By: Nick Halter – Senior Reporter/Broadcaster, Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal

Posted: April 30, 2019, 3:52pm EDT

Ryan Cos. US Inc. and Arcadia are getting ready to break ground on a 41-story condo tower in the Mill District that will become the city’s tallest residential building. Alatus, meanwhile, is looking for a new financial partner.

Across the river, a similarly sized condo tower that’s been in the works for five years has been delayed after developer Alatus split from its financial partner. 

Minneapolis-based Ryan and Edina developer Arcadia have begun site preparation and utility work for their project, named Eleven because it’s at the corner of West River Parkway and 11th Avenue. They’ve built out a sales center, condo mockup and a six-foot replica inside Ryan’s Millwright Building a few blocks away. Showings, by appointment to qualified prospects, will begin in early May. 

“Our project has incredible momentum,” said Ryan Director of Real Estate Development Carl Runck. “We are very pleased with how pre-sales are tracking and our sales team has been signing purchase agreements with buyers.”The Lakes Sotheby’s team of John Wanninger, Kevin Mullen and Ben Ganje are selling the building’s 118 units, some of which will have their own floors near the top of the tower. One will even have the top two floors. Ryan hasn’t disclosed prices of the condos.

Eleven, upon completion in 2021, will become the city’s tallest residential building, standing 550 feet. It’s being designed by Robert A.M. Stern Architects of New York, which is also designing 70-story towers in Manhattan and Chicago.  

ELEVEN CONDO TOWER

Runck said he anticipates an official groundbreaking this summer. Ryan is also the general contractor.

“We will have an announcement coming soon on the project and that will include financing partners and a management company,” Runck said. 

Meanwhile, financing for Alatus’ planned Alia tower is gone. The Minneapolis-based developer has been working for five years on the condo tower project at 200 Central Ave. The project was tied up in an 18-month legal battle with neighbors, but Alatus eventually won in court.

The developer had set a May 7 groundbreaking when it held a December pre-sale event with prospective buyers. 

Two sources said Alatus had a financing agreement in place with Canyon Partners of Los Angeles. Alatus would not confirm the financing partner, but said the decision to terminate the agreement was made by Alatus. 

Alatus Director of Development Chris Osmundson said the December event got so many reservations that Alatus decided it could leverage the interest to get a better financing deal. 

“With the exceptional response to pre-sales, the development team felt it would be a benefit to the building, and ultimately the homeowners, to pursue and refine a more favorable capital stack than was available last year,” Osmundson wrote in an email. “We are actively vetting numerous competitive capital terms for Alia and still anticipate a groundbreaking yet this summer.”

Canyon could not be reached for comment. 

Condo development has been slow in Minneapolis for several years, but there have been more projects popping up in the past 18 months, with the two aforementioned towers, plus one in Prospect Park by Vermilion Development and another timber-built, 79-unit tower proposal in the North Loop.

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