GOLDEN VALLEY, Minn. -- Construction has ramped up this spring in Minneapolis' Uptown neighborhood. Crews have been working on four new projects that will bring more housing, restaurants and office space to the area.
Potential building sites have sat empty for years in Uptown. Four of those sites are now in the middle of major makeovers.
Maude lovelle of the Uptown Association said, "There's always been a vision for Uptown that creates a very, very vibrant business community and a very vibrant residential community."
The recesssion played a large part in keeping the projects on hold.
The buildings under construction will stretch the length of Uptown. The Greenleaf Apartments will be located on the eastern side of the neighborhood. The Greenleaf is a mixed-use affordable housing project scheduled to open in the fall. The ground floors will be retail,more than 60 apartments will sit above.
A 57-unit apartment building is being built near the corner of Knox and Lake St. The building will also have two spaces for office and retail.
One of the largest projects is being built behind the Lagoon Cinema. The $32 million complex will be called Mozaic. "The first floor is commercial so we have about 12,000 square feet of commercial and retail space. We have six floors of parking, so its 436 spaces in a ramp because Uptown is incredibly under parked and the top three floors is 65,000 square feet of offices," said JoAnna Hicks of the Ackerberg Group.
As for tenants, a restaurant is said to be showing interest as well as a business. Mozaic is scheduled to open in 2012. The project also calls for a public plaza along with full access to the Greenway pedestrian and bike trail.
The Flux Apartments are being built to the north of the Greenway. The building will have 216 apartment units, it's set to open in 2012.
"It's not happening in a lot of other places, in Minneapolis and the Twin Cities. We're very, very fortunate that things are really coming together for us," said Lovelle.
(Copyright 2011 by KARE. All Rights Reserved.)