Plans for New Crystal Apartment Building Move Forward

Significant changes are moving forward for a well-traveled area in the city of Crystal.

At its May 20 meeting, the Crystal City Council approved the first reading of a rezoning ordinance change that would allow a proposed 4-story, 44-unit apartment building at the northeast corner of County Road 81 and Bass Lake Road. The area would be rezoned from commercial to town center-planned development.

To make the project happen, an existing office building would be torn down.

Columbus, Ohio-based affordable housing developer Woda Cooper Cos. is behind the project, called Lotus Pointe, which would serve a variety of income levels.  Those levels include 30 percent, 50 percent and 80 percent of area median income.

The building would contain a mixture of one-, two-, three- and four-bedroom units. Most would be two-bedroom units, said Eric Wright, development analyst with Woda Cooper.

Wright mentioned the newly constructed 5240 Apartments by Sand Cos. as a comparison in terms of apartment makeup.

Woda Cooper already has a building presence in the Twin Cities. It constructed a building in Minneapolis’ North Loop called Shelby Commons and is currently working on an apartment and townhome project in Brooklyn Park called Sandgrass Pointe.

Rendering of proposed Crystal apartment building

Parking Concerns

The apartment building would include a first-floor fitness room and a rooftop deck. It would also have basement garage and surface level parking totaling 71 spots for the 44 units.

Crystal Mayor Julie Deshler raised concerns about whether that would be enough parking, saying she didn’t want cars spilling onto the street impacting nearby residents.

“This has disaster written all over for it, in my opinion,” said Deshler, who noted other apartments in the city that she said has parking issues. “It’s a chronic problem.”

Wright pointed out that 1.5 parking spots per unit in metro areas is industry standard, fewer spaces than the 71 proposed.

“We’re as incentivized as you guys to not have this be an issue,” said Wright.

Harrison LaHaie, also with Woda Cooper, told the council that management will periodically run checks to make sure the number of tenants staying in apartments matches with who’s on the lease. That would help address parking concerns, he said.

City planning officials said a bus route goes in front of the building with a light rail stop also planned that could also cut down on the number of vehicles needed.

The Crystal City Council is expected to have a final vote on rezoning at its June 3 meeting.

If approved, construction would begin this fall. The building is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2026.

Crystal