New Market-Rate Building Under Construction
There is good news on the housing horizon. Presently, a new apartment building is being constructed in South Superior at 67th and Tower. The Village Apartments are advertised to be a luxury 24 unit apartment complex.
According to developer Ryan Nelson, they will offer open floor plan apartments with 9’ ceilings, outdoor decks, in-floor heating, air conditioning, stainless steel appliances, and laundry centers in each apartment. Nelson expects to have the building move-in ready by the end of May.
This is a great start to adding and replacing the housing stock of Superior.
Developer Plans Second Building
While discussing The Village with Nelson, Explore Superior learned that his company is in the development phase of a second building to be located just off of Belknap Street and behind the Enbridge Building. That building is slated to have 54 one and two bedroom units.
Artist’s Rendering of Proposed 54 Unit Building
After learning of the new proposed development, we contacted Jason Serck for his thoughts on this plan. He responded as follows:
“This proposed market-rate apartment building is a huge need in our community. The housing study that the City and County partnered on in 2015 shows that demand for this type of housing is extremely high and I am thankful that a developer has also realized the need that we are seeing.”
New Construction Will Discourage Substandard Housing
If approved by the city, this building would be a 54 unit building of one and two bedroom apartments with a combination of enclosed and surface parking. That building could be open a year from now. The City Plan Commission will discuss this proposal at their next meeting on April 19th in Council Chambers.
It should be noted that the owner of the house at 1314 Grand Avenue has been assured that her property will not be affected by this development, and that she has favors the project moving forward. The vacant lot adjacent to her property will be used for parking, and the other lot to the north and east will be for the apartment building and additional parking. ES will publish another article about this development in the next day or so with further details.
Overhead view of lot planned for new apartment building
We attended the March Plan Commission meeting when this project was outlined, but due to lack of quorum of commission members, the development had to be tabled for further discussion at the May meeting. ES will be on hand at that meeting and will report back to our readers. The commission cannot review the plan at their April meeting due to further quorum issues along with the changeover with a new Mayor and councilors.
However, the Redevelopment Authority did approve moving forward with this project earlier this week and has endorsed the land sale and the development agreement. The City Council will view this information at their next meeting on Tuesday, April 18th. ES will report back on what takes place at that meeting.
A Step In The Right Direction
This one developer has the potential to bring a total of 78 new, quality rental units to Superior. That would equal one third of the total new units developed in Superior between 2000 and 2013.
Complexes of this nature are exactly what is needed to start a turn-around in the quality of Superior rental housing. Competing landlords will be forced to improve their properties, and some will no doubt give up on decaying buildings once they cannot find renters for them.
Mayor-Elect Paine
Leadership From Mayor’s Office Important
Newly elected Mayor Jim Paine has stated that he hopes to find ways of encouraging refurbishment of older homes and buildings as a means of improving our housing stock as well.
Perhaps a combination of new construction, and rehabilitation of older properties will go a long way in addressing the housing problem in Superior.
Watch For More ES Articles on Superior Housing
You can expect to see a number of articles here addressing new construction such as that referred to above, as well as how older properties can be fixed, rehabbed, or razed as need be in order to provide our residents good housing options. ES spoke with Mayor-Elect Paine earlier this week and he has agreed to an interview to discuss his plans for improving housing in Superior.
To view a previous article about the rental shortage problem in Superior, follow this link.
