By: Brett Hoffland, KSTP 5 Eyewitness News

Posted: February 14, 2020 – 06:28 PM

A new high-rise condo building is going up in downtown Minneapolis.

Even though the price is more than most people can afford, units are already going fast.

It’s called a home in the sky.

“It’s luxury living at its best,” said Karl Drecktrah, Director of Architecture with Ryan Companies.

At 41 stories and 118 units, ELEVEN On the River features what many think is the most luxurious living in downtown Minneapolis.

“I think it’s really exciting to have this kind of quality to live downtown,” said Brent Nelson, Architect at Peterssen/Keller Architecture.

Construction is still underway in Downtown East, with the building not expected to open until 2022. Drecktrah said this was a team effort that included the master design of the building by Robert A.M. Stern Architects out of New York.

“This was something where we’re borrowing a lot from Manhattan, point towers around Central Park and other places and tailoring that to the Minneapolis market,” Drecktrah said.

“Being part of a team that has so much experience in the community has been a really special experience,” Nelson said.

Nelson said what makes this project unique is buyers can choose between three different styles, and even further personalize the look of their space.

“Giving the level of scrutiny that each one of these design options deserves, it’s been a very intense design process,” Nelson said.

There are nearly 50,000 people who live downtown, and the Minneapolis Downtown Council says since 2006 there’s been a 56% increase in population. That’s one of the reasons this project was so attractive.

“This is something that downtown was needing and missing,” Drecktrah said.

If you’re thinking about calling this place home, you’ll have a 75-foot lap pool, library, golf simulator and private motor court.

Units start at $900,000, but at 55% already sold, the team is encouraged by the response and excited for the future of what the skyline will look like.