Northfield News

First and second parking levels now are visible
By MICHELLE KUBITZ
Staff Writer

NORTHFIELD — It’s amazing what a couple months of hard work, tons of concrete and a vision will do.

If you would have visited the site of “The Crossing” — a development located at the intersection of Minnesota Highway 3 and Second Street — a few months ago, all you would have seen was the occasional signs of construction and a lot of dirt.

“Since about April, we’ve been working on parking levels,” said Jeff Cole, project manager with Mendota Homes, the developer responsible for The Crossing.

“What you see is the first and second parking levels,”he said.

Last week, some of the behind-the-scenes faces from the Mendota Homes crew sat down to talk about the project.

When completed, the $45 million project will include two condominium buildings with more than 100 units of living space and 35,000 square feet of commercial, office and restaurant space spread over a number of commercial buildings.

Currently, crews are working on the first condominium building and the foundation of one of the office buildings.

By late summer or early fall, the first office building will be ready for occupancy, according to Mendota Homes representatives.

The Crossing also will sport a restaurant by the end of the year, said Michael Jordan, project manager for The Crossing.

Although Mendota Homes has yet to specify which restaurant will come to Northfield and make a home at The Crossing, Jordan indicated a purchase agreement is pending.

“The restaurant will be built by the new owner using the design guidelines of the development,” he said.

This week crews started defining roads within the construction site. Next month, asphalt will be poured.

“That will really make a good improvement,”Jordan said.

Lots of cooperation
So far, the stars have been aligned for the construction company.

“We’re dead on (schedule),” saidLarryStark, a Mendota Homes representative. “We haven’t gained (a day) and we haven’t lost.”

Whereas the weather has been cooperating with construction crews, they also are finding Northfield to be a very receptive community to the changes they are making at the former Riverfront Redevelopment site.

“Everyone seems to know about it and have really good opinions,”he said.

– Michelle Kubitz can be reached at 645-1115 or mkubitz@northfieldnews.com.
Other projects
Although it’s the most visible, The Crossing is not the only development in Northfield that has Mendota Homes’ thumbprint on it.

Looking ahead, Mendota Homes, a Little Canada-based development company started byJohnMathern, is involved in projects that will change the face of the Q-Block, Bridge Square and will help cement Northfield’s reputation as an arts town.

Q Block
Named for The Quarterback Club and the former Quiznos Subs building, the Q Block is located on the southwest corner of the Minnesota Highway 3/Second Street intersection.

Recently, the city of Northfield worked with Dahlgren,Shardlow and Uban to create a development road map to maximize the development of the Q Block. However, the city ran into a roadblock with Dale Finger, owner of The Quarterback Club, who argued that the plan jeopardized the future of his restaurant, which has a long history in Northfield.

Currently, Mathern,Finger and Glenn Lubbers — who owns the property where the defunct Quiznos and, most recently, Wiggles & Wok have occupied — “are working together … to come up with a plan that we all support together,”Mathern said. “…If we find common ground, we’ll be at the city with something that everyone can support.”

Mathern has a purchase agreement for land on the western edge of the site and owns a parcel of property between Quiznos and the Quarterback Club.

Mathern is working with a local coffeehouse to establish drive-up location at the Q Block and also anticipates that three retail spots will be constructed there.

Construction is “a couple months away, but not much longer than that,” he said.

Bridge Square
In downtown Northfield’s historic district, there is one building that sticks out like a sore thumb.

The old CommunityNational Bank building is a product of 1960s architecture. But to demolish that, Mathern and his company need to figure out a way to save a portion of a historic building that is part of the Community National site.

Trying to save that wall has been “an unbelievable challenge. … How do you build a brand new building around half of an old building?”Mathern said. “… That has been our stumbling block, the salvation of that building.”

The Mendota Homes crew has spent the past two months trying to figure out how to build around the portion of the building they’ve been charged to preserve.

If they can’t figure out the issue, “there will come a point we have to discuss it with the Historic Preservation Commission and the city.”

