GRAND RAPIDS — Two new housing projects recently broke ground in the Grand Rapids area.
Foxhaven, a senior housing project in LaPrairie, broke ground Aug. 11, and Mill + Miss, workforce apartments, hosted its groundbreaking ceremony Aug. 14.
The two join a small but growing group of housing projects addressing the region’s shortage. A 2024 housing study found there is demand for over 900 new units in Itasca County. As new jobs come to the area, that demand is expected to grow.
Both Foxhaven and Mill + Miss have been years in the making, and the project leaders behind each aim to meet a different type of housing need.
Another apartment building is under construction in downtown Grand Rapids, the Itasca County Housing and Redevelopment Authority wants to expand its community land trust program and developers are exploring another project in southeast Grand Rapids.
Foxhaven
Foxhaven is a partnership between local company Prime Property Management and Twin Cities-based A-1 Restoration.
“What we find that’s really exciting is there’s a lot of seniors — there's no bridge between their four- and five-bedroom home and assisted living,” said Travis Luedke with Prime Property Management. “That’s what we hope to do is create a 30-year or 20-year bridge.”
Foxhaven is just west of Two Rivers Campground. The roughly 2-acre site was already nearly leveled within a few days of groundbreaking.
Luedke said the plan is to build 64 two-bedroom, one-bathroom units in total over the next four years, with agreements to develop additional lots presently owned by another company.
Luedke wants to have four units open by November, four more by December and then eight more in February or March. Then they’ll add 16 more each year.
The idea for the project came from those who were inquiring with Prime Property Management about housing. Many were seniors looking to downsize.
But they had nowhere to go, Luedke said.
“That housing stock doesn’t exist. So, as we were renting to those individuals, we’d notice, when we moved them out of their home, then that four-bed, two-bath home became available to 30-year-old couple. And what a cool thing that is? Right? So, you’re actually supplying two people with a home by providing 55-plus housing.”
Luedke and his partners spent five years meticulously planning the design and construction.
The rentals will be very well built, Luedke explained, with extra thick slabs, two-by-sixs instead of two-by-fours and triple-pane windows. The hope is these decisions will help keep rents low by keeping utility costs down.
The units are currently listed at $1,850 a month, plus electric. There will also be optional upgrades for covered parking and sheds.
Luedke said building apartments would have been cheaper, but that’s not what seniors want.
“How do we make something that replicates, essentially, like a townhome or a single family home, and gives you that feel and that experience where you can have a little garden, you can have a birdfeeder, you can watch deer in your yard, yet it’s still affordable?” Luedke said. “And you can pull up and park right next to your front door.
“ ... Basically, we’ve tried to take everything that works well out there with rentals, smush it all together and get rid of all the little pieces that don’t work so well and make a new type of housing product.”
Mill + Miss
Mill + Miss apartments in southwest Grand Rapids plans to meet another need: workforce housing.
The project is just northeast of West Rapids Elementary. The lot was already clear and excavating crews were at work on the day of the groundbreaking ceremony.
National property development company Oppidan is building Mill + Miss. It also built the Pillars next door.
Shannon Rusk, senior vice president of senior housing development, said the idea for the project came about in late 2020, not long after construction started on the Pillars. Grand Rapids Director of Community Development Rob Mattei called and said the city needed housing.
“Mill + Miss, again, represents the best of a public and private partnership, which is in fact taking two meaningful parties together to do the right thing for the community,” Rusk said at the ceremony.
“So, this project, just like the Pillars, would not have happened without the help of so many, the city of Grand Rapids ... GREDA [Grand Rapids Economic Development Agency], IRRR [Department of Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation] and MHFA [Minnesota Housing Finance Agency].”
Mayor Tasha Connelly said the project closes the gap in the city’s housing and workforce shortage.
“We are ensuring that residents and families can live in the community where they decided to either work, go to school and/or play, either now or in the future,” she said. “We know from census data that our community is growing, and having access to housing brings stability, economic opportunities and vitality to a community.”
When finished in spring 2027, Mill + Miss will have 132 units, a mix of one-, two- and three-bedrooms. The developers also highlighted the amenities: heated garage parking, a fitness center, game room, outdoor patio and grill area, private balconies and two elevators.
Ben Norton is vice president of Duluth-based Encompass, the future property manager. He wouldn’t estimate what rent will be, pointing to the potential for unforeseen circumstances during construction.
“But definitely taking a mindset during construction to make sure it remains as affordable as possible when it comes out of the ground so it can support the workforce community within Grand Rapids,” he added.
Norton said they’ve already received several calls from interested potential residents, “which shows that there’s definitely an interest and a need and a want and a desire for new and more housing in Grand Rapids.”
Other current and future housing projects
Another apartment building is underway in downtown Grand Rapids, a developer is in talks with the city and three more projects are vying for funding from the state, according to Mattei.
Unique Opportunities LLC, a company partly owned by Alexandria-based Herzog Property Management, is building a four-story complex that will include underground parking and a mix of studio, one-bedroom, two-bedroom and three-bedroom apartments. It will be located on Northeast Second Street, across from the Grand Rapids Area Library and KAXE studios.
Mattei said the project is on schedule to open in spring 2026. The next stage of construction will be building the upper levels floor-by-floor.
“It’s going to be modular panel construction, so I think it will come together fairly quickly,” he said.
The units will be primarily market-rate, but 13 of the units must be reserved for those with incomes at or below 50% of the area’s median income because of the project is receiving tax increment financing from the city.
Oppidan is also a TIF project but is not subject to the unit restrictions, and Foxhaven will receive tax abatement from Itasca County and LaPrairie.
The economic development agency is working to divide the site of the former Grand Rapids-Bigfork school district administration building into eight single family lots. It’s applying for an IRRR grant to help with the costs of demolition and extending sewer and water services.
The Itasca County Housing and Redevelopment Authority is applying for state funds to develop those lots as part of its community land trust, as it did with the former Forest Lake school site.
Mattei said the EDA is also working with a developer on a possible owner-occupied modular home community of about 70 homes on the site of the former wastewater treatment plant in southeast Grand Rapids. There is no definitive timeline on that project, but if things continue to progress Mattei said best-case scenario would be some homes on the site late next year.
Minnesota Housing applicants also include a potential 32-unit apartment on 10th Street Southeast and Fourth Avenue next to Willow Park, and an around-60-unit HRA project next to Lake Shore Place Apartments on Highway 38, according to Mattei.
Have more questions about housing in Grand Rapids or the rest of Northern Minnesota? We want to hear them! Email news@kaxe.org.
