Developer Has Housing Plan for Former Kmart Site in West St. Paul

Aug 27, 2019 In the Community

The Plymouth-based affordable housing developer hopes to build two apartment buildings on 12 acres located on the northern part of the Signal Hills Shopping Center property.

One building would be four stories tall with 137 units of workforce housing. The other building would be five stories with 232 units of independent senior living.

In documents submitted to the city, Dominium estimated the project cost could reach $100 million. That total would be the single-most costly residential project the city has ever seen, said Jim Hartshorn, West St. Paul’s community developer director.

Members of the city’s economic development authority, which is made up of city council members, got their first look at the proposed project at a Monday work session.

“The EDA board’s reaction was ‘bring us more information,’ ” Hartshorn said. “They’d like to know more about traffic, so we’ll probably do a traffic study there. They’d like to see more green space and walkability space.”

To help finance the project, Dominium intends to apply for tax-exempt bonds and 4 percent affordable housing tax credits through Dakota County. It also plans to seek tax-increment financing assistance from the city, according to submitted documents.