Rochester Overturns HPC Denial For Downtown S. Broadway Project

Rochester, MN (KROC-AM News)- The Rochester City Council has signed off on appeal regarding a project that adds housing above several historic buildings in downtown Rochester.

Documents submitted to the city indicate the addition would be used for student housing and would be built on the back sides of the existing buildings at 309, 311, 313, 315 and 317 S. Broadway.

Rochester Community Development staff recommended approval of the project, however the city’s Heritage Preservation Commission (HPC) voted 6-2 to reject issuing a Certificate of Appropriateness for the development, which stopped it in its tracks.

Project to Add Housing Addition Above Historic South Broadway Buildings in Downtown Rochester Approved on 4-3 Vote

The elected leaders voted 4-3 to abide by the staff recommendation and overturn the HPC denial.

Get our free mobile app

Councilmembers Shaun Palmer, Norman Wahl, Patrick Keane and Andy Friederichs voted to overturn the HPC’s decision. Council President Randy Schubring, councilmembers Dan Doering and Nick Miller voted to deny the appeal.

A motion to adopt the HPC’s decision was defeated on a 4-3 vote.

Prior to the votes, Council President Shurbing praised the individuals he said were preserving vitality in the historic district.

He also told Hal Henderson of GH2 Investments, the project’s developer, that the proposal was a “back alley way to get around the objectives” of the city’s historic district and that he needs to work with the communities in the district or sell the properties.

Councilmember Norman Wahl called the situation a “thorny issue” and said he worried the proposal would be the “last best effort to save the facades.”

35 Tower Units

The plans call for a seven-story addition that would rise five stories above the current roofline and would include 35 "tower units" and eight renovated housing units. The addition would be located as far as 80 feet away from South Broadway Ave. and as close as 40 feet away from the busy street.

Access to the 318 Commons along 1st Ave. SW by skyway would be maintained under the new proposal.

Also included in the plans are a conversion of the entrance to the 309 building, currently Treedom, into a two-story lobby while maintaining the current facade and the addition of a two-story covered courtyard for tenants in the back lot of the buildings.

Third Time's a Charm

The proposal is the third plan to be presented to the Heritage Preservation Commission and the Rochester City Council.

Last year, the commission and the City Council rejected plans that called for completely demolishing the former FJ Paine Company building and only maintaining the front facades of the other buildings included in the proposal.

The first proposal called for removing the buildings from the Downtown Historic District, which would have allowed for their demolition.