Developers of Cobblestone Lake Senior Complex Ask for More Time—Again

Developers behind the proposed Cobblestone Lake Senior Campus have been given another two years to move the project from the drafting board to the ground-breaking.

The project has been over four years in the making. Prior to the economic crisis of 2008, the site was considered a "Hot Property." Single-family home sales were already in decline, but it was thought that senior-citizen housing would be resistant to the slowdown.

The city council gave the project its blessing in November of 2008, when the 10.6-acre parcel on the southwestern shoreline of Cobblestone Lake was rezoned to allow for a campus that included standard apartments, assisted living and a memory care unit. The city also aided the developer, Oxford Senior Funds, in finding a 2012 Livable Communities Development Grant from the Met Council for $896,000. About $598,000 of the funds would be used to assist with land acquisition and building basic infrastructure. The remainder was to be used for improvements for to Cobblestone Lake Park.

At the time, it was hoped that construction of the 214-unit "continuum of care" facility would begin in summer of 2009. A second senior apartment complex was also considered.

About two years later, the city got a request from Oxford Senior Funds, asking that the preliminary plat and site plan be extended an additional two years. The firm had not been able to pull together enough financing to get the project off the ground. On Nov. 23, 2010 the council approved the request. 

This November, the company once again asked for more time: Two more years to get the money together. According to a city memo, though the grant funds have helped them market the project to investors, the "somewhat complicated" financial structure of the project has turned others off. However, market research indicates that the complex remains a worthwhile project. 

It appears that the council agrees. The city's governing body approved another extension on Nov. 20.