Mathern says the company will “explore every possibility. But before we say that … we’re not quite done exploring,”he said.

When and if Mendota Homes figures out how to meld the old with the new, the Bridge Square development will have a first floor of retail and parking. The upper floors will be residential, with 26 units being affordable, owner-occupied housing.

Building for Creative Professionals

This week, Mendota Homes and the NorthfieldDowntown Development Corp. (NDDC)) sent in an application for Tax Credit Financing to help fund their “Building for Creative Professionals.”

Located across Second Street from The Crossing, this building will have a first floor that’s a working artist’s space and three floors of rental housing. A portion of this will be affordable housing.

For more information visit www.northfieldnews.com

Northfield News

The proposed downtown “Building for Creative Professionals” would be a boon to the city by marrying the effort to further Northfield’s reputation as an arts town to the effort to create more affordable housing units in town.

The Northfield City Council this week voted to support the Mendota Homes/Northfield DowntownDevelopment Corp. (NDDC) artists’ building development as it submits an application to the Minnesota Housing Finance Agency (MHFA) for tax credit financing assistance. If the tax credits are granted, it would help Mendota Homes’ effort build the $7.6 million, 42-unit artists’ building. And the money wouldn’t come from the city.

The financial benefits of another 42 units of housing located in Northfield’s downtown and the people who would occupy seem obvious, but the greater effort to establish a housing unit that makes it easier for creative professionals to call Northfield home would have its own positive impact on the community.

The project has garnered the support of the city’s Economic Development Authority and its Housing and Redevelopment Authority, and now has the support of the city council as well. Hopefully, as the project moves forward, the MHFA also will see the positive impact such a project would have on Northfield and grant the needed tax credit financing.

The project is a proverbial win-win scenario for Northfield, and the NDDC and Mendota Homes should be credited for their effort to create an affordable housing development that caters to creative professionals in downtown Northfield. The CPB, as it is known, would be just one more project that would help re-shape the future of downtown Northfield and help keep it vibrant.
Mayors forum important to attend
It’s fairly obvious that the futures of both the cities of Dundas and Northfield are intertwined and it’s necessary elected officials in both cities keep open clear communication channels and regularly discuss issues that commonly affect both cities.

The Northfield Area Chamber of Commerce’s upcoming mayors summit on July 12 is being held to allow the mayors of each city to describe what common issues exist, what the two cities are doing together and what still remains to be done. This type of forum, despite its focus on business growth, is an important event. Those who can should make the effort to attend and ask about the future of both cities.

For more information visit www.northfieldnews.com

Publication Date:6/9/06

Pub Section And Page:A4

By Jeffrey Pieters

jpieters@postbulletin.com

A six-story, 69-unit condominium building is “a great start” to the “urban village” residential zone planned on First Avenue Southwest in downtown Rochester, local leaders say.

Members of the Rochester Downtown Alliance board unanimously endorsed the plans at their meeting Thursday morning. “I think this is a great start to what we hope to see happen downtown,” said Gary Smith, director of RAEDI, a Rochester economic development firm, and a member of the RDA board.

Mendota Homes, a Twin Cities firm, will build the condominiums this fall on the former KTTC-TV site, at the corner of First Avenue and Sixth Street Southwest. The building would open by November 2007.  Faced with stucco, brick and glass, the building will be “kind of the anchor” for the rest of the urban village, said John Mathern, Mendota Homes’company founder and president. Open-air decks, attached to community rooms on the first and second floors, are intended to make the building appear active and alive, almost around the clock.

“The idea is to have people on the street beyond five or six in the evening,” Mathern said. “We want them out until 8 or 9 o’clock at night.”

About two-thirds, or 45 of the 69 condominium units will be two-bedroom, with the remaining units one bedroom. Sale prices will range from about $160,000 to $350,000, Mathern said.

The building will contain 105 to 110 enclosed parking stalls — one for each bedroom — split between two levels, on the ground floor and underground.

