We're reading the headlines so you don't have to.

This week’s Building Buzz is packed with valuable updates. From exciting developments like the St. Paul Public Schools' expansive remodel project and the new infrastructure improvements in Anoka, don't miss this weekly round-up of high-value projects. If you're eager to gain an edge on upcoming bids, dive in for all the details on what’s happening across Minnesota’s construction scene—and discover how these opportunities could shape your next big move.
 

OCTOBER 7

AP Construction to renovate Anderson High School in Northwest Austin
Adolfson & Peterson (AP) Construction has been awarded the contract to renovate Anderson High School, which is part of the Austin Independent School District and located on the city's northwest side. The project will deliver a new 43,350-square-fioit competition gym with an 1,800-seat capacity, locker rooms with coaches' offices, training rooms, officials' dressing rooms and laundry facilities. In addition, common spaces will be updated, while the entry vestibule and front office will be reconfigured for security. Lastly, AP will construct a new science facility featuring robotics and computer labs. (RE Business Online)
 

Beacon nears construction of Kimball Court rehab, expansion
The Kimball Court apartments, a nearly 100-year-old former hotel with a rich history tied in part to the U.S. civil rights movement, is nearing a major rehab and expansion in St. Paul's Hamline Midway Neighborhood. Beacon Interfaith Housing Collaborative, which owns and operates the building as a shelter for vulnerable people coming out of homelessness, plans to update the existing 76-unit building at 545 Snelling Avenue North and create 22 new units on the site of the vacant Star Food Market building at 555 Snelling Avenue North. Working with Flannery Construction and design firm LHB, the St. Paul-based nonprofit hopes to begin the nearly $19-million project in December and wrap things up in May 2026. (Finance & Commerce)
 

Blaze Credit Union undergoes $8M branch overhaul
The sweeping overhaul, which is expected to be completed by the end of the year, will include everything from replacing signs ($3.7-million), updating interior and exterior branding ($114,00 and $3.6-million, respectively), and upgrades to furniture, fixtures and equipment ($500,000). The project is the final big step following the January merger of Falcon Heights-based Spire Credit Union and St. Paul-based Hiway Credit Union, which created the state's fourth-largest credit union with 250,000 members, $4-billion in assets and 26 branches. (Minneapolis - St. Paul Business Journal)
 

Milwaukee veterans center begins expansion
The Center for Veterans Issues and The Alexander Company broke ground on an expansion and renovation of CVI's support facility at 3330 West Wells Street. The center will get a 53,000-square-foot expansion, bump its total units up to 81 and offer indoor and outdoor community spaces. The project was boosted by public funding sources, including a lineup of developers and development partners. Milwaukee-based Kelly Construction & Design is the general contractor for the $21-million project. Demolition work started in August, and the project is expected to be complete in the last quarter of 2025. (Finance & Commerce)
 

Minneapolis / St. Paul apartment construction projected to fall sharply
After a decade's worth of building, the Minneapolis / St. Paul metro area is expected to see one of the nation's largest declines of new apartment construction, according to a new report. Axios has a digest of the latest numbers from Rent Cafe, which is projecting 28,554 apartments completed between 2024 and 2028, in the Twin Cities market. That's down 42% from 49,184 units completed between 2019 and 2023 and the nation's second-biggest drop in total unit declines, after Houston. You can read the full Rent Cafe report here. (Minneapolis - St. Paul Business Journal)
 

OCTOBER 8

Big data center project nears construction in Chaska
After years of planning, a major data center project appears to be on the cusp of construction in Chaska. CloudHQ will go before the Chaska Planning Commission with plans to build the 1.4-million-square-foot facility on a 70-acre site north of Engler Boulevard and west of Clover Ridge Drive. The commission will consider CloudHQ's requests for preliminary site and building plan, preliminary plat, zoning ordinance amendment and conditional use permit approvals. The project has been in the works since 2022. A year ago, the city granted a conditional use permit to allow construction of a 30-foot berm along the north and east edges of the development site, a project requirement. (Finance & Commerce)
 

Maple Grove OKs final plat for senior housing co-op
The senior housing development is a 74-unit, four floor apartment cooperative along with six twin homes west of the intersection of Maple Grove Parkway and Highway 81 in the fifth addition to the Rush Hollow neighborhood. according to planning documents. The project is pitched at Rush Hollow, one of the newest neighborhoods in Maple Grove and features 527 homes, split between single family properties and townhomes. The developer says since the project is a cooperative, meaning the apartment dwellers will own shares of one single mortgage, the property needs to get 60% of the 80-units reserved before construction can begin. (Finance & Commerce)
 

Minnesota cities propose sales tax hikes to cover new parks and rec centers
A half-dozen Twin Cities suburbs are asking voters to approve sales tax hikes this November to pay for new and improved community centers and parks. Projects on local ballots range from a new state-of-the-art sports facility in Chanhassen with ice sheets, a field house and an indoor playground, to improvements to Stillwater's riverfront park. Others, like Brooklyn Center, have proposed upgrades to existing facilities. Richfield is pitching voters on a plan to renovate its 63-year-old community center to include a gym, an indoor walking track and underground parking. (Axios Twin Cities)
 

