Vikings call next play in Eagan.

Byline: Brian Johnson

Building activity is about to intensify at the Minnesota Vikings headquarters campus in Eagan as MVE Eagan Ventures seeks city approval for the first residential project on the mixed-use development site.

MVE Eagan Ventures, an entity related to the Vikings' ownership, wants to bring 261 market-rate apartments and a 32,600-square-foot clubhouse and commercial building to the southeast corner of Lone Oak Parkway and Vikings Parkway.

The project, part of the 3.2 million-square-foot Viking Lakes campus, is up for final planned development approval at Tuesday's City Council meeting. The developers hope to break ground this spring and finish in spring 2021, according to the city.

Representatives of MVE Eagan Ventures couldn't be reached for comment Monday.

The apartment project is a down payment on a long-term plan to build up to 1,000 housing units on the campus, which is anchored by the 277,000-square-foot Twin Cities Orthopedics Performance Center and a 6,500-seat outdoor stadium.

A site plan shows the TCO Performance Center surrounded by corporate and medical offices on the west, retail and multifamily housing on the south, and a mix of hotel, office and retail uses on the east.

"Viking Lakes has always been anticipated to be a mixed-use development, meaning that the office, retail and now this residential component will be added to the mix," said Mike Schultz, Eagan's city planner.

Matt Mullins, vice president of Golden Valley-based Maxfield Research, said the Eagan apartment market has been solid. Existing products have leased well, and the city has a low vacancy rate of 1.8% for market-rate apartments, he said.

The Viking Lakes project could face a lot of competition, however. Including speculative and proposed projects, roughly 2,000 new housing units are...