This week’s roundup of construction and development news across Minnesota covers a mix of new projects and key updates on ongoing initiatives.

In Edina, the conversion of a Residence Inn into affordable apartments gets a green light from the city’s planning body, while Minneapolis prepares for a long-awaited $34.3 million renovation of the historic Nicollet Avenue bridge. Meanwhile, Northfield schools are celebrating voter approval of a $120 million bond referendum for major high school renovations, reflecting strong community support for educational infrastructure. On the economic front, clean energy jobs are booming statewide, reaching an all-time high of over 62,000, reflecting the sector’s remarkable growth.

Dive in for details on these stories and more in this edition of Building Buzz.
 

NOVEMBER 1

Edina planning body signs off on hotel conversion
Construction could begin as soon as the first quarter of next year on a rarity in the metro area --- an affordable housing project that doesn't require significant public investment. At issue is a plan from Patrick Juetten of Alpha Investment Group, who hopes to turn a 133-room Marriott Residence Inn at 3400 Edinborough Way in Edina into 136 affordable apartments. A city requirement for enclosed parking complicates those plans. To keep costs down and maintain affordable rents, Juetten wants the city to grant a variance to the enclosed parking mandate. The Edina Planning Commission unanimously recommended approval of the request. (Finance & Commerce)
 

Nicollet Avenue bridge among dozens in U.S. getting upgrades
Federal highway officials announced $635-million to repair or replace numerous old and outdated bridges ranging from Alaska to Maine, including the Nicollet Avenue bridge in Minnesota and a couple located in popular national parks. The grants for more than 70 small - and medium-size bridges in 19 states mark the latest infusion from a $1.2-trillion infrastructure law signed by President Joe Biden in 2021. The city of Minneapolis was awarded more than $34.3-million to rehabilitate the century-old Nicollet Avenue bridge over Minnehaha Creek. The existing Nicollet Avenue bridge, built in 1923, is eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places and was not designed to handle the current or projected future volume of daily traffic, resulting in significant safety concerns, according to the Federal Highway Administration. Construction crews will repair cracks, arches, and other concrete deterioration, and the floor beams, deck, railing, drainage systems, sidewalks and lighting, according to a press release from the city. (Finance & Commerce)
 

NOVEMBER 4

Affordable housing project on hold, despite Met Council funding
An emerging developer who wants to bring commercial space and 87 units of affordable housing to St. Paul is among the winners in the latest round of Livable Communities Act grant funding from the Metropolitan Council. Despite the council's recommendation of $1.2-million in LCA grants for the "GloryVille" project, developer Gloria Wong won't be able to start construction anytime soon on the St. Paul HRA-owned project site at 1570 White Bear Avenue. The mixed-use project is in limbo for now because the Minnesota Housing Finance Agency didn't approve her $10-millionfunding request this fall. (Finance & Commerce)
 

Fed set to cut rates again while facing hazy outlook
The Federal Reserve's move two days after the presidential election is much easier to predict: With inflation continuing to cool, the Fed is set to cut interest rates for a second time this year. The Fed's future actions, though, will become more unsettled once a new president and Congress take office in January, particularly if Donald Trump were to win the White House again. The Fed's policymakers, led by Chair Jerome Powell, are on track to cut their benchmark rate by a quarter-point, to about 4.6%, after having implemented a half-point reduction in September. Economists expect another quarter-point rate cut in December and possibly additional such moved next year. Over time, rate cuts tend to lower the costs of borrowing for consumers and businesses. (Finance & Commerce)
 

Millennium Hotel Minneapolis closes for $40M renovation, rebrand
After the renovation, which is expected to complete in the spring, the hotel will reopen as the Sheraton Minneapolis Downtown Convention Center. It will be a member of Marriott International's brand portfolio, Marriott Bonvoy, and cater to both business and leisure travelers. A hotel spokesperson said the hotel will be redesigned top-t-to-bottom by architecture firm Gensler and bring an entirely new hotel experience for customers. The renovation will revamp the hotel's 321 guestrooms and suites, as well as add public spaces, redesign meeting and events spaces (including the rooftop dome), and add a new pool and fitness center. The hotel's restaurant, North 45 Restaurant & Bar, also will be replaced with a new concept. (Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal)
 

