A $28 million expansion will double offerings of a southeast Rochester housing community

Jeff Kiger, Post-Bulletin, Rochester, Minn.
·2 min read

Oct. 27—ROCHESTER — Dirt is moving in southeast Rochester as a Massachusetts-based real estate firm starts a $28 million project to double the size of a Med City housing community.

The plan is to add two more buildings with an additional 190 units to SoRoc on Maine at 4850 Maine Ave SE. SoRoc, which was built as

Maine Heights

in 2016, is located behind

Subaru of Rochester

in the

Shoppes on Maine

area.

Northland paid $35.34 million for SoRoc

in February with

an eye toward this expansion.

That real estate deal is the second largest in Rochester for 2022 so far.

The expansion project will bring SoRoc's number of units to 380 and is expected to be completed by early 2024.

This is the first Minnesota project for Northland, which describes itself as "a real estate private equity firm with $7 billion of assets under management, including more than 26,000 residential units and 2.1 million square feet of commercial space, and a $3 billion development pipeline." It is one of the largest multifamily property owners in the U.S.

Santo Dettore, Northland's associate vice president of development, explained why his company chose to make its first Minnesota investment in the Med City.

"Rochester continually proves itself as a city that acts and feels larger than its population of 120,000, driven by the Mayo Clinic, one of the premier international medical institutions globally. This rare quality initially motivated Northland's interest in seeking out both acquisition and development opportunities," wrote Dettore. "However, the specific SoRoc on Maine investment thesis emerged clearly to our team from the beginning: acquire a compelling asset, at a strong basis, in a fantastic growth market and then add value by building the second phase and completing the vision paused by the previous partnership."

This expansion will add two 90,000-square-foot buildings to the three smaller buildings that already exist. The proposal will add 116 one-bedroom apartments, 47 two-bedroom units and 31 studio apartments to SocRoc. The expansion will also provide additional underground heated parking and studio fitness space.

Northland is partnering with Minnesota's

Minnwest Bank

, which is providing $28 million in construction financing for the project.

"SoRoc on Maine is an amenity rich development, and this expansion will bring much-needed top-of-the-line homes to the Rochester community," stated Jason Vercruysse, Minnwest's senior vice president of commercial lending, in the announcement of the groundbreaking.

Northland is facing a long list of competitors in the Rochester housing market plus there are many apartment complexes, like the 112-unit

Bryk on Broadway

and the 27-unit Benaiah on Broadway, that are currently under construction. However, Dettore is not concerned.

"Northland believes the housing fundamentals and supply dynamics are exceedingly healthy in Rochester and that its citizens will only benefit more broadly from continued investment and new development," he wrote.