Northeast Metro Business 01_VHEDC_20_DE | Page 31

VADNAIS HEIGHTS New housing options are coming to Vadnais Heights in 2020. There are two new apartment complexes under construction—one at the center of town, the other in the southeast corner of town—that will bring more than 100 new units to the city. “The reason this area of the Metro has a lot of units coming is two- fold. Millennials, seeing what the housing market has done in the past, are making Nolan Wall a lifestyle choice to live in apartments. The baby boomers, meantime, are transitioning from larger single family homes to a different type of lifestyle and they are looking to rent, said Nolan Wall, AICP, City of Vadnais Heights Planning/Community Development Director. Road/County Road F intersection, will include two, three-story, 70-unit buildings with underground parking. The buildings will feature a variety of floor plans and amenities for residents. County Road D Circle East and when finished will feature a three-story, 36-unit building with underground parking directly to the east of the existing Willow Ridge Apartments. Willow Ridge East Apartments is a workforce housing project located on No major infrastructure projects are planned in Vadnais Heights in 2020. The Aster Meadow Apartments, going up at the northwest corner of the Centerville MAPLEWOOD Maplewood is another Twin Cities community that is pretty much built out, and Michael Martin, Assistant Community Development Director, says there are a fair number of redevelopment projects planned in 2020. “Redevelopment is what drives Maplewood’s development situation, and our projects tend to take a bit longer as we work with partners to put the pieces together,” he said. Take for example Frost English Village, located at 1265 Frost Avenue East. Phase I of the project, a three-story building consisting of 50 affordable apartments, opened in Aug. 2016. Phase II, a 4-story luxury apartment building designed for active seniors, opened in Sept. 2018. In 2020, work will be done on the third and final phase of the project: a retail commercial building that will replace the liquor store at 1281 Frost Avenue. Plans call for a building with space for four businesses, one of which will have a drive-thru. Also planned for 2020, a nearly 200,000 square foot skilled nursing and senior housing facility at 1534 County Road C. It is being built on land owned by the First Evangelical Free Church. The building, which will vary in height from one-to-three levels, will feature 141 units with underground and ground-level parking. Martin adds that the North St. Paul-Maplewood-Oakdale ISD 622 School District, which has a lot of older buildings, will be making a heavy investment on updates in 2020. At Carver Elementary School, located at 2680 Upper Afton Road, plans call for replacing the academic wing with a three-story wing that will accommodate a larger student population. In addition to creating flexible functional teaching spaces on the interior, the project emphasizes improving the exterior face of the building. Michael Martin vhedc.com 31