Developer Pays $4.85M for Former Chili's; Hopes to Build 158-Unit Apartment Building

A Florida residential developer has spent big on a pair of West End properties it hopes to turn into a six-story, 158-unit luxury apartment complex—even though the St. Louis Park city council has expressed some reservations about increasing the density of housing in the area.

Dolce Living paid Duke Realty $4.85 million earlier this month for the former Chili's building and the current Olive Garden building, according to the Star Tribune.

The Chili's building, located just south of Highway 394 near Highway 100 at 5245 Wayzata Boulevard, would hold studios, one-bedrooms and two-bedrooms and incorporate a series of courtyards and green spaces. A one-bedroom apartment would cost around $1,500 a month to rent.

In a July work session, council members were split on the proposal, with some arguing that the project’s density would bring too much traffic to the area and others making the case that a large apartment complex could be a good way to develop the neighborhood.

Council member Julie Ross repeated that the project is “way too dense, way too dense,” while Sue Sanger took issue with the site for being “isolated.” 

Steve Hallfin disagreed, saying the apartments would make the area "more vibrant."

“If we’re going to build more rental units,” he said, “it’s an okay place to do it because it’s a walkable area.”

Dolce's plan for the apartment complex includes a "pocket park," a vegetable garden and a private, townhouse-lined road with porches and front lawns. 

“It will be a lot like a street in the Mill District, with individual townhouses at the base, rendered in a contemporary way, but with a traditional sense of a streetscape,” David Graham, Dolce's architect for the project, told the Star Tribune. “Without that new street, there really is no project, and the city liked that.”

Dolce's proposal has the support of St. Louis Park's planning commission and is set to come before the city council on Oct. 7.