Minneapolis Residential Project Lands $22M Loan
The upcoming 128-unit property will be among the first projects to rise in one of the city's Opportunity Zones.
Bessemer Apartments LLC, in a partnership with Schafer Richardson, Seward Redesign and Noor Cos., has received a $21.5 million loan for The Bessemer at Seward Commons in Minneapolis, a 128-unit, transit-oriented community currently under construction.
Merchants Capital and Merchants Bank of Indiana provided the 30-month financing.
The project at 2200 Snelling Ave. is part of the Seward Commons redevelopment area, which will encompass 260 rental units across four properties, as well as a 33,000-square-foot business incubator serving small local firms.
Situated adjacent to the METRO Blue Line and the Hiawatha Bike Trail, The Bessemer will be located one block from Franklin Avenue Station. Common-area amenities will include a club room, fitness center, storage system, bicycle storage and repair station, as well as on-site management.
Funding sources
The upcoming community’s ten different funding sources included $5.4 million Tax Increment Financing (TIF) from the City of Minneapolis, utilized over the course of 26 years. Hennepin County, Metropolitan Council and MN Department of Employment and Economic Development provided environmental clean-up funds, while Hennepin County supplied Transit-Oriented Development financing.
According to Amanda Janzen, senior development manager at Schafer Richardson, the project also utilized two Qualified Opportunity Zone Funds—Catalyst Opportunity Funds and Schafer Richardson Opportunity Zone Fund—making Bessemer one of the first projects rising at a designated Opportunity Zone in the city.
Merchants Capital’s Executive Vice President Marsha Goff originated the loan. Earlier this fall, Merchants Capital also assisted Great Lakes Capital in the financing of its River Point West mixed-use development in Elkhart, Ind. With expected delivery in 2021, the 173-unit community was under construction at the time of the deal.