A large gathering of people recently celebrated the completion of one of the newest apartment buildings in town.
"We found that there was a need for the product, said Trevor Martinez, senior developer for Sherman Associates.
Aster, a 192 unit market rate apartment building, is the third phase of the Riverdale Station Redevelopment project done by Sherman Associates. It opened this past spring and is already more than 50 percent leased.
"It has met and exceed every single one of them (expectations) both in terms of the quality and beauty of the building as well as the market reception to the product," Martinez said.
Nova, a 71 unit mixed income building, was the first to open on the site in 2019. Lyra, a 180 unit market rate building, followed in 2020. The 15 acre site was originally owned by Anoka County.
"The City felt it was really a priority to work with the county to get a good development project here," said Matt Brown, community development director for Coon Rapids. "Obviously with the park and ride right next to one of the largest regional shopping centers in the metro area, certainly in the north metro, it was important to get a high quality project in place."
"Over the last nine years, we have worked closely with the City of Coon Rapids to lay out the vision for the 15 acres of which now we've developed about 80 percent of that land into 443 homes that are serving a very wide range of households," said Chris Sherman, president of Sherman Associates.
A fourth and final phase is in the early planning stages. It would include 70 to 80 units of affordable senior housing. But construction on that phase is still another two to three years away.
"The demand for housing in this location in Coon Rapids is strong," Sherman said.