By Anne Holzman
Buhl Investors has listed the lot next to the Amber Union apartment buildings in Falcon Heights for sale, apparently dropping intentions to build more housing there.
Falcon Heights City Administrator Jack Linehan said the city approved a grant application for Amber Flats last fall, then heard from Buhl that “there was not a path forward to getting the project financed at this time.”
Buhl bought the two adjacent parcels from the city in 2019 and remodeled the existing pair of buildings on the eastern parcel. Amber Union opened in fall 2022, offering 125 apartments, many of them complying with affordable housing rates.
At that time, Buhl did not specify an intended use for the second parcel, which consisted of a parking lot. The city turned down a proposal to put a drive-through coffee business there.
Then Buhl came back with the Amber Flats proposal, which worked its way through the various hearings and approvals and looked poised to happen until it was dropped last fall.
Buhl did not respond to an email request for comment.
As of early April, the property at 1644 Larpenteur Ave. W. was listed for sale as a housing development opportunity with the capacity for 92 units.
The parcel is zoned R-5M for high-density residential mixed use; it has a planned unit development (PUD) agreement in place from the Amber Flats project. But Linehan said the PUD pertained to parking, paving and height, not the overall use.
Currently, city staff and commissions are reviewing their PUD process with an eye to defining the end of a designation for properties where projects have been abandoned. Linehan said it’s not clear yet whether that would affect the PUD at Amber Flats. Either way, it would remain zoned as R-5M.
Metropolitan Council representative Peter Lindstrom, who lives in Falcon Heights and once served as its mayor, said affordable housing remains a strong need despite recent gains. He cited Amber Union, as well as the senior housing at The Fern in Lauderdale, as important additions for affordable housing.
He said “we’ve seen some slowdown in the past year,” likely due to increased building costs, but elected officials remain committed. “Affordable housing is not for the faint of heart,” Lindstrom said. He said the recent talk of tariffs makes the housing market even harder to predict.
Lindstrom noted the Metropolitan Council has just published its “Imagine 2050” report, which will guide cities as they produce their comprehensive plans over the next several years.
“That (report) anticipates adding over 650,000 people to our seven-county region, about half of them low income,” Lindstrom said. “The demand is strong and will continue to be strong.”
Anne Holzman is a Twin Cities freelance writer who covers Falcon Height government news for the Bugle.