North Oaks Co. pitches 350 housing units in Lino Lakes
North Oaks Company presented its vision for a mixed-use development to the Lino Lakes City Council, but the council didn't take formal action on the proposal, which calls for two 100-unit market-rate apartment buildings, a 100-unit senior living facility, and 56 townhomes (34 rentals and 22 for-sale units), according to a city staff report. Known as Wilkinson Waters, the project would also create 33,000-square-feet of retail space on the 76-acre development site just south of County Road J / Ash Street / CSAH 32, west of Centerville Road and north of Wilkinson Lake Boulevard. The site is zoned "rural" and would need to be rezoned to "planned unit development," according to the city. (Finance & Commerce)
 

Urban tree planting increases Milwaukee's local lumber supply
Members of the design community will plant trees in an "urban forest," a movement focusing on the environmental, economic and social benefits of sourcing lumber locally. The first yearly tree planting kicked off in 2019 and aims to connect architects, designers and other built environment professionals to the forest, said Dwayne Sperber, owner of Wudeward Urban Forest Products. His company supplies urban wood products to different projects, notably the community staircase at the expanded Baird Center. The 40-tread staircase used urban ash from the Milwaukee area, he added. (Finance & Commerce)
 

OCTOBER 9

Big-D Midwest begins townhome project in Rogers
The project, Big-D Midwest's second collaboration with Bigos, includes 20 units in two buildings, according to a press release. The townhomes will be an addition to the existing The Preserve at Commerce complex, which includes 198 apartment units. The property is northeast corner of Highways 94 and 101. (Finance & Commerce)
 

Corps awards $10M contract for 'protective island'
The St. Paul District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has been awarded a $10-million contract to South Dakota-base Three Oaks Construction Inc. to construct a "protective island" upstream from an embankment at Lock and Dam 2 near Hastings, Minn., according to a press release. The work will begin this spring and end in fall 2027. (Finance & Commerce)
 

Grants for community projects help boost broadband access in Wisconsin
Governor Tony Evers and the Wisconsin Department of Administration (DOA) announced $115-million to construct and renovate community facilities in local and tribal communities to build up broadband access. The municipalities will receive grants through DOA's Flexible Facilities Program (FFP), which is funded by the U.S. Department of Treasury's Capital Projects Fund (CPF) and the American Rescue Plan Act, enacted by the Biden-Harris Administration in 2021. (Finance & Commerce)
 

Groundbreaking set for geothermal system at The Heights
St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter, Council Member Nelsie Young and other project supporters will be on hand to celebrate the start of construction. The system is touted in a press release as the "first aquifer thermal energy storage system in Minnesota." (Finance & Commerce)
 

MnDOT seeks construction manager for $86M 'campus redevelopment'
Snowplows and other essential Minnesota Department of Transportation vehicles are getting bigger --- and the aging, 65-year-old Virginia, Minnesota, facility that stores and houses maintenance operations for such equipment isn't keeping up with the times. In a nutshell, that's MnDOT's reason for an $86-million effort to "redevelop" its District 1 Virginia campus with a new 175,000-square-foot truck station and headquarters facility. Site work is expected to begin next year, and the new facility will likely open in December 2027, according to MnDOT. MnDOT recently tapped architecture and engineering firm LHB to design the new facility and is in the market for a construction manager. MnDOT is accepting construction manager proposals through October 15th and plans to have a "short list" of finalists by October 28. The new facility will rise on the existing campus at 101 Hoover Road North in Virginia. (Finance & Commerce)
 

Rendering vs Realty: Mill District block development
A $161-million redevelopment of a downtown Minneapolis block near the corner of Washington and Portland Avenues wrapped up last month. The project not only brought a new fire station to the city, it also includes a 240-unit luxury apartment tower and a 90-unit affordable apartment building. The ground-floor space in the white tower --- called O2 --- was slated to feature two restaurants by celebrity chef Justin Sutherland. (Axios Twin Cities)
 

OCTOBER 10

Apartments, townhomes coming to hard-luck Oakdale site
McGlynn Partners and Boo Realty are close to putting shovels in the ground for a project that will bring a 126-unit apartment building, a dozen rental townhome units and public spaces to the hard-luck Tanners Lake site in Oakdale, a candidate for new development since 2008. The Oakdale City Council granted rezoning, site plan and planned unit development approvals for the project, clearing the way for construction. The vacant two-parcel, 3.25-acres lakeside property is just east of Century Avenue and north of Hudson Boulevard and Interstate 94. The planned apartments and townhomes are market rate. Also included in the project are public attractions such as a boardwalk, patio, pier launch and "lakeside amenity building," according to a city staff report. (Finance & Commerce)
 

Growing Hispanic ice cream chain plans Apple Valley location
La Michiacana Purepecha will open inside a former Caribou Coffee shop on Cedar Avenue in Apple Valley, according to a photo posted to Facebook by the Apple Valley Chamber of Commerce. According to the chamber's post, La Michoacana's new highly visible location will soon be under construction. (Minneapolis - St. Paul Business Journal)
 

Sofidel's $250M paper mill expansion in Duluth crosses hurdle
Italian paper company Sofidel is moving ahead on its plans for a massive expansion of its Duluth paper mill. The city's Planning Commission voted to accept an environmental assessment worksheet as enough evidence that the project won't cause major environmental harm, clearing the way for Sofidel to expand the plant by more than 588,000-square-feet. The facility currently houses a 363,144-square-foot tissue mill building, a roughly 26,000-square-foot debarking building, a nearly 2,000-square-foot bark bin, a 600-square-foot scale building, a hazardous waste vault, a storm water pond, a former log yard, rail lines and parking. (Minneapolis - St. Paul Business Journal)