Track 29 Luxury Apartments

2841 Bryant Ave S, Minneapolis, MN 55408

Project Components:

• 198 market rate apartment units on the Midtown Greenway (Bryant Ave S @ the Greenway) in the Uptown Area of Minneapolis, MN.

• The unit mix for the project is alcove, 1-, and 2-bedroom units, with six 2-story luxury units in the tower. There are 2.5 stories below ground for parking.

• Interior common areas of approximately 10,000sf including a club room, workout facility, lobby lounge, tea bar, art gallery, indoor saltwater pool, conference room, pet spa, carwash, bicycle storage, and a concierge.

• Exterior amenities include Zen garden, rooftop deck with a bar, outdoor patio, and public sculpture.

• Track 29 was funded with a bank loan and funding from a union pension fund.

• Total project cost was $35,569,000.

Partner Organizations & Funding Sources

• Bremer Bank

• White Star

• NorthMarq Capital

Retail developer Ross Fefercorn, the late president and owner of RMF Group in Minneapolis, owned a vacant parcel of land near the Midtown Greenway, the linear park in Midtown Minneapolis. In 2010, at the tail end of the recession, he was being pressured by Wells Fargo to sell the land. His broker reached out to Phoenix Development Company’s Loren Brueggemann to see if he would be interested in developing apartments on the property. The two structured a purchase of the land and created a joint venture for the development process.

The City of Minneapolis was extremely supportive from the start, whereas the neighborhood came on board after some design changes which were made based on their input. The original plan was for a building that stood 5 stories tall. The redesigned building has a shorter end, with only 4 stories so as to not block neighborhood views, and a taller end with 6 stories that is situated overlooking the Greenway.

This was Phoenix Development’s first luxury market rate project. While Loren had previous market rate experience it was never to this scale and luxury level. Loren took it upon himself to do a lot of personal research and worked with Village Green Property Management to understand their process concerning luxury apartment management. He also approached other developers and property management firms to understand what they considered essential to include in a luxury market rate project.

One particular focus was the determined effort to make the project more female friendly. To do so, Loren met with many professional women who provided feedback on the design and layout of the building and amenities. Some voiced concerns about the swimming pool placement being too central, then worked to determine a more discrete and suitable location for the pool and sunning area. Additional amenities include an art gallery, tea bar, and other softer touches to appeal to a more feminine demographic.

Construction spanned from 2012 through 2013, and once complete the property leased up within six months. The careful planning which went into the development of this project is directly reflected by the stable tenant population and low turnover rates. The partnership sold the project in 2017 for $53M, which was 133% higher than what was originally projected.