Jake Spitzack
Staff Writer
One of Karen Reid’s first tasks when she became executive director of the Neighborhood Development Alliance (NeDA) 26 years ago was to work with the City of St. Paul to figure out what to do with the half-acre property at 617 Stryker Ave., home to a vacant gas station. After several failed proposals from other developers in the following decades, NeDA came back around and got the go ahead in 2021 to build an apartment complex for low-income seniors on the site. The Stryker Apartments project was unveiled in mid-November, offering 57 units for seniors 55 and older, two community rooms, patio and picnic space, raised garden beds, elevators, 19 off-street parking spaces and more.
“I just really can’t believe it,” said Reid with a laugh. “I started here when we were first looking at the site. I’m going to be retiring this spring when this site is completed [final documents and leasing], so my work here is done.”
Seventy-five percent of the units are reserved for seniors making less than 30% of the area median income (AMI) and 14 for those with incomes below 50% AMI – max monthly income for each is $2,175 and $3,542, respectively. Utilities are included, so tenants only need to cover extra bills such as phone, cable and internet. Fifteen of the one-bedroom units accept Section 8 vouchers, which means that those residents only pay a third of their income for rent and St. Paul Public Housing will make up the difference. Five Veteran Assistance Supportive Housing vouchers are also available and provide full or partial rent assistance for qualifying veterans.
NeDA worked with an Xcel Energy program to ensure the building is energy efficient. It’s heavily insulated and built with fiber-cement material. Solar panels may be installed on the roof if another grant can be secured in the future. Soil remediation occurred due to leaking from underground tanks from the gas station that was demolished in the late 1980s. A community garden has operated on the lot for about 10 years using raised beds and fresh compost for plantings.
In 2022, the city demolished West Side Groceries, commonly known by its former name, the Stryker Market. This allowed the apartment complex to be built on the entire .75-acre site and increase the number of units from 40 to 57. The convenience store, which occupied half of the lot, was shut down in 2014 following the owner’s arrest for assault with a machete and multiple license violations. Flannery Construction completed the $12 million build. Total project cost was about $14 million and was funded by city, state and county grants, as well as federal American Rescue Plan Act funding awarded during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“This project was built to provide housing for very low-income seniors 55 and above that are primarily living on Social Security,” said Reid. “Just to have the option for seniors that couldn’t even afford one bedroom to be able to get a quality efficiency apartment in a nice building is great.”
In mid-February, West Side-based artist Craig David was hired to create a sculpture at the northeastern quadrant of the site this June. His final design, dubbed Floş Antiquis, calls for one very large sculpture or three smaller ones representing prairie flowers and the human form. Materials include repurposed granite and stainless steel flowers. The project is funded by $25,000 grant from the Hugh J. Andersen Foundation and $10,000 from NeDA.
NeDA was founded in 1989 and became a licensed general contractor in the early 2000s. All its development and redevelopment projects create affordable housing on the West Side. Previous projects include the Bluff Park Apartments, Villa de la Sol community center and 11 townhomes known as the Wabasha Street Terraces. At the end of January, it also completed construction of an affordable single-family home near the intersection of Robert Street South and Belvidere Street East. The bulk of the nonprofit’s work consists of providing metro-wide homeownership and financial counseling in English and Spanish. For more information, visit nedahome.org. For leasing information at the Stryker Apartments, visit strykerseniorhousing.com or call Perennial Management at 612-477-3355.
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