Ground has been broken on a 402-unit housing project at Bloomington Central Station, a 50-acre master-planned site that is expected to revitalize the city's South Loop District. The third multi-family project at the site, The Fenley is among the first ground-up projects to begin as part of the Minnesota Opportunity Zone endeavor authorized by federal legislation approved in 2017.

Planned to Encourage Economic Development

It is unique: The majority of the units are planned as high-end apartments, but 10 percent will be made available at 80 percent median income rents, in conformity with public subsidy requirements. The incentive program provides for investors to channel unrealized capital gains to projects specified locations throughout the state. More than 100 such historically under-invested areas were identified by Minnesota and approved as Opportunity Zones under the guidelines of the federal legislation.

It is hoped that these joint investments will catalyze new business starts, encourage job creation and lead to economic development as well as new construction and redevelopment projects. The plan was approved last spring, followed by a tax increment financing subsidy that was jointly approved last October by the Bloomington Port Authority and the city council.

The new apartment project, designed by ESG Architecture and Design, will join the corporate headquarters offices of both HealthPartners and Ceridian as well as a Hyatt Regency Hotel. When completed, there will be a total of more than 1,000 residential units on the site, including other apartments and condominium units. Approximately 1.9 million additional square feet of undeveloped land exists for future use.

Convenient and Amenity-Rich

The Fenley, scheduled to open in 2020, is the latest in the continuing collaboration between the developer and the city of Bloomington in Hennepin County, which resulted in the master plan of Bloomington Central Station. Its location is viewed as ideal for this type of multi-use development. It offers easy access to freeways and close to two stops of Metro Transit's Blue Line and the Light Rail Transit System. It is close to the Mall of America and the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, as well as the Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge and a two-acre park.

The building itself will boast luxury appointments and amenities, including an outdoor pool area with patio and grill stations, outdoor lounge with adjacent bocce court, a top floor "sky-lounge" that features a viewing deck, and an impressive courtyard entry. Tenant parking facilities feature assigned stalls to match the floor of individual apartments; and residents will have the use of a fitness room, yoga studio and sauna, a community room, a work-friendly cafe in the lobby, and a park-side courtyard. Ground-floor retail space adds additional convenience for residents.

Based in Roseville, McGough is a contractor and developer with expertise in planning, project development and management that spans six generations. Bloomington Central Station represents just one of many collaborative ventures that the company has been involved with. The budget for this project is approximately $100 million. A two-story condo project, The Reflections, was previous built by McGough. The company still have almost 15 acres available at the site for future development.