The former Department 56 office site in Eden Prairie is about to trade cubicles for cooktops. Roers Companies has purchased the parcel at 6436 City West Parkway and is moving ahead with The Garraway, a roughly $65 million redevelopment that will plant a six-story, 195-unit apartment building next to the future City West light-rail station.
The project calls for a mix of one-, two-, and three-bedroom apartments, plus resident amenities and structured parking. The developer and the city say construction is scheduled to kick off in March, with the opening targeted to line up with the start of service at the City West light-rail stop.
To help make the office-to-housing flip pencil out, the Eden Prairie City Council approved $4.9 million in tax-increment financing and signed off on the entitlements needed to convert the site from office use to high-density residential, according to Finance & Commerce. That staff report outlines an income mix in which 20% of units are affordable to households at or below 50% of the area median income, another 5% are at 80% AMI, and the building offers 326 parking stalls along with shared amenity spaces. City officials told the paper they expect Roers to pull permits and move toward closing in the near term.
Design and site
Architectural plans describe a roughly 308,200-square-foot building that stacks in a rooftop terrace, pool deck, and about 7,400 square feet of indoor common areas, along with a combination of structured and surface parking, per project materials reviewed by The Development Tracker. The site is under contract from Duchossois Milestone Real Estate, and local filings and reporting peg the total land deal and build-out cost near $65 million, according to the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal.
Designers say the exterior will mix brick and metal panels, with the building’s massing arranged to play off neighboring office properties while keeping existing tree buffers intact. On paper, at least, it is trying to look like it belongs to the office park next door and the woods behind it at the same time.
Transit and neighborhood response
Roers is planning an off-site trail connection that will link the property directly to the future City West light-rail station, an extra bit of infrastructure that the city and developer say is meant to make The Garraway a genuinely transit-oriented community, Eden Prairie Local News reports.
At early public hearings, some residents raised questions about the building’s height and setbacks, but the city’s Planning Commission and City Council ultimately approved the rezoning, density waivers and other concessions needed to greenlight the project.
Next steps
Roers says it plans to close on the site, apply for building and grading permits and start site work once financing and approvals are finalized, with construction slated to begin in March, according to Roers Companies. The company says the capital stack will include its investor syndication platform, a construction loan and the previously approved TIF.
The developer also highlights an electric-forward design that it says lines up with Eden Prairie’s sustainability standards, signaling that the project is meant to appeal as much to climate-conscious renters as to commuters eyeing that new light-rail stop next door.
