Rentals pitched near U.S. Bank Stadium.

Byline: William Morris

A long-vacant office building in the Elliot Park neighborhood could finally be occupied, not by workers, but apartment dwellers.

The Minneapolis Planning Commission Committee of the Whole will take up a proposal Thursday to convert the 1010 Building at 1010 Seventh St. S. into 179 apartments. The building, also formerly known as 1010 Metrodome Square and the Strutwear Knitting Company Building, has been empty for at least a decade.

BKV Group in Minneapolis submitted the application. The property has been owned since 2000 by an entity connected to Timeshare Properties, which operates the nearby Minnesota Technology Center data center at 511 11th Ave. S., and to North Oaks investor Basant Kharbanda. BKV and Timeshare did not respond to messages seeking comment, and attempts to reach Kharbanda were unsuccessful.

A lot has changed around the 1010 Building in the years it has sat vacant. Most notably, it sits directly across the street from U.S. Bank Stadium, which opened in 2016. That mega-project is only the most visible sign of the redevelopment wave happening on the east side of downtown, said Chris Collins, a senior associate in the National Multi Housing Group for Marcus & Millichap in Minneapolis.

"With the stadium, with the Wells Fargo buildings, the new hotels going down there, new apartments, that is definitely a draw where more people are interested in living in that neighborhood," Collins said in an interview. "There's more amenities in walkable distance, restaurants, things like that."

The BKV proposal, according to city documents, would convert the 10-story building into 179 apartments, with amenities including rooftop courtyards, a dog run, and possible commercial or retail space on the basement level. The property, a full block bounded by Sixth and Seventh Streets and 10th and 11th Avenues South, also includes a 554-unit parking ramp, currently used for off-site paid parking, and the proposal anticipates residents with...