Some Hermantown Residents Concerned Over New Apartment Complex
It seems everywhere you turn in the Northland you see land being cleared for some type of new construction. If you drive on Central Entrance in Duluth across from Cub foods you can see a huge area of land cleared out that used to be littered with houses and trees. That is going to be a huge new retail area. And on Arrowhead Road next to the Kenwood plaza a massive amount of land was cleared there as well.
The city of Hermantown is now seeing a part of its area that was zoned as residential land now having been changed for commercial use, much to the dismay of some residents. P&R Property management company already has built one apartment complex in Hermantown and was hoping to get the green light to build another building near Anderson Road and Hermantown Road.
A few weeks ago the city of Hermantown Zoning and Planning Commission voted against the zoning change, but on Monday night the Hermantown City council voted to change the zoning ordinance in an almost unanimous vote. If this development goes according to plan it will be 65 feet tall with potentially 140 units.
Hermantown resident Dave Miller has lived in Hermantown for more than 30 years. He said he enjoys being part of a quiet rural community, so when he heard of the possibility of a new apartment complex in the area he had some concerns.
COO of Development at P&R Property Management Company, Dante Tomassoni said to KBJR "We hear you. We respect it. We understand it completely,” Tomassoni said. “And what we want them to know is we plan to be your neighbor too." Tomassoni went on to say that this building will help address housing shortages in the area, especially with the new Cirrus Innovation Center coming to the area.
P&R has already built six other apartment buildings in the Twin Ports and if this apartment complex goes well and fills up the company may pursue phase two and build another complex in the area.