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EDA approves Renaissance Zone exemption for 28-unit Fourteenth and Main apartments; developer notes site contamination and budget uncertainty
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Summary
The Moorhead EDA recommended and voted to approve a Renaissance Zone application for a 28-unit apartment project at Fourteenth and Main. The developer said the former gas station site has contamination that may raise cleanup costs; Commissioner Cotto abstained from the vote.
The Moorhead Economic Development Authority voted to recommend a Renaissance Zone property-tax exemption for a planned 28-unit walk-up apartment building at Fourteenth and Main Avenue, a project applicant and city staff told the EDA during an application review.
Derek (staff member) described the project as removing a former convenience store and two residential structures to build a 28-unit building with a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom units. The design includes 18 garage stalls on the south side and 25 off-street spaces behind the building; staff said the property lies in the MU-3 mixed-use zoning district and that the project meets Renaissance Zone goals such as infill development and sustaining a walkable district.
Developer Kevin Bartram told the EDA the site is a former Orton’s gas station and that past testing found remaining soil contamination. He said the developer budgeted funds for cleanup but acknowledged there is a “pretty good likelihood” cleanup could exceed the construction budget; he also said the team chose not to pursue a DEED (Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development) deed/grant cleanup process and will perform cleanup independently.
Under the city’s Renaissance Zone policy staff presented, the project qualified for a 15-year exemption with a phased tax return: the first five years a percentage exempt, years six through 10 at 75% exempt and years 11 through 15 at 50% exempt; staff explained that existing value on the parcel remains taxable during the exemption term. EDA approval would forward the recommendation to the Moorhead City Council for final action at its May 27 meeting; staff said construction is expected to begin summer 2025 with completion anticipated summer 2026.
Commissioner Deb White moved to approve the Renaissance Zone application and Commissioner Koda seconded; Commissioner Cotto stated he would abstain because of a relationship with the developer. The motion carried. No detailed vote tally was read into the record at the time of the meeting; the transcript records the motion, a second, and an abstention by Commissioner Cotto.
The record shows EDA members complimented project design choices intended to buffer adjacent single-family homes and noted the project’s potential to reconnect downtown corridors and the MSUM campus area. The developer said he had acquired a recently listed residential parcel that cleared an ownership obstacle to the project and that he hopes to proceed to construction in 2025.
