Plans for a new 7-story apartment complex are in pipeline for Rochester's former YMCA site

Jeff Kiger, Post-Bulletin, Rochester, Minn.
·2 min read

Feb. 8—ROCHESTER — A regional developer hopes to build a seven-story "high amenity" apartment complex on the site of Rochester's

former YMCA complex

.

Enclave

, a "unified real estate investment firm" with offices in West Fargo, North Dakota, and St. Louis Park, Minnesota, has started the planning process to build a 219-unit tower at 709 First Ave. SW. That would mean demolishing the 59-year-old building on the site, which has been unused since the YMCA closed in early 2022.

Enclave's proposal is still in the very early stages of Rochester's development process.

A public neighborhood meeting

about the proposal is scheduled for Feb. 23 at the nearby Zumbro Lutheran Church.

The plans still need to go through several stages in the city's planning process. The Twin Cities-based YMCA organization still owns the 74,799-square-foot complex. If approved, construction could start this year with an estimated completion date in 2025.

This is the first project that Enclave has proposed in Rochester.

"Enclave has completed over 100 successful developments across the upper Midwest and joined the Twin Cities metro in 2019 with our project in Shakopee, MN," stated Enclave Developer Patrick Brama in an email response to questions about the project. "Since then, we've developed, constructed, and managed more than eight multifamily/mixed-use communities across suburbs of the Twin Cities, and are thrilled to be expanding our footprint to include Rochester."

When asked why Enclave wants to build in Rochester, Brama wrote, "We identify opportunities that create long-term success for our partners and communities. The opportunity in Rochester allows us to meet a housing demand and provide added value to the greater community through a product that's extremely well-matched to the environment."

These apartments would be adjacent to the

Soldiers Field Golf Course and the associated city park

. The complex would stand across First Avenue South from

open land owned by the University of Minnesota Rochester.

For the past 14 years, UMR has been

buying and demolishing buildings

in that area as part of a plan to build a 10-acre campus.

The proposed amenities for Enclave's as of yet unnamed complex would include three separate rooftop/terrace common areas, a fitness and yoga studio, an indoor game room with sport simulator, seventh floor suites with terrace balconies, a pet spa/dog wash station, car charging stations and a grab-n-go convenience market.

If this becomes reality, this project would mark the entrance of another major developer into the Rochester market. Enclave, founded in 2011, has more than 200 employees and has completed more than 100 projects valued at more than $1 billion

In 2021,

Enclave built and moved into a new $13 million headquarters

in West Fargo.