West Side Flats [MN] grand opening this afternoon (St. Paul Pioneer Press, MN)

St. Paul Pioneer Press
(6/17/2014 1:45 PM, Elizabeth Hernandez)

City officials will join a Tuesday celebration of the West Side Flats apartments’ grand opening.

St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman is expected to speak at the 3:30 p.m. ribbon cutting, with events such as tours planned 2:30 to 5:30 p.m. The 178-unit complex is located across from downtown along the Mississippi River.

The West Side Flats were first envisioned as a $64 million condo project with several buildings on the site of an old 1940s Coca-Cola bottling plant. It was to be a key step in rebuilding a floodplain neighborhood behind the Mississippi River levy.

When the condo market went soft, developers reinvisioned it as a $38 million apartment project. Construction began in November 2012.

The 84 W. Wabasha St. development by Sherman Associates includes 142 market-rate and 36 affordable units, as well as 6,185 square feet of commercial space. It was funded by a $23.5 million private loan insured by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, in addition to $10 million in grants and loans from the city, Met Council and Minnesota Housing Finance Authority.