A nonprofit developer seeking a site to build affordable apartments for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities knew they’d struck gold, as in the future METRO Gold Line, when the city of Oakdale pointed them to a location at one of the planned Bus Rapid Transit stops.
Both AbleLight Cornerstone Village and the Gold Line, which recently completed design work, will be under construction later this year.
"We know people with disabilities are unlikely to drive and have difficulty affording a car. Proximity to transit means people can get to work, see family and not be isolated. That is a challenge when you get out to the suburbs,’’ said Kristine Giornalista, AbleLight Cornerstone Village’s senior director of real estate development. "We will market the proximity for sure!’’
The apartment project will have 71 units, including 21 market rate units. Giornalista thinks those will attract empty nesters and young professionals who would also appreciate living less than one-eighth of a mile from the Gold Line’s Helmo Avenue Station and benefit from improvements for pedestrians, bicyclists and motorists that will accompany the BRT project.
The Gold Line is scheduled to open in 2025, bringing all-day service to a 10-mile corridor between downtown St. Paul and Woodbury.
Giornalista’s organization isn't alone in understanding the value of locating near transit. Around $15 billion in permitted value has occurred near high-frequency transit routes in the last 18 years and another $9.5 billion in development is planned, a new Metro Transit report finds.
According to the report, transit corridors represent 3% of the region’s land use but have seen more than a third of the region’s permitted development.
Andrew Gitzlaff, Oakdale’s community development director, said improvements associated with the Gold Line have also been attractive to developers.
As part of the Gold Line project, the Fourth Street Bridge over Interstate 494 will be replaced, adding pedestrian access, and a new bridge will be built over Interstate 94, connecting Oakdale and Woodbury with space for BRT, regular traffic and pedestrians.
"If we were running a bus down the street with regular stops, this development wouldn’t happen," he said. "The Gold Line infrastructure improvements for vehicle access, bicycle and pedestrian connections are helping drive that development."
Learn more about the METRO Gold Line
Review the latest Development Trends Along Transit report