Developer seeks flexibility for design of affordable housing project

Yahoo

08-06-2025

Jun. 8—ROCHESTER — A Santa Monica, California, developer is seeking support for deviating from Rochester development code standards to construct a 149-unit apartment complex along Fourth Street Southeast, just east of the Bear Creek Bridge.
Lincoln Avenue Communities is proposing a 360-foot-long building, with a decreased rear setback along the river trail south of the site. The proposal exceeds length standards by 60 feet.
"The length of this new building should not have any adverse impact on any abutting lots," Scott England, a principal with Minneapolis-based DJR Architecture, stated in a letter with Lincoln Avenue. "The building's length is broken up by multiple vertical architectural components that visually provide for pleasing visual breaks in the façade."
Staff from the Rochester Community Development department are supporting the request, pointing to the ability to add downtown-adjacent parking with infill development across five lots, as well as efforts to provide an active use for the site that sits on a transit corridor.
"The applicant has worked closely with city teammates to ensure compliance with the unified development code and district design standards," Rochester planner Elliot Mohler stated in a report to the Planning and Zoning Commission. "This includes street activation strategies such as benches, raised planters, additional plantings and bike parking."
Lincoln Avenue Communities, which specializes in constructing and managing housing with rents below market rate, plans to lease apartments at rates considered affordable for households earning 60% of the area median income.
"For a single parent with a few kids, this equates to $60,000 to $70,000 per year for income to qualify for housing, so it really is true workforce housing," Sarah Robbins, an associate with Lincoln Avenue Communities, told neighbors in April during a required informational meeting.
Current state guidelines would cap potential rents at nearly $1,700 for a two-bedroom apartment under the tax credit program Lincoln Avenue seeks to utilize.
The project is slated to feature 41 one-bedroom apartments, 77 two-bedroom units and 31 three-bedroom apartments, as well as one level of underground parking.
While a site consolidation and a development plan for the project remain under review, the Planning and Zoning Commission will be asked to determine whether the construction variance will be allowed. Before making a decision, a public hearing on the issue will be held during the commission's meeting at 5 p.m. Wednesday in council chambers of the city-county Government Center.
If development plans are approved, the apartment complex could be added to more than 150 Lincoln Avenue Communities properties throughout the nation.
Company Vice President James Riley said the goal for the company's first Rochester project is to start construction in early 2026, if required development and financing approvals are obtained.
Meetings scheduled to be held during the week of June 9 include:
Rochester
—City Council study session, 3:30 p.m. Monday in council chambers of the city-county Government Center, 151 Fourth St. SE. The meeting will livestream at www.rochestermn.gov/meetings/council-meetings and be available on Spectrum cable channel 180 or 188.
—Police Policy Oversight Commission, 3:30 p.m. Tuesday in room 164B of the Development Services and Infrastructure Center, 4001 West River Parkway NW.
—Sustainability and Resiliency Commission, 4:30 p.m. Wednesday in room 104 of City Hall, 201 Fourth St. SE.
—Planning and Zoning Commission, 5 p.m. Wednesday in council chambers of the Government Center.
—Citizens Advisory on Transit, 4:30 p.m. Thursday in room 104 of City Hall.
Olmsted County
—Housing and Redevelopment Authority, 4 p.m. Thursday in board chambers of the Government Center.
Rochester Public Schools
—School Board study session, 5:30 p.m. Tuesday in the boardroom of the Edison Building, 615 Seventh St. SW.