St. Paul permits up as $65M mixed-use project nears construction

Commercial-industrial building permit activity in St. Paul was up sharply last month thanks in large part to a $65 million project that will bring more affordable housing and new office space to the Dayton’s Bluff neighborhood.

In April, LS Black Constructors pulled a building permit valued at $41.27 million for Balsam on Broadway, a 128-unit, 100% affordable housing development at 540 Broadway St. The project also includes office space for LS Black.

Michael Hudson, developer and vice president for LS Black Development, said Tuesday that closing is scheduled for May 25 and construction will begin shortly thereafter.

Hudson said the building permit was secured in April because the project’s lenders and investors “like to see that pulled ahead of time as a due diligence item.” Construction will wrap up in late 2024, he said.

Overall in April, the city issued C-I permits with a total value of $52.4 million, according to a Finance & Commerce analysis of city data. That’s up from $17.1 million in April 2022 and $42.63 million in April 2021. The data includes permits valued at $50,000 or more.

For the year to date through April, the city has issued $159.11 million worth of C-I permits, up 38% from last year.

LS Black’s development plans for 540 Broadway St. have been in the works for a while. In spring 2021, the city signed off on a project-related rezoning request and a preliminary site plan.

Finance & Commerce reported at the time that LS Black Development was lining up tax-exempt bonds and 4% Low Income Housing Tax Credits for the project. Hudson said Tuesday that U.S. Bank is buying the tax credits.

Balsam on Broadway will serve families at income levels ranging from 30% to 80% of the area’s median income. In addition, Simpson Housing will administer five units for people who have been homeless, Hudson said.

“There’s a crazy amount of demand for this product. We are majority two- and three-bedroom units, so there will be a lot of families,” Hudson said, adding that the project site is “just a 10-minute walk” from Regions Hospital, CHS Field and other amenities.

Finance & Commerce reported in February that the Balsam will rise on the site of a 60-year-old industrial building. In January, the developers paid $2 million for the site. LS Black Constructors, a sister company, was the seller.

Also issued in April was an $8.26 million permit for interior remodeling at 350 Robert St., home of the Minnesota Museum of American Art. Greiner Construction is the contractor.

Ann Benrud, director of marketing and communications for the museum, said the permit is related to the “final stretch of a long-standing building expansion project in the historic Pioneer Endicott building.”

Scheduled for completion in spring 2024, the project will “triple the amount of gallery space available, allowing us to present more exhibitions and to showcase our permanent art collection of nearly 5,000 objects,” Benrud said in an email.

Finance & Commerce previously reported that the Minnesota Museum of American Art celebrated a grand reopening in 2018 after rehabbing 20,000 square feet of space in the Pioneer and Endicott complex.