Transforming a Minnesota brownfield site

Combining apartments, retail space, for-sale townhomes, and a public plaza, West River Commons, which opened in 2004, replaced blighted uses on a polluted Minneapolis site. The project provides the Twin Cities with an example of appropriate infill redevelopment on a key commercial corridor. The developers of West River Commons, Minneapolis-based Lander Group and St. Paul-based At Home Apartments, managed to squeeze 53 apartments, 8,000 square feet of ground -floor retail space, three for-sale townhomes, and public space on a site barely larger than one acre, while staying true to the pedestrian realm and enhancing the streetscape. The project was designed by Minneapolis-based DJR Architecture, and notable features include off-street parking that is hidden behind the building or underground, new retailers not previously located in the neighborhood, a public plaza that is a neighborhood meeting space, and architectural elements, including a distinctive pitched-roof turret, that are consistent with the surrounding single-family neighborhood. Retailers include a neighborhood bistro, a coffee shop, and a dry cleaner. Of the 53 apartment units, 12 are affordable to households making 50 percent of the area’s median income. The three for-sale townhomes, at just two stories in height, blend in well with adjacent homes. The developers led an intensive effort to gain neighborhood approval. Despite initial resistance by neighbors who preferred less dense development, West River Commons has been met with approval overall and is now seen as an asset to the neighborhood. — Sam Newberg