Contractor Tapped for Twin Cities Affordable Housing

By Dees Stribling, Contributing Editor

St. Paul, Minn.—Project for Pride in Living has selected Anderson Cos. to build the nonprofit’s of Hamline Station Apartments in St. Paul, Minn. Construction is expected to begin next April, with residents taking occupancy in the spring of 2015.

Located at 1319/1333 University Ave. W., the Hamline Station Apartments project will include 108 affordable rental units and 13,000 square feet of ground-floor retail in two buildings totaling about 175,000 square feet. Elness Swenson Graham Architects is providing the project’s architectural services.

Besides undertaking the construction services, Twin Cities-based Anderson Cos. will also do environmental remediation on the infill site. Before new construction begins, the company has to remove an existing building ridden with asbestos, as well as deal with extensive soil contamination.

Anderson Cos. senior vice president Shane Walgamuth, a multifamily specialist, tells MHN that “we’ve found there are typically significant costs associated with challenging soil conditions. When a project requires substantial earthwork, we’re very aggressive with our site due diligence, as was the case with the Hamline Station project. A little extra due diligence work on the front end can lead to considerable project savings during construction, along with fewer surprises.”

Walgamuth also points out that as multifamily development increases, so do the costs of material and labor, something the company has to deal with on every job. “We’re always looking for methods to build more efficiently and offset as many of these costs as possible,” he says. “We try to be as actively involved as possible in design-related decisions. That allows us to help our clients understand how each decision impacts the overall project costs, as well as the schedule.”