St. Paul celebrates Penfield opening; Lunds' first day is May 15

The long-awaited Penfield is officially open.

St. Paul leaders gathered Thursday morning for a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the downtown apartment building at Robert and Tenth streets.

Envisioned nearly a decade ago as a luxury condo high-rise that would change the St. Paul skyline, the Penfield project was scaled back over the years to fit market trends.

What got built was a $62 million, block-long building that stands six stories tall and features 254 apartments. The project also includes a parking garage and a Lunds grocery that will open May 15. Construction took about two years.

"The Penfield is another example of downtown's development momentum," Saint Paul Mayor Chris Coleman said at Thursday opening. He noted a number of nearby projects in the works, from the Lowertown Ballpark to the Central Corridor that will begin running in June.

"We have a lot to look forward to celebrating this year," he said.

The Penfield has gone through various designs since its inception.

Plans in 2005 called for a $117 million, 40-story glass-and-steel tower of condominiums and townhomes. Other proposals since had included a hotel and a shortened tower at 30 stories. A development partnership, Alatus and Sherman Rutzick & Associates, backed out when the housing market collapsed during the recession.

The city stepped in and served as the developer itself, having recently developed the five-story Lofts at Farmers Market, a 56-unit luxury rental building in Lowertown that opened in 2012.

The city approved a tax-increment financing district for the building, which will recycle $15 million -- 25 years of property taxes generated by the site -- back into project development. It will be owned by the Saint Paul Housing and Redevelopment Authority and managed and marketed by Village Green Residential Properties.

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St. Paul celebrates Penfield opening; Lunds' first day is May 15