According to junior Caitlin Seaman, having the Luxe Residential apartment building will offer more more housing options for people in the community.

“I think it’s good there will be more living options for people in St. Louis Park, and it will bring in more young people that will work in the cities,” Seaman said.

According to associate planner of St. Louis Park Jacquelyn Kramer, eight units of the apartment will be affordable. She said others will be more expensive and have different size options.

“The new apartment building will bring 207 dwelling units to the community, including eight units that will be affordable,” Kramer said. “What that means is individuals or families who make only 60 percent of the area median income in the city would be able to afford these apartments.”

Senior Maddy McIntosh said the West End shops and restaurants will gain more business because of a new living option in that area.

“I think the apartment building will bring more businesses to West End and hopefully make the restaurants and shops more successful,” McIntosh said.

Kramer said the plan is to begin construction fall of 2019 and be completed in 2021, but before the construction can start, it needs to be approved by city council.

“The project right now hasn’t gotten official approval from city council yet. For this sort of project it needs basically two readings in front of city council or two sessions. That second session is going to happen on Jan. 22 and assuming they approve it, then they will be able to apply for a building permit,” Kramer said.

McIntosh said the apartment complex will add to the community, but she will miss the restaurant it’s replacing.

“I am going to be sad the Olive Garden will be closed down, but I think the apartments will be a good addition to the area,” McIntosh said.

Seaman said students shouldn’t be impacted by the new building, but school buses could have more students on them to and from school.

“I don’t think it will impact many of the students that live around there except for there will be more people going on their bus to school, and students can no longer go to a close Olive Garden,” Seaman said.

Kramer said the apartment building’s goal is to provide more homes for St. Louis Park families, which is why the building offers a range of room sizes.

“This apartment building has a range of unit sizes. There are studios, one, two and three bedrooms. So some of those three bedrooms and two bedroom units can be for families, so students could end up living in the apartment building,” Kramer said. “Adding more housing to the community means there are more places for folks to live.”

For more information about the apartment building, visit St. Louis Park Luxe Residential.