A once-shelved senior housing plan near the Stone Arch Bridge is back in motion. Lupe Development Partners and the Wall Companies are again pursuing a five-story, 104-unit affordable senior building on the triangular parking lot at 600 Main St. SE, a short walk from the riverfront landmark. The Minneapolis Planning Commission's Committee of the Whole reviewed the refreshed design this week and took no formal action.
As reported by Finance & Commerce, the team, doing business as Bluff Street Development, is pitching a project that would replace a 58-space surface parking lot with housing. Most of the units would be one-bedrooms, with some two-bedrooms and efficiencies mixed in. The plan will need a comprehensive plan amendment, rezoning, and other land-use approvals, and the developers say they will launch public engagement and prepare formal land-use applications. Steve Minn, vice president and chief financial manager at Lupe Development, told Finance & Commerce the concept received "very positive feedback" from the committee and said that, if approvals and financing line up, construction could start in 2028.
Plan details and prior proposal
A 2023 city housing worksheet shows Lupe previously floated an 80-unit, senior-oriented plan for the same site. That earlier concept included underground parking, a community room, a fitness center and a pedestrian and bicycle connection to Father Hennepin Park and the Stone Arch Bridge. The worksheet lists the project as "600 Main," notes affordability targets and outlines financing, and describes the effort as a way to turn surface parking into higher-density affordable housing. Those materials are filed with the City of Minneapolis Community Planning and Economic Development department (City of Minneapolis CPED).
Developers' track record
Lupe Development and the Wall Companies have delivered multiple affordable and senior housing projects across the Twin Cities, and they highlight several senior-focused buildings on their project lists. That history includes work on tight riverfront parcels, something the 600 Main team is leaning on as it argues that affordable senior housing belongs on this piece of the riverfront (Lupe Development).
History and legal background
The Bluff Street site has a long and bumpy redevelopment backstory. Developers brought forward separate 98-unit and 79-unit proposals in 2009, then sued the city after the Minneapolis City Council rejected those projects. The lawsuit was dismissed in 2011, according to Finance & Commerce. The latest version asks the city to revisit land-use designations and overlay rules that were less defined during those prior disputes.
What's next
The development team says its next moves are public engagement and submitting formal land-use applications. A request for a comprehensive plan amendment would trigger review by the Metropolitan Council before any change could take effect. If approvals and financing align, the project could move toward construction, but several regulatory and funding hurdles remain between a 58-space parking lot and an affordable senior building at the edge of the Stone Arch Bridge district.
