Rochester vacates right of way to make room for multifamily project

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A new multifamily development is a step closer to possibly breaking ground, as the Rochester City Council vacated a right of way to make space for the development at its last meeting.

The development is a 130-unit multifamily building, with studio, one- and two-bedroom units, spread over five stories, according to Desmond McGeough, the principal planner for Rochester.

The city, upon the request of one of the developers, vacated a 66-foot wide right of way between Fourth Street Southeast and Bear Creek. The city’s community development staff recommended the vacation of the right of way, which is currently used for parking space, citing that it would help redevelop the property. The Council voted unanimously to vacate.

Councilmember Kelly Rae Kirkpatrick said she was in favor of the project, saying it would “fill a need in the neighborhood” and will give residents a great view of the river. Council President Brooke Carlson called it a great location because of the future redevelopment of the riverfront.

While many of the pieces for the development are falling into place, as for when the project is going forward, there is less certainty, according to the developer. Hamilton Real Estate Vice President Chad Behnken said in an interview Thursday the project is still being planned out, but they are waiting for better economics.

“We’re kind of in limbo to be honest,” Behnken said. “We’d love to do the development, but we might just hang on to it as it sits right now for a while until things numerically get better.”

The goal, Behnken said, was to have the project ready so that if they want to move dirt, they are prepared.

Behnken said there is no specific target number for what the costs would have to be for them to start construction.

Hamilton is not the only developer of the property — other partners on the project include the Twin Cities metro group, Rise Capital Partners.

Behnken said the property was attractive to the developers because of its proximity to Rochester’s downtown.

“We see what’s happening downtown, we believe in downtown, we know that this will be a site that will be desirable at some point for people and it’s kind of a gateway to downtown coming from the east,” Behnken said.

Behnken said he also knows that there is a need for housing throughout Rochester and hopes the project will help with some of the shortage going on.

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