Hot Property - Clover Field Marketplace

Central Community Housing Trust plans to break ground this fall on the Clover [Field] Marketplace, a 115-unit apartment building with about half the units aimed at low-income tenants, as well as 10,000 square feet of ground-floor commercial development.

The project is part of the 250-acre Clover Ridge development, Chaska's five-year-old effort to emphasize density and pedestrian-friendly designs over sprawl. It's a mixed-use development of single-family homes, condominiums, commercial space and apartment buildings that include a sizeable percentage of subsidized units and is intended to create both diversity and an old-style sense of community.

Some critics have suggested it might be trying to fit a square peg in a round hole, but Chaska city leaders are convinced that their "new urbanism" themes eventually will have the city sitting in clover.

"We are trying to build on our vision of being the best small town in Minnesota. How do we continue to maintain that feeling even as we continue to expand is the question," said Chaska Assistant City Manager Matt Podhradsky of the city's rapid population growth in a few decades from less than 7,000 to a current figure of more than 20,000. The population is expected to eventually top out at about 35,000.

Clover Ridge's answer is to emphasize features such as front porches, alleys, parks, tree-lined boulevards and pedestrian walkways that provide public open spaces in which to meet neighbors. About $10 million in public subsidies, including a $1 million Livable Communities Grant from the Metropolitan Council, have leveraged private development of an anticipated total of 1,100 new housing units ranging from upscale $700,000 townhouses to low-income apartment units.

The appropriateness of the Marketplace, however, has been questioned for its suburban setting, and the neighborhood service-oriented retail area has been scaled back from earlier plans for up to 15,000 square feet. But its backers insist that these last pieces ultimately will fit well within Clover Ridge's concept and Chaska's future.

"There is a lot of support," said Gina Cigniak, Central Community's vice president of housing development. "It is a visionary city. They recognize that affordable housing is just as important as parks and schools and streets and other infrastructure. It will be creating opportunities for a lot of people to live and work in the area. Chaska understands that a lot of their workers right now are driving 20 or 30 miles for affordable housing."

Stylistically, Clover Field Marketplace also will fit in with the city's demand for quality and an intimate, pedestrian-friendly appeal, Cigniak said.

Learn more about Clover Field Marketplace