The University of Minnesota will buy student housing apartments in Stadium Village for $25 million to further its plan for expanding its clinical campus.
The Board of Regents voted in early June to allow the University to purchase the Classic City Apartments in Stadium Village. The purchase is part of a larger mission by the University to acquire land to expand its clinical facilities on the eastern portion of campus.
The apartments, located at 1015 Essex St. SE, are marketed as affordable and have 121 units.
A building and environmental inspection will be done to decide whether the apartments can remain or if they will be demolished for additional surface parking prior to the inevitable redevelopment for the clinical campus, said Leslie Krueger, the University’s assistant vice president of planning, space and real estate.
The clinical expansion could be at least 10 years away, so the University may rehabilitate the property for student housing with a third-party manager until then, depending on the assessment. The apartments already have leased renters and will remain in service for at least another year, Krueger said. She said she would like to see the apartments stay for student housing longer.
According to regent documents, the University did not previously plan on acquiring the apartments’ land, but the property was put up for sale in late 2019 and marketed to student housing developers.
Regent Michael Hsu said he supports the purchase because it will help expand clinical services for the University.
“We have to make progress — we have to do things to help improve our situation in terms of the clinical enterprise in the medical school,” Hsu said.
Krueger said no specific plans are set yet for what would be placed on the land, but they would be for clinic-related development.
The apartments are among the multiple recent purchases sought by the University in Stadium Village to help facilitate a clinical campus expansion. The Stadium Village Church is currently under consideration for purchase, and houses on Erie Street Southeast were purchased, with some demolished, by the University in recent years.
Rebecca Cowin, Minnesota Student Association’s student body vice president, said she hopes students have more input about what they want to see for campus amid further property purchases, even if they are temporary residents.
She said, “There’s always going to be students here, and it’s important to get their viewpoints and what their needs are around campus.”