Next year promises “one massive mess” on lower First Avenue, said project architect Jon Neubauer of TSP Architects and Engineers. Besides the condominium building, the Rochester Family Y expansion — also overseen by TSP — will be under way, and a city street project will reshape First Avenue. The street and condominium projects are being coordinated so they have a matching look, Neubauer said.

“It’ll be beautiful when it’s done, and thank goodness it’s happening at the same time,” Mathern said.

Assuming the building plans receive city approval when expected, demolition would start as soon as September, he said. Within a month or two of that, construction would begin. The structure itself, made of precast concrete and prebuilt panels, will rise quickly.

The longer part of the construction process will be completing interior details, Mathern said. Early buyers will be able to specify materials and other finishing touches for their condominiums, he said.

Pioneer Press

Posted on Fri, Jun. 02, 2006

BRIEFING: LILYDALE

The Lilydale Tennis and Health Club officially served up its last match Wednesday night.

The Lilydale City Council gave final approval to developer Mendota Homes Inc.’s plans to put a four-story condominium building on the 9-acre property.

Construction on the $40 million project is slated to start this fall and last about a year and a half, said John Mathern, owner of Mendota Homes.

Part of the Dakota County trail system winds through the property, which is perched on a bluff overlooking the Mississippi River. But Mathern said nearby residents concerned over losing green space shouldn’t worry.

“We want to enhance the trail system on our property by adding natural planting and widening the paths a little,” he said. The 89-unit building will be built on only half of the land.

Mathern said about 20 people have already expressed interest in purchasing a condo.

The club, which had 3,000 members, was sold earlier this year to the developer.

To view the original article visit:
http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/news/local/states/minnesota/counties/dakota/14722695.htm

Pioneer Press

Posted on Wed, May. 31, 2006

The Lilydale Tennis and Health Club is one call closer to becoming a condominium development.

Lilydale’s planning commission board gave developer Mendota Homes Inc. the recommendation on May 24 to go ahead with plans to convert the 9-acre area, perched on a bluff overlooking the Mississippi River, into a $40 million project boasting a four-story, 89-unit building.

The developer will have to meet the conditions set by the city to build 40 feet away from the bluff and setting back the fourth story seven feet from the edge of the building.

“It’s to decrease visibility of the building and have it not be as imposing to the area,” said John Mathern, owner of Mendota Homes. He added that the structure will be built with limestone and stucco, a smooth cement finish that will provide a more natural look.

City policy requires developers to set aside a certain percentage of their property for green space, and the city and Mendota Homes still are negotiating to make 8 percent of the tennis club land a park. The building will occupy about half of the 9 acres, leaving about 4 acres for potential park development, Mathern said.

Construction will begin on the site as soon as the city council gives it the green light. Mathern said construction should last about a year and a half.

Resident Marilyn Lundberg said she is worried about the building taking up green space.

“I walk and bike a lot through the area,” she said. “I’m concerned about the public’s access to the bluff once the building goes up. I just hope the development enhances open space for the community and (does) not take it away.”

Tennis club owner Clayton Rein sold the property for $6 million to Mathern in January, saying he was no longer able to manage the property and that his daughter, Judy Rein, who is the director, is retiring soon.

Rein built the tennis club in 1972 along with two other clubs, both of which closed because of lack of business.

The 3,000 members of the Lilydale Club will now have to take their tennis game elsewhere.

Husband and wife Mike and Barbara Lowe have been members for 20 years.

“It was a five-minute drive from where we live,” said Barbara Lowe, who lives in West St. Paul. “We haven’t found a new place that has all the features the Lilydale club offers.”

To see the original article please visit http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/news/local/14703280.htm

Details: John Mathern’s family-owned Mendota Homes is best known for projects in St. Paul and surrounding communities close to its Roseville headquarters — including a recently announced plan for luxury condominiums at the site of the Lilydale Tennis and Health Club in northern Dakota County.

