HRSR INFORMATION 06-04-2007REJournals.com - In downtown Anoka, the Rum River gets its due
MlttiiF~Oti
REAI ESTATE J~i~RNAE
^~
Friday June O1 2007
In downtown Anoka, the Rum River gets its due
City's historic North Central Business District is attracting new urban loft and senior housing
along the Rum.
Don ]acobson Editor
The city of Anoka is expecting big things from its Historic Rum River District,
where it hopes to establish a core of new housing and retail to capitalize on its
downtown's proximity to the meandering waterway. Its grain- and saw-milling
roots on the Rum River go back as far as any Minnesota towns' origins do.
The city has partnered with Rottlund Homes and its David Bernard Builders
division to plan afour-part mixed-use project on a key downtown block
bounded by Second Avenue on the north, Harrison Street on the east and
Jackson Street on the west. It's just south of a new riverfront park being
developed by the city, and abuts Anoka's City Hall.
The centerpiece of the project - a proposed four-story, 69-unit "urban loft"
building with 25,000 square feet of commercial space on the first floor -will be
discussed by the Anoka Planning Commission this month. Already approved are
the first two parts of the projects, a pair of 52-unit senior housing
condominiums, which are set to break ground sometime this year.
The urban loft building, however, would be the Historic Rum River District's
defining structure. It would anchor the block and provide a focus to the housing
part of the city's larger effort to revitalize its central core, known as the North
Central Business District. The city is pinning a lot of its hopes on the Rottlund
project as it attempts to turn its historic riverfront into an asset, much as
Minneapolis has with its Mississippi frontage.
"This is our own historic mill district," says Anoka Community Development
Director Robert Kirchner. "We had the Pillsbury and Washburn-Crosby flour
mills, too, just they did in Minneapolis. And we also had the Washburn Saw Mill
from the 1870's along the Rum River. The footings are still in the ground. Our
first dam was in 1853, one of the very first in Minnesota."
Indeed, work on the new riverfront park last year yielded some very exciting
archeological results. The Washburn Saw Mill ruins were discovered by work
crews laying sewer line, and now Anoka city officials believe the remains could
provide the basis for a viable tourist attraction. The city is deciding whether it
should attempt to get National Historic Register designation for the site.
The Rottlund housing proposal is the next step in the process after the city
completed a major project in the December -anew 265-stall, $6.3 million
parking ramp on Jackson Street. The ramp was constructed using tax increment
financing and was designed specifically by Miller Dunwiddie Architecture to
blend into an 1880's historic district, with a plaza area that can be used for
many different types of special outdoor events. Now, with the ramp done, the
housing element can proceed.
"(Rottlund) wants to get approvals on the loft building so they can start
marketing that as well as their senior housing," says Kirchner. "There they need
only 10 more sales to start the first building. Depending on that, they may start
construction in fall.
"With the urban loft building, it's right next to City Hall. It took a little planning
to sort out the boundary between City Hall and the new building, which will be
Page 1 of 2
May. 31, 2007 • 10:49 AM
Welcome, Catherine
Signout
Ill
Women
Reel ~s~e
<o.,.,
4
_~ +, ~,
a~ ~,w»
. ,._
http://www.mrej.com/story.cfm?Market=MN&StoryID=14947 5/31/2007
~taK~ your
~~~~.~7
REJournals.com - In downtown Anoka, the Rum River gets its due
a new alley, so access will be provided below the Rottlund building. In
conjunction with this is the effort to ensure that the riverfront remains public.
The back of City Hall will be improved public space, a two block-long river
frontage with atrail - a public corridor that will provide the last link of the Rum
River Trail."
Theresa Greenfield, director of land development for Rottlund Homes, says that
her company sees much potential in Anoka's historic relationship with the Rum
River as a selling point for condos in a significantly declining market.
"We think the Historic Rum River District very much fits in with the city's
master plan for redeveloping the North Central Business District," she says.
"The goal is to provide a variety of housing choices there. We have an age 55-
plus product there that we're selling, while the lofts don't have any age
restrictions and would be something that would reach a broader market and
younger people."
Page 2 of 2
SIGN tIP
,/' IFQR Quit
FIREE
Would you like to
advertise with us?
Learn how you can.
ti~
~ Minnesota Real Estate Journal 5353 441ayzata 61v1, Suite 3{)7 Minneapolis, MN 5541Ei 1-u3F3-516-7939
Real Estate fiut±iisl7ing G coup 415 N State Street t~Y~icaga IL 6062 2-888-753-7828
i;oPYright ZOOG-2C705 ~~ Real Estate t'ublishing G roup, 13y using this site ya u agree to the l"ern-~s {?f Use .
http://www.mrej.com/story.cfin?Market=MN&StoryID=14947 5/31/2007