Seeing a Chaska neighborhood to completion

The builder, Central Community Housing Trust, broke ground this month for a 115-unit apartment complex for mixed-income residents along with street-level commercial space in the center of Clover Ridge, a compact, mixed-use, pedestrian and transit-oriented community in western Chaska. The Clover Field Marketplace will help create a "town center" with an urban plaza and streetscape in front of about 10,000 square feet of comercial space.

"It's providing the last element for that neighborhood, which was traditionally designed so that residents would be able to walk to utilize the services versus having to get into their cars and drive," said Jeanne Kelsey, senior developer for Central Community Housing Trust, a non-profit provider of affordable housing. Many residents in the single-family homes say they moved there because of the traditional neighborhood concept, she said, and "that's finally going to be a reality."

When completed in early 2008, Clover Field Marketplace will adjoin a recently built four-story condo building with a community center. A new elementary school, park-and-ride bus stop and Walden Park are nearby. It will be the only multifamily rental housing available in the greater Clover Ridge neighborhood, which is divided into four subneighborhoods. Underground parking will leave space for a landscaped courtyard and a "tot lot."

Rent will be $650 to $790 for a one-bedroom unit, $780 to $975 for a two-bedroom unit and $890 to $1,225 for a three-bedroom unit.

Kelsey said local businesses Lake Region Manufacturing and Ridgeview Medical Center worked with the city of Chaska, sponsored the project's applications and made a financial donation to see the project rhough.

"The feel there is a need for more housing options. They believe that their employees should be able to live within the community where they work, and they're dedicated to making sure there are housing options for their employees no matter how much they make."

Learn more about Clover Field Marketplace