With construction season around the corner, LSC Flats LLC is planning to break ground on a student housing project adjacent to Lake Superior College as soon as weather permits.
LSC Flats LLC, an offshoot of Titanium Partners LLC, invested nearly $18 million into the building that will provide 87 apartments with 200 beds to LSC students.
Titanium Partners President Brian Forcier said he can't yet reveal what the pricing will be, but that they're trying to keep it as affordable as possible.
"It will be market rate, or maybe even a little bit below is what we're trying to target," Forcier said.
LSC Flats LLC plans to break ground in June with the goal of opening the building to students for the 2021 fall semester. With several other projects in the works under Titanium Partners, including the construction of a 15-story apartment building in downtown Duluth, Forcier said the project has been intentionally insulated from all others to ensure a full workforce.
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"We’re being very purposeful in wanting to help our trade partners house the apprentices and the kids who are going through the workforce development program at LSC," Forcier said. "That is one of the biggest reasons we’re doing this project."
When completed, the apartment building and parking lot will take up about 3 acres of a 6-acre lot, the bulk of which developers acquired through a sale from the Duluth Economic Development Authority. DEDA acquired the tax-forfeited property from the city.
A four-story and six-story building will connect with a common area in the middle, Forcier said. A rooftop deck will service additional community space while featuring lake views.
Currently, LSC students live all over Duluth, said Daniel Fanning, vice president of institutional advancement and external relations. A sizable number of students live in Campus Park Townhomes and Villa, Boulder Ridge Luxury Apartments and BlueStone Flats. And about 80 LSC students stay in University of Wisconsin-Superior residence halls.
"We're fortunate to have great relationships with (them)," Fanning said. "And those are going to continue, we need those spaces."
With the prospects of a new housing project so close to campus, Fanning said the college has already noticed additional interest from prospective students outside the area.
Fanning said the No. 1 question LSC fields from parents and prospective students touring the campus is related to housing. It wasn't uncommon to have students apply and then not commit to attending due to uncertainty around housing.
"I think for too long people weren't applying to here from outside the region because they knew housing was an issue," Fanning said. "So even though this isn't going to magically solve everything, people are starting to look at us again."
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Around the time LSC Flats LLC breaks ground on the project, it plans to hire a management company that can start taking information from renters who want to get their names on the list.
