Dominium, Launch pitch housing, retail on industrial properties.

Byline: William Morris

A pair of developers believe they can do far better for Roseville than the cluster of aging industrial buildings currently occupying the 1700 block of County Road C West in Roseville.

Plymouth-based Dominium and Minneapolis-based Launch Properties have big plans for the properties numbered 1705, 1717, 1743 and 1755, a 21-acre area halfway between Snelling and Fairview Avenues in the city's Twin Lakes redevelopment district. The property is best known in Roseville as the former home of Boaters Outlet, which moved out a year ago, and the buildings now are used for miscellaneous industrial uses and are considered blighted, according to city documents.

Launch, which specializes in retail development, had previously explored the possibility of developing up to 185,000 square feet of retail space across the entire site. The new plan, presented to the city Economic Development Authority in July, would split the site in two, with Dominium building affordable apartments on the northern 13 acres while Launch builds 56,200 square feet of office and retail space next to County Road C.

Twin Lakes has a number of other developments underway, including a joint apartment and medical office project from Reuter Walton on a truck terminal immediately west of the site. The property makes a lot of sense for new housing, Dominium development analyst Logan Schmidt said in an interview.

"It's a good site," Schmidt said. "It's got good connectivity to [Interstate 35], so it's easy to get downtown, plus there's a lot of employment opportunities in the immediate area."

Dominium is planning two apartment complexes: one with 224 units of family affordable housing, primarily two- and three-bedroom units with rents estimated at up to $1,447, and a senior building with 252 units of mostly one and two bedrooms. The latter is envisioned as "active adult rentals" for residents 55 and up, Schmidt said.

"Roseville has a large need for these more independent senior-type homes," he said. "They had a market study done and that was one of the biggest priorities of the city."

Launch could...