The Station Apartments at Malcolm Yards
More than 20 years ago, developer John Wall, President of The Wall Companies, had a vision for turning a former industrial site in Minneapolis’ edge businesses tapping into research coming out of the University of Minnesota.
It made perfect sense on paper, so Wall started acquiring land. The university’s East Bank campus was nearby and a research park was an ideal fit for the city’s zoning vision for the neighborhood. Much to Wall’s disappoint, the concept struggled to gain traction. In the meantime, the neighborhood was beginning to transition into a more walkable and livable community as new housing developments began sprouting up along the METRO Green Line light rail with food and beverage establishments, such as Surly Brewing and O’Shaughnessy Distilling, and other retailers filling in the area. After years of effort focused on executing his original plan, Wall decided to pivot to accommodate the area’s changing needs.
Today, Wall’s site is a bustling multi-use development commonly known as Malcolm Yards. It started with John and Patty Wall’s innovative idea to redevelop the 19,000-square-foot historic Harris Machinery building into a food hall, The Market at Malcolm Yards. This was followed by the development of a 143-unit affordable apartment building called The Flats, which opened in June of 2023 and was filled within 90 days.
The most recent addition is The Station at Malcolm Yards, a 210-unit, market-rate apartment building. Supply chain issues delayed its opening until December 2023, but that didn’t seem to have hurt demand.
“Yesterday, we had 11 showings,” said Wall, president of The Wall Cos. “People like the neighborhood. They like the project. We’ve been flattered at the reception it’s received.”
The building offers spaces for social gatherings, including a sky lounge and deck with a picturesque view of the Downtown Minneapolis skyline, indoor community room, media room and coffee bar. A fitness center, yoga room and bike storage support residents with their wellness goals, and the property is pet friendly, with a dog treat bar, pet spa and relief area. It also has coworking space, a business center and high-speed internet access for residents.
It complements The Flats and the rest of the neighborhood, Wall said.
“We do a lot of affordable housing and a fair amount of market-rate housing,” he said. “We like the mix. I’m a big proponent that the city needs affordable housing, in large part, to keep the city running smoothly.”
Bringing The Station to life
Launching The Station wasn’t entirely smooth. The project’s development required managing through removal of soil contamination on the site and pandemic-era supply chain issues during building construction. However, before contending with any of that, the greatest hurdle was securing construction financing for the project.
“It was a great location, great building, great team,” Wall said. “So I was surprised at how challenging it seemed to be to find financing.”
After a series of dead-ends, Wall reached out to a friend in the banking business for advice. The friend introduced him to Brian Stanley, a senior commercial banker with MidCountry Bank. Stanley was familiar with the property, having driven through the neighborhood as a student at the University of Minnesota several years back and witnessing the transformation in the area over his past 17+ years as a Twin Cities based commercial real estate lender.
“I called Brian up and shared my story and plans for the site,” Wall said. “He went to work on putting a loan proposal together for me from the bank and we got the deal done. It was awesome.”
Brian Stanley, Senior Commercial Banker at MidCountry Bank and John Wall, President of the Wall Companies
MidCountry Bank’s expertise in commercial real estate and a credit committee comprised of people familiar with the neighborhood were key differentiators. Due to the large size of the transaction, MidCountry brought in participants on the loan and managed that entire process in-house allowing Wall to remain focused on the development of the project. The bank closed on the financing at the end of 2021, working with Wall as he finalized the project budget amid rising lumber prices.
“Our focus is always community first and serving our customers in this market,” Stanley said. “We viewed it as a great site for this type of project. Getting John’s vision for what that site could become was exciting to us and something we wanted to be a part of.”
What’s next for Malcolm Yards
Wall’s plans for Malcolm Yards don’t end with The Station apartments. The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board is adding a public park in front of the former United Crushers grain elevator and a bike trail that will connect to the Grand Rounds Minneapolis trail.
“The continued renaissance of this neighborhood will be fun to watch,” Stanley said.
“Witnessing this new urban infill community sprout up out of nowhere over the past decade has been incredible,” he said. “It’s fun to participate in helping create a vibrant community in an area that was somewhat blighted for quite some time and trying to figure out an identity. There’s certainly future opportunity to develop more on this site.”
Source: Minneapolis St. Paul Business Journal and Lauren Lawley Head – Contributor