’s company, Lupe Development. Brian Brisky, president of Brisky Commercial in Minneapolis, represented Minn.

Read the full story here.

Southwest Journal by Nate Gotlieb

A Minneapolis-based development company says it expects to start construction this spring on a 111-unit affordable apartment building near Lyn-Lake.

Lupe Development Partners announced Nov. 26 that it would be “accelerating” the start date for the building, the first of two it will build in the neighborhood. The company said in a press release that it expects to start building the second 111-unit building in spring 2020.

The first building will be located at 410 W. Lake St., which is two blocks east of Lake & Lyndale. The second would be located at 510 W. Lake St., which is one block east of the intersection.

The City Planning Commission approved plans for 410 W. Lake St. this past summer. Lupe said it expects to begin leasing the building in 2020.

Residents will need to meet income restrictions of $30,000 to $42,000 a year, the press release said. The building will include nine units intended for veterans who are homeless.

Lupe is partnering with Hennepin County and the nearby James Ballentine Uptown VFW Post 246 to serve the veterans.

Read the full article here.

Midwest Real Estate News

Lupe Development Partners is accelerating its start date for the first phase of an affordable housing development campus in the Lyn-Lake community of Whittier, Minnesota, after receiving two critical funding contributions from local partners.

The Metropolitan Council recently awarded the project a $1.2 million grant from its Livable Communities Demonstration Account, while the Minneapolis City Council approved a $2.375 million loan from its Affordable Housing Trust Fund.

The first of two buildings will be located at 410 W. Lake St., and will include 111 affordable housing units including nine intended for homeless veterans. Lupe Development is partnering with Hennepin County and the nearby Ballentine VFW Post 246 to serve homeless veterans with safe housing and services. Construction on phase two – an identical building – is scheduled for a 2020 start date.

Read the full story here.

REBusiness Online by Kristin Hiller

Lupe Development Partners plans to break ground on an affordable housing project in the Whittier neighborhood of Minneapolis this spring. The start date for construction was unveiled after Lupe received a $1.2 million grant from the Metropolitan Council’s Livable Communities Demonstration Account and a $2.4 million loan from the Minneapolis City Council’s Affordable Housing Trust Fund.

Read the full story here.

Lupe Development Partners announced today it is accelerating its start date for phase one of an affordable housing development campus in the Lyn-Lake community of Whittier after receiving two critical funding contributions from local partners. The Metropolitan Council recently awarded the project a $1.2 million grant from its Livable Communities Demonstration Account, while the Minneapolis City Council approved a $2.375 million loan from its Affordable Housing Trust Fund.

The first of two buildings will be located at 410 W. Lake St., and will include 111 affordable housing units including nine intended for homeless veterans. Lupe Development is partnering with Hennepin County and the nearby Ballentine VFW Post 246 to serve homeless veterans with safe housing and services. Construction on phase two – an identical building – is scheduled for a 2020 start date.

“Lake Street Apartments will address a growing need for quality, affordable workforce housing in this neighborhood,” said Steve Minn, vice president and chief financial manager of Minneapolis-based Lupe Development Partners. “Gentrification has priced many existing residents out. Our funding partners and VFW Post 246 will help us do our share to address veteran homelessness, which we are excited to include in our program.”

The proposed phase one development would include a mix of studio, one- and two-bedroom units. To be eligible for the housing, residents will need to meet income restrictions of $30,000 to $42,000 a year. Located close to the Midtown Greenway, the proposed development will feature a green roof, solar panels, a fitness facility, a business center, community rooms, outdoor decks, and a bike room with a repair station.

Phase one plans were approved by the City of Minneapolis in August 2018. Construction is expected to begin in Spring 2019 with leasing beginning in 2020.

Lupe project team supports Summit Academy.  L to R… Lupe VP Aaron Diederich, Frana Project Manager Darren Scott, Pope Architects President Ward Isaacson, and Frana President Mike Benedict, share a moment at the Oak Ridge Golf Course, where Lupe was a proud double hole sponsor for the annual Summit Academy Charitable Golf Tournament…

Lupe Development and City of Saint Paul officials marked the official opening of East Side Apartments. The new apartment’s 114 affordable housing units in Saint Paul’s Dayton’s Bluff neighborhood began welcoming tenants in fall 2017, and are now fully leased. Combined with the newly renovated Wilson Ridge Apartments next door, a total of 216 affordable housing units have been created or maintained as a part of this project.

Watch the press conference.