by Logan Gruber
operations@thenewsleaders.com
Colleen Hollinger Petters, Jon Petters and their team at Collegeville Cos. have been working on a new development in town for a number of years now. Bayou Alley Flats, a project which was planned to have both residential and business space, has changed its name as the project shifted focus. It will now be known as 24 North Lofts on College Avenue.
“While it was originally really a fun concept of a New Orleans-style building with a very southern influence,” said Petters, company CEO, “that architecture and the Bayou name were just a bit too much of a stretch for our Minnesota prairie town as we worked through the details.”
The project sits across from city hall on College Avenue, and just across the alley from La Playette. A house at 24 College Ave. S. was demolished April 1, 2015.
Collegeville Cos. had originally planned to begin construction in November 2014, but the date was pushed back while they await a firm tenant for the restaurant/retail portion of the building. Now, a slightly upscale restaurant has signed a lease for half of the street-level retail space.
The restaurant owner plans a French-influenced menu tailored for central Minnesota, and they are working through final details before making a formal announcement. Collegeville Cos. reports the residential lofts on the second and third floors will include a few changes renters are looking for. Every unit features a gas fireplace, a den has been added to the one-bedroom lofts and the balconies are now twice as deep.
“The goal is to make these lofts beautiful and functional for all ages – which means elevator access – while being architecturally appropriate for the town,” Petters said.
Collegeville Cos. is still seeking another retailer or contrasting restaurant to lease the remaining 600 to 3,000 square feet of street-level space.
Collegeville Cos. received approval from the St. Joseph City Council Nov. 13, 2014 for tax-increment financing – a way to subsidize redevelopment, infrastructure and other community-improvement projects with public financing – in November 2014. The council approved a maximum of $647,000 to be available for Collegeville Cos. use in this project during the next 19 years or less. The money is meant to help offset the cost of redevelopment.
The house at 24 College Ave. S., which sits on the future site of 24 North Lofts, across the road from City Hall and across the alley from La Playette, was demolished April 1, 2014. The previous owners of the house, the Loso family, gathered to watch the demolition.
