2 days ago
Proposed senior housing project eyes annexation into Rochester
Jun. 11—ROCHESTER — A 300-home neighborhood for active adults is being planned alongside an anticipated request to expand Rochester's southwest boundary.
"It's meant for folks who are just about to retire or are retired and want an active lifestyle," Dean Lotter told potential neighbors during a required neighborhood meeting Tuesday.
The director of land planning and entitlement for Pulte Group's Minnesota division said creation of the proposed housing development for people 55 and older will require adding the site southwest of the intersection of Country Club Road Southwest and 45th Avenue to the city.
If approved, the Atlanta, Georgia-based developer plans to bring its Del Webb-style neighborhood to Rochester, making it the third in the state. Other locations are in Chaska and Corcoran.
"It's a resort-style living that's highly amenyitized," he said of the neighborhood dubbed Del Webb at Country Club, which is expected to feature single-family, for-sale homes.
Offering a variety of styles and sizes, from 1,300- to 1,500-square-foot homes designed for single residents to larger luxury 54-foot-wide homes with three-car garages for people not yet ready to fully retire, Lotter said the exact design of each house will be determined by the buyer.
He said standards are in place to avoid repetition within the neighborhood, but the goal is to let owners pick their individual lot and home style within the Del Webb catalog.
To enhance the resort-style appearance, he said plans call for a main access point from 45th Avenue Southeast, south of Country Club Road and about a third of the way to the development's southern boundary at Eighth Street Southwest.
"When you enter a Del Webb neighborhood, it's sort of a special kind of experience," he said of the planned 45th Avenue connection. "There's usually a main boulevard, and it's heavily flowered and landscaped. There's usually a beautiful entrance monument that greets you and there are no homes that actually access with driveways off of that main drive."
With side streets being accessed from a community center at the end of the main drive, Lotter said a secondary access to the neighborhood is eventually planned on Eighth Street, to ensure two routes in and out of the area.
A traffic study is expected to be part of a required environmental review for the project.
Addressing neighbors' concerns about the proximity to existing homes in Rochester Township, Lotter said the site is being designed with berms and landscaping in an effort to set it apart from the surrounding area.
"We try to create a certain sense of privacy," he said. "Typically a buyer for these neighborhoods wants to feel safe, and they want a little bit of a closed-in neighborhood."
With development plans emerging, the process will require Rochester City Council approval to annex the land that sits largely in Rochester Township, with a portion in Cascade Township. Lotter said the request will only involve land the company plans to develop.
In addition to the annexation request, the developer has 30 days following Tuesday's meeting to submit a development plan. The plan will face staff review, but the annexation request will require public hearings ahead of a council decision.
Meanwhile, Lotter said the environmental review has started but is expected to take six months, which will involve state and local reviews, as well as opportunities for public input.
The proposed development follows a failed 2023 request to change land designation for 50 acres at the site allow the Nigon Family Farm Trust to develop the area outside city limits. The Rochester City Council's refusal of the change played a role in discussions leading to changes in oversight for development outside city limits, but the new proposal changes direction with the for the site, since it involves an annexation request.
Lotter said annexation is needed to tie into the city's sewer system, which would be accessed through a connection at 45th Avenue Southwest.
With development on both sides of Cascade Creek, Lotter said the development plan leaves room for a planned Minnesota Department of Natural Resources project that is expected to modify the waterway to reduce flooding potential.
In addition to leaving space for the state project, he said the development plan will also include details to ensure stormwater runoff is controlled, which he said should improve conditions for neighbors.
"Right now, that whole site is unmanaged and unchecked," he said.
With Pulte Group initiating efforts to obtain approvals for the development, the company hopes to start site development in the spring of 2026, with the potential to have the first homes available for sale at the start of 2027. They could be occupied by April of that year.
Lotter said construction would likely continue into the summer of 2030.
"It takes years for the whole thing to build out," he said.