Sustainable: A record year for Minnesota clean jobs
Clean Energy Economy Minnesota (CEEM) recently released annual jobs report contains encouraging signs of an economic recovery. The state had 62,102 clean energy jobs in 2023, the highest total ever recorded, and the industry grows at five times the pace of the overall economy. Clean energy jobs are expected to jump 6% this year. The breakdown of the types of jobs remains like other years, with a few surprises. The largest sector, energy efficiency, employs 44,511 workers. Jobs in different sectors include 9,060 in renewable energy, 4,761 in clean transportation, 3,027 in grid and storage, and 744 in clean fuels. (Finance & Commerce)
 

NOVEMBER 5

Blaine frowns on plans for apartments in Lexington site; leaves door open for commercial
HJ Development's plan to bring a high-end grocery store and other uses to a difficult-to-develop site in Blaine is still in play, but only if the developer can make it happen without apartments or a change in the city's comprehensive plan. The Blaine Planning Commission recommended denial of a proposed comprehensive plan amendment, which would have allowed residential development on the site. At present, the site is zoned for commercial. The amendment would have enabled HJ Development and North Shore Development Partners to create a 120-unit market-rate apartment building, a Jerry's Food & Liquor store and other new uses on a roughly 3-acre portion of the 40-acre site. HJ Development told the planning commission that the apartments --- or some form of public assistance --- were necessary to cover the cost of development-related infrastructure improvements. (Finance & Commerce)
 

Milwaukee 15-unit condo proposal moves forward
Milwaukee-based Cirrus Property Group wants to build five three-unit, three-story buildings on a 0.58-acre site at 1524-1546 North Jefferson Street. The project, named "The Fifteens at Park East," needs approval to rezone several parcels to a Detailed Planned Development before construction can start. The city of Milwaukee Zoning, Neighborhoods and Development Committee recommended the rezoning. The condos will be made up of three-bedroom units, each with a two-car attached garage and options for a private rooftop patio, a planning staff report showed. The units will be around 2,000-square-feet. Cirrus expects to build over phases, with the one building erected in the first phase a new private alley connecting Pleasant and Lyon Street, plans showed. There will be rough site grading and wet utilities in the private alley and pieces of the alley will be built with each subsequent building. Each townhome will have a walkway that connects to the public sidewalk along Jefferson Street, plans showed. (Finance & Commerce)
 

Roers plans redevelopment at St. Louis Park's Wooddale Station
The Plymouth-based developer is in talks to take over the project, after the former development team the city selected for the site pulled out, according to city documents. Roers would plan to acquire the site, located at 5950 36th Street West and owned by the city's Economic Development Authority, and an adjacent property to transform the area into a mixed-use, mixed-income development. The city-owned parcel, which spans 1.7-acres, is currently occupied by a vacant 16,700-square-foot former Nash Frame commercial building and a municipal parking lot. It abuts the Metro Green Line Extension Wooddale Station platform, which will be one of three stations in St. Louis Park. (Minneapolis - St. Paul Business Journal)
 

NOVEMBER 6

Four employment actions to expect under a second Trump presidency
The last decade has reshaped American life and culture, with a global pandemic, shifting identity concerns and changing work arrangements all lending a new appearance to work and life. With President-elect Donald Trump headed back to the White House and immigration issues front and center in the national consciousness, however, in many ways late 2024 feels like late 2016. An immediate, stricter approach to immigration is likely to affect industries like construction, hospitality, and manufacturing. A range of predictions for how President-elect Trump might act on employment issues on his first days in office: (1) Immigration enforcement raids will be back on the table; (2) Agency chairs will be replaced; (3) Regulatory activity will slow considerably; and (4) Limitations on DEI could be put in place. (Construction Dive)
 

Districts see mixed results for school construction project referendums
When it comes to bond referendums, districts had mixed results at polling places on Election Day as voters approved slightly more than half of the questions for construction projects. In all, seven of the 13 districts with bond questions for building or maintenance projects won voter approval for at least one question, according to the Minnesota School Boards Association. Northfield schools were the biggest winners. In that district, voters agreed to pay more than $120-million for a major high school expansion and renovation, among other projects. Other districts didn't fare as well. Most notably, Fergus Falls came up short in its nearly $49-million request for a new Grades 35 school, and Blue Earth area residents rejected a $66.8-million proposal for a new elementary school and high school improvements. (Finance & Commerce)
 

