The Luverne Economic Development Authority is planning for the city’s newest residential development, the Lopau Addition.
At Monday morning’s first EDA meeting of 2023, the board reviewed a feasibility report and concept layout of the new addition.
The development, estimated to cost more than $2 million, will accommodate 24 residential lots.
Nineteen lots will be designated for single-family homes and five will be multi-family lots for twin homes (10 units on the north end).
Plans and specs for the street and utility projects will be finalized this month, and a bid letting will be in February.
According to discussion at Monday’s meeting, construction of infrastructure and utilities will start this spring and should be substantially complete this fall.
The utility and infrastructure construction project includes installing an 8-inch sanitary sewer main and 6- and 12-inch water mains to serve the 24 residential lots.
The existing property will be graded to accommodate a variety of houses, which include slab on grade structures, walk-out basements, garden window basements and full basements.
Lots will be accessed by 36-foot-wide asphalt streets, and drainage will follow curb and gutters, drainage swales in backyards and a storm sewer system that outlets into a detention basin on the east side of the extended North Walnut Avenue.
The detention basin will retain a portion of storm water on site that will drain through a filter before out-letting upstream of Poplar Creek and will reduce the proposed runoff flow rate.
“This will also serve any future residential growth,” EDA Director Holly Sammons said. “This water detention area was an important part of planning.”
The board discussed the “stub street” of north Walnut Avenue and the fact that it cannot be connected to the Uithoven Addition to the north.
“There’s a spring that goes through there and it’s very wet. The engineers said there’s no way we can put a road there,” Sammons further explained.
“It would have been nice to connect the street there, but with the waterway there, it won’t work. This will remain a water detention area.”
The LEDA owns the lots and will host a public hearing to set lot prices and establish protective covenants later this year.
The lots will be on the market in 2023 and will be available for new home construction in 2024.
LEDA will use a combination of cash reserves and the revenue from lot sales to make bond payments.
“As the older lots are sold and paid off, they’ll start paying for new development over here,” said Mayor Pat Baustian who serves as EDA president.
Background
In the fall of 2020, the city paid Lynn Lopau $661,500 for 10 acres of land — $475,000 for the house, garage and two acres, and $186,500 for the rest of the eight acres, including two outbuildings.
After remodeling and updating the home, the city later sold the house, garage and two acres for $498,000 to Greg and Janet Burger.
Future housing needs
According to remarks in the feasibility study for the Lopau Addition, “It is imperative that new lots are available to meet current needs and attract others to the city of Luverne.”
That assumption is based on projected growth and limited residential lots available for sale in the city.
“The city of Luverne is continuing to grow as it is a clean, safe, well-maintained city with an excellent school system and medical network,” the feasibility report states.
“New businesses continue to choose the city of Luverne as their home, and existing businesses are expanding to meet growing needs. As the population of the city of Luverne continues to rise, the tax base continues to grow, and residents spend their money locally to support local businesses; all of which benefits the community.”
Updated housing study
Because of recent housing development and the potential for more than 150 new jobs in the industrial park, Maxfield Research will update Luverne’s housing study later this year 2023.
The last study was completed in 2019, and since that time, the Uithoven Addition was added to include 15 single-family and twin home lots.
Also, 54 market rate rental units (PrairiE Loft) have been constructed, and four luxury-size lots north of town were annexed into the city limits in the Schmuck Addition.
In addition to the Lopau Addition’s 19 single-family and five multi-family lots, another lot or two may be added to the Reisch Addition, which is on the stub of Walnut Avenue north of RCO and Mary Jane Brown.