But Mathern also is out to make a major impact on the historic business district in the scenic college town of Northfield. He broke ground in January on the Crossing, the first of four projects he’s undertaking in the city that together total more than $70 million.

The Crossing includes four buildings, with 110 residential units in two buildings facing the Cannon River and two retail/office buildings facing the increasingly busy Hwy. 3 corridor connecting Northfield to bustling Dakota County and the rest of the Twin Cities’ east metro.

Other Mathern undertakings include an office/retail project on the west side of Hwy. 3; an innovative arts building featuring intensive cooperative studio spaces and residential lofts; and a four-story, traditionally styled bank/retail/condo to replace an out-of-place 1950s bank structure overlooking Northfield’s town square.

Mathern originally responded to a request from the city’s downtown development executive, Ross Currier, for proposals for one riverfront project and liked what he saw so much that he decided to explore other possibilities.

“We looked at the river and the downtown and we said, ‘We’ve got to do it,’ ” Mathern said. “Northfield is just a community that grows on you.”

The projects will have a significant impact on downtown, but they also are creating a legacy for the firm, which now includes a second generation of the family.

Erin Mathern, an attorney, is development director for the Northfield projects, and her husband, Jason Sellars, is handling marketing and sales. Daughter Allison works with the firm but is headed to graduate school in art and architecture, while another daughter, Casey, is in college studying architecture.

Erin Mathern said the company sold 16 of the 55 units in the first building before the sales office opened this month. Those units are scheduled for completion in early 2007, with the rest of the Crossing to be done by the end of next year.

In addition to the Lilydale project, Mathern also confirmed that he has taken control of a block of prime property at the edge of Soldiers Field Park in downtown Rochester. His plans there for a 69-unit condo/retail project was facilitated by the new Rochester Downtown Alliance, formed to spark the kind of urban housing revitalization that has happened throughout the Twin Cities metro area and its suburbs.

Star Tribune, Monday, Feb. 13, 2006
Business Section, page D4

After more than three decades of serving tennis players and fitness enthusiasts from atop a bluff overlooking the Mississippi River, the Lilydale Tennis and Health Club will roll up its nets on May 31 to make way for condominiums now being designed by Mendota Homes, Inc.

Owner Clayton Rein, 89, had attempted to sell the 3,000-member club on Highway 13 and I-35E to someone who would continue its operation. However, daughter and fitness club director Judy Rein the only people who were interested in the site were developers.

C.G. Rein Company, which also owned and managed four apartment complexes and several commercial properties in the Twin Cities, was sold for an undisclosed amount early this year. “About a year ago we decided to close operations,� Judy Rein said. “We sold everything this year.�

Mendota Homes bought the 9-acre tennis club property for $6 million and plans to construct a multi-story, one-building condominium on the site, said company CEO John Mathern. “It’s the location, being on the river and on the bluff, and we’d worked with the city of Lilydale before,� he said. “It’s a reasonable government to work with and this is one of the last parcels it has for development.�

Mathern is a well-known developer locally. He built the Lilywood Lane complex in Lilydale about a decade ago and in St. Paul has build Lexington Commons on Lexington Parkway, the Rowhouses on Snelling Avenue, River Ridge on Benson Avenue, Parkway Commons on Ford Parkway, Cleveland Commons on Cleveland Avenue, and Crocus Place on Grand Avenue, as well as units in Lowertown and on Armstrong Avenue off West 7^th Street.

Both the city of Lilydale and the state have rules regarding development on the Mississippi River bluff, and Mathern said he will abide by them. He plans to stay well within the 50-foot height limit for the condominium and will maintain a roughly two-acre sloping open space on the riverfront side.

Mathern said he plans to select materials commonly used along the river corridor for new buildings and will attempt to tie the development into existing recreational trails. No retail will be incorporated into the development, he said.

