MANKATO — Another big apartment complex is being planned for Mankato’s Victory Drive, bringing to 252 the number of units to be constructed between a pair of developments that have come to the city in the past three months.
The latest targets a nearly 4-acre parcel on the southeast quadrant of the Victory Drive-Stadium Road intersection. The City Council on Monday approved annexation of the land, previously part of Mankato Township, in preparation for the construction of two three-story apartment buildings totaling 72 units.
APX Construction Group submitted preliminary plans for the complex on behalf of property owners Ryan Evenson and Kyle Smith. Evenson is CEO of APX, one of the region’s most active construction companies with projects ranging from residential to commercial to nonprofit. Smith is one of the founders of Tailwind Group, which got its start in student housing in Mankato two decades ago, expanded into commercial properties and now has developments across 20 states.
The plans for the 3.9-acre site show outdoor amenities for tenants such as cooking grills, a game area, a fenced dog park and a court for volleyball, basketball and pickleball.
The lot, slightly more than a mile from Minnesota State University, is currently mostly vacant after previously serving as home to a furniture store that was later used for storage of boats, according to Community Development Director Mark Konz.
A 1960 metal shop building on the site is listed as the location for Jay’s Outdoor Equipment and Repair. Multiple attempts by The Free Press to reach Jay’s regarding if, when and where the business will relocate were unsuccessful.
The apartments are the latest in a long line of new housing developments on the eastern end of Stadium Road since the road was extended to Highway 22 and a reconfigured intersection with Victory Drive was constructed. In the southwest quadrant of the Stadium-Victory intersection, there are more than 70 townhouses in the Stadium Courtyard development. The northwest quadrant includes apartments, townhouses and single-family homes. And in the northeast, the Dancing Waters subdivision offers dozens more townhomes and houses.
The project comes to the City Council fewer than three months after it reviewed the Victory Ridge development on North Victory Drive, which will transform 15 acres of vacant land into a four-building 180-unit apartment complex.