Developer closes on financing for $124M apartment project in West St. Paul – TwinCities.com-Pioneer Press

Plymouth-based affordable-housing developer Dominium announced Friday it has closed on financing for two apartment buildings on the former Kmart site and the adjacent vacant Signal Hills Bank property in West St. Paul.

The $124 million project at Butler Avenue and South Robert Street will be the single most costly residential project West St. Paul has ever seen, according to the city.

The city council in September gave Dominium the OK to build the two U-shaped buildings, which will be adjacent to the Signal Hills Shopping Center. The council also agreed to give the developer $5 million in tax-increment financing funds over 16 years.

One building Hilltop at Signal Hills will be four stories tall with 146 units of workforce housing. Legacy Commons at Signal Hills will be five stories with 247 units of independent senior living. The buildings will offer one-, two- and three-bedroom homes units.

Dominium is excited about the opportunity to create 393 units of affordable housing to the local senior and working communities, Nick Andersen, vice president and project partner at Dominium, said in a prepared statement. West St. Paul is an area where there is ample demand for affordable housing, and we look forward to filling that need.

City officials long have considered the northern part of the shopping center property and its expansive parking lot underused and ripe for redevelopment. Their desire to see it redeveloped was bolstered in late 2016, when Sears Holdings Corp. closed the Big Kmart. Signal Hills Bank has been closed for nearly two decades.

Besides the TIF money, Dominium also secured a Freddie Mac Forward Tax Exempt Loan serviced by real-estate finance company Greystone, a construction loan through America First Multifamily Investors and tax-exempt bonds and 4 percent affordable housing tax credits through the Dakota County Community Development Agency.

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Developer closes on financing for $124M apartment project in West St. Paul - TwinCities.com-Pioneer Press