New Apartment Complex Plan Gets Approval From Maple Grove City Council

A plan to build two new apartment buildings in Maple Grove has received approval from the City Council. 

The multi-family community called Skye at Arbor Lakes will span about 24-acres just north of the Arbor Lakes Senior Housing facility off of Hemlock Lane and include two four-story apartment buildings.

In a 3-1 vote, Councilmembers approved the Skye at Arbor Lakes planned unit development (PUD) concept amendment and development plan at the Monday, Dec. 5 meeting. Councilmember LeAnn Sargent voted against the proposal. Mayor Mark Steffenson did not participate in the discussion and vote due to a potential conflict of interest.

The approval gives developers the green light to move forward with the first phase of a multi-family, four-story apartment building with 259 rental units. The first phase of the building plan also includes a four-story enclosed, heated garage.  

“It’s unique, it’s completely enclosed within the units,” Maple Grove Community Development Director Dick Edwards said of the parking garage during his presentation to the Council.

Amenities for the site include a clubhouse, pool, small pavilion, playground, dog park as well as landscaping, sidewalks and roadways. The clubhouse, according to a memo provided to the City Council, will include a business center, cyber café, 24-hour fitness facility, kid’s playroom, sauna, spa, virtual golf and outdoor pool and sun deck.

The second phase of the project includes a four-story, 207-unit apartment complex, for a total of 466 rental units in both buildings.  

Most of the rental units in the two buildings will be one or two bedrooms, with a few three-bedroom units, according to the memo. The project applicant told Councilmembers the rental rate for the units would range from $1,200 to $2,100 a month, with 10 percent of the units designated as affordable housing.

Before the City Council voted, Councilmember Sargent asked questions and expressed her concern about future access on 80th Avenue, located on the southern edge of the property.

“The Council said we wanted the applicant to show how that parcel of land would be affected,” she said to Edwards. “That was one of the marching orders we gave you, yet I don’t see where it has been done.”

Both Edwards and an applicant representative for the development spoke to Sargent’s concern. However, Sargent later made a motion for the Council to table the PUD decisions. The motion was not picked up by fellow Councilmembers. Councilor Erik Johnson then moved to approve the PUD concept amendment and PUD development stage plan for Skye at Arbor Lakes, which passed by a 3-1 vote.

For more information on the project, check out the supporting documents on the Dec. 5 Maple Grove City Council Agenda.