Though the site sits above a busy freeway, Mathern does not see that as a hindrance in selling the units. “Some people have the wrong impression of being next to a freeway,� he said. “The location gives you wide open vistas and we’ll work to reduce the volume of noise through our design. The units will have four-season porches to block the sound while offering views of the river.�

Despite the complaints from some of the 3,000 members who hated to see the club go, Lilydale Mayor Ed Mullarky said the development will increase the population of his town of around 600. “I can’t say if it will be good or bad,� he said, “but I know it will increase the tax base and help the few retailers we have in town.�

Another housing project is now going up near the tennis club on the former 26-acre Ecolab campus. Opus Corporation is building 48 condos and 62 luxury twin townhouses on the site. City manager Jim Danielson said he believes Highway 13, as currently configured, can handle the increase in traffic from both new developments.

For Judy Rein, the club’s closing represents the end of an era. Her father opened the Lilydale Club 34 years ago, along with two other tennis clubs in the Como and Phalen neighborhoods of St. Paul. The other two clubs closed years ago. However, as tennis waned in popularity nationally, the Lilydale Club continued to attract individuals and families while adding whatever was in vogue at the time, including racquetball courts and later a workout area.

The club, which has 93 full- and part-time employees, was remodeled in 2002, Rein said. It added more courses in hot fitness trends, such as yoga and Pilates, and membership grew as tennis rebounded. “Two or three years ago we talked about how tennis was down, but then we saw it pull up again,� she said.

The club had a rare policy of only charging a monthly membership fee and not an additional hourly court fee. It offered several tennis leagues and employed two popular teaching professionals, Rick Yates and Jim Dixon.

Club members will have to find other indoor clubs, Rein said, though the list is short. The closest ones are the Fort Snelling Tennis Center in Minneapolis and the St. Paul Indoor Tennis Club on Desoto Street.

As for Rein, she said she plans to indulge in art and writing after the club closes. The tennis center will be remembered, she believes, for the sense of community it created.

“There are people who made many friendships through the club and they’ve watched each other’s children grow up,� she said. “My dad used to say, ‘I wanted to create a neighborhood club where I’d want to play,’ and that’s what he did.�

Original Story posted in The Villager Newspaper February 22 – March 7, 2006

]]> http://www.mendotahomes.com/news/lilydale/tennis-club-gives-way-to-condos-after-34-years-in-lilydale/feed/ http://www.mendotahomes.com/news/lilydale/lilydale-tennis-club/ http://www.mendotahomes.com/news/lilydale/lilydale-tennis-club/#comments Wed, 08 Feb 2006 22:51:18 +0000 skallstrom Lilydale http://www.mendotahomes.com/uncategorized/lilydale-tennis-club/ By Nhia Tongchai Lee, Pioneer Press

The Lilydale Tennis and Health Club’s days are numbered.

Owner Clayton Rein said he sold the club for $6 million Jan. 30 to developer Mendota Homes Inc.

Preliminary plans indicate that the 34-year-old tennis club will be torn down and in its place, luxury condominiums units will be built, Rein said.

Specific plans to convert the 9-acre property into residential housing will be revealed soon, said John Mathern, owner of Mendota Homes.

“It’s a tremendous location,” Mathern said. “It’s on a location that will support housing.”

The Lilydale club property, perched on a bluff overlooking the Mississippi River, is near another multifamily residential project in the works in neighboring Mendota Heights. That 25-acre area in the 800 block of Sibley Memorial Highway will include 62 town homes and 48 condominiums. It’s set to be completed in 2007.

The club will continue to operate on a lease until May 31.

Edward Mullarky, Lilydale mayor, said that despite some resident complaints, the new development plans would benefit the city.

“Our population will increase,” Mullarky said, adding that Lilydale has only five single-family dwellings. “It’ll help out the few retailers here, too. It’ll also bring in more tax (revenue), which is always a good thing for a city.”

Husband and wife David Weinberg and Cheri Rosenthal of St. Paul joined the club in August to play tennis and enjoy other fitness activities.

“We really enjoy coming to this club,” Weinberg said. “It has great ambience. We’re devastated to see it go.”

