Solhem plans 288 apartments in 2 buildings on Broadway.

Byline: William Morris

Minneapolis-based Solhem Cos. has found what one broker calls "a phenomenal location" for nearly 300 apartments on the city's northeast side.

Solhem goes before the city's Planning Commission Committee of the Whole next Thursday for feedback on two projects flanking Main Street Northeast just south of Broadway Street. Main Street Apartments West, on the southern corner of Main Street and 11th Avenue, would be a 113-unit building of four to five stories with 68 structured parking stalls. The East building, on the southwest corner of Broadway and Second Street, would add 175 units in a five-story building with 113 parking stalls.

The buildings would be just east and south of The Julia, a 93-unit apartment building at 80 Broadway St. NE that Solhem principal Curt Gunsbury opened this spring. In letters to the city, Gunsbury said the two new projects are expected to break ground this fall and complete construction in spring and summer of 2021.

The buildings are designed to blend the growing commercial corridor on Broadway with the lower-density residential areas to the south, Gunsbury wrote, especially the west building, which won't have a direct access on to Broadway. The building has a number of walk-up units on the first floor for both the north and south facings.

"We share a common goal with the neighborhood in that we intend to create a project that is thoughtfully laid out, urbanely dynamic, and respectful of both current and future uses," Gunsbury wrote.

The west building, at 1018-1024 Main St., will have 62 one-bedroom units, 13 with two bedrooms and 38 alcove apartments. The east building, at 1011-1027 Main St., calls for 126 one-bedroom units, 20 two-bedrooms and 29 alcoves.

City documents do not include a cost estimate...