Ohio landlord revamps Grand Avenue building to prep for tenants
The State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio, a teachers' pension fund based in Columbus, Ohio, is about to break up the spaces at 917 Grand Avenue, formerly Milton Mill, to make it more attractive for new smaller tenants to come in. Construction should start in the next month to open u pa common hallway from the parking lot to Grand Avenue, with hopes to deliver to tenants during the first quarter of next year. St. Paul-based Momentum Design Group is the architecture firm working on the project. (Minneapolis - St. Paul Business Journal)
 

Panel to consider commercial uses in residential areas
Neighborhood-serving commercial uses, as the Minneapolis city staff report defines it, is something that an area's immediate residents might utilize on a daily basis, rather than a "destination business" that draws residents from outside the neighborhood. Most uses, as the report says, would be in the zoning code of food and beverage, as well as general retail sales. (Finance & Commerce)
 

Plans for 76-unit Madison development move forward
Fond du Lac-based Volker Development wants to build a five-story building at the corner of East Washington and North Seventh Street. The developer must rezone and consolidate several parcels, as well as demolish four houses and a former muffler shop before construction can start. The city of Madison Plan Commission approved demolition permits and conditional uses, city planning staff said. The commission also recommended approval for rezoning and a certified survey map, which the Common Council will review on November 26th. (Finance & Commerce)
 

Women still face abundance of challenges in trades
Although I have a good gig as a full professor at Iowa State University, I've daydreamed about learning a trade --- something that required both my mind and my hands. So in 2018, I started night courses in welding at Des Moines Area Community College. For three years, I studies different types of welding and during the day worked on a book about the communication between welding teachers and students. I wasn't the only woman who became interested in trades work during this time. Recognizing the good pay and job security, U.S. women have moved in greater numbers into skilled trades such as welding and fabrication within the past 10 years. Both my experience at Howe's and my research at nine other fabrication facilities in Iowa have shown me that --- at least for the time being --- tradeswomen must find workarounds from commonly encountered challenges. Some of these challenges are physical. These could include being unable to easily reach or move necessary material and tools. Or they could be emotional, such as encountering sexism. Being a tradeswoman means being scrutinized for competence. (Originally published on The Conversation website | Distributed by The Associated Press | Found on Finance & Commerce)
 

NOVEMBER 7

Boldt partners with RISE Modular for Wisconsin mixed-use project
Appleton-based Boldt showed its modular prowess after a crane lifted 46 preconstructed apartments onto the future Trout Museum of Art at Lawrence University. For seven days, Boldt used a crane to lift 46-units, each 74-foot by 13-foot, to make up the top two floors of a four-story, 120,000-square-foot mixed-used project in downtown Appleton. The $38.5-million project will feature a 30,000-square-foot art museum on the first floor and market rate apartments overhead with opportunities for future student housing. While Boldt has its own industrialized construction department, it partnered with Minneapolis-based RISE Modular to complete the last two floors. The modular company built the units at its factory in Owatonna, Minnesota. (Finance & Commerce)
 

Local builder advocates weight in on impact of 2024 elections
A couple of months from now, President Donald Trump will get his old job back in Washington DC, where Republicans have also regained control of the Senate. Changes are also coming to the Minnesota Legislature, where power will shift from a DFL-controlled House of Representatives to a House divided. What do these shifting political winds mean for Minnesota's construction industry? Like the Minnesota House, which is likely to see a 67-67 tie between Republicans and DFLers in the next legislative session, advocacy groups are split. Some industry voices are optimistic that the new leadership in Washington will bode well for the construction industry as a whole, and that the new-look Legislature will be receptive to buiders' concerns. Others fear a potential roll-back of investments in things like clean-energy, a cornerstone of the Biden administration's Inflation Reduction Act. (Finance & Commerce)
 

NOVEMBER 9

After many delays, $2B Iron Range project revives quest to create first new taconite mine since 1970s
An industrial resurrection seems afoot at a long-promising but snake bitten $2-billion-plus taconite project. On a crisp fall morning, a construction site in this Iron Range city teemed with workers aiming to complete a venture given up for dead by just about everybody but its owner, Mesabi Metallics. After years of missed deadlines and financial failures, Mesabi last year permanently lost crucial state mineral leases. But Mesabi still controls private land leases in Nashwauk. And it has renewed construction of a project that was only half built when work shut down during a 2016 bankruptcy. The project is now 70% complete. (The Minnesota Star Tribune)