Rein, 89, said he is no longer able to maintain the property. His daughter, Judy Rein, is the director, and retirement plans loom in her future, too.

“It’s been in our family for so long,'’ Clayton Rein said. “But we’re all still really proud of the center and what it has provided for the community.”

Clayton Rein built the center along with two other clubs out of a love for tennis.

An avid player himself, he decided building the clubs in neighborhoods would draw the most patrons.

“My wife and I always wanted to play at a neighborhood club that was safe and convenient,” he said. “I knew that by building one, it would appeal to a lot of others, too.”

But the other two did not generate as much business as Lilydale.

One, in the Como area off Snelling Avenue, closed 25 years ago. The club at the Phalen Center in Phalen Park followed suit, closing about 15 years ago, Rein said.

Rein said he wanted to see the Lilydale Club continue operating.

“I would have rather had someone buy and operate the club as it is,” he said. “But there were no buyers interested in managing a tennis club.”

The club was built in 1972. It has 3,000 members, Judy Rein said. For full access to the club facilities, members pay $138 for a family or $94 for an individual per month.

“We have a wonderful staff with wonderful members, but it’s time to start a new chapter,” Judy Rein said.

Nhia TongChai Lee can be reached at nlee@pioneerpress.com or 651-228-2120.

The interior was half complete, but showing promise of a future reality in Northfield.

This Saturday, however, the model home for “The Crossing,” the redevelopment project spearheaded by Mendota Homes will open to the public, giving people a glimpse of what a condominium in the project will look like.

Using the company PROCON Construction of Faribault, Mendota Homes uses the model home “so people can see the finished product while we’re under construction. And that’s really unique, usually people have to wait a long time to see the finished product,” said Mike Jordan, project manager for The Crossing.

According to Jason Sellars, realtor with Mendota Homes, the model represents what a two-bedroom condo would look like.

The model will be open from noon until 6 p.m. Saturday. For the next several weeks, personnel will be on hand from noon until 6 p.m. at the model on Wednesdays through Sundays.

Last week, construction personnel from Mendota Homes — a Little Canada-based company started by developer John Mathern — were in town to meet with Northfield city officials to have a pre-construction meeting.

This week, Mendota Homes parked a construction trailer on the 7-acre site that will eventually host two condominium buildings and 35,000 square feet of commercial, office and restaurant space spread over a number of commercial buildings.

The foundation for the first condominium may be laid sometime this month, Jordan said.

New faces
Although Mathern became a staple at the city meetings which proceeded last year’s sale of the city property to Mendota Homes, there is a new group of faces that hope to become known in the community.

Mershawn Pikus is director of construction for the development company. Lyle Steele is the general superintendent of construction for the company.

Last week, Jordan, Pikus and Steele sat down to talk about the future construction on the project. One common theme they all shared was that the wealth of experience they’ve gained from working with each other would translate well to the project at hand.

“First and foremost, we’re a team,” Pikus said. “We work very well as a team and we work well with each other.”

Currently, geopiers are being installed in the site to correct the soil. In this process, compacted gravel fills holes that are drilled along the site. Ultimately “the building sits on these pillars of gravel,” Jordan said.

Implementing geopiers has less impact on the soil in the long run and enables the company to do soil correction without disrupting the flow of groundwater.

Crews also are working to relocate utilities including power and phone lines.

Mendota Homes is also in the process of getting permits for an eight-unit office condominium.

“As soon as the permit process from the city is complete, we will start construction,” Jordan said.

The restaurant building that is slated for the site is currently going through the design process.

“By the time spring comes, three buildings will be under construction on that site,” Steele said. “… I think people will be really surprised come middle of summer how active that site is going to be.”

Although there is much work ahead of the Mendota Homes crew, the sense from Steele, Pikus and Jordan is that the fun is starting to begin for them.

“We get to do the fun part now,” Jordan said. “We’re going to take it from the ground to something physical.”
– Michelle Kubitz can be reached at 645-1115 or mkubitz@northfieldnews.com.