The Elmwood

The Elmwood Apartments is a five-story mixed use building with one-story of underground parking located in St. Louis Park, MN. The residential component, on floors two through five and partially on first, is for residents ages 55 and older. A significant portion of the first floor is utilized for tenant amenities and commercial purposes. There is a large outdoor recreational area for resident use on the south side of the building as well as on the building’s rooftop.

The project makes use of a very difficult site boundary and topography through a mix of uses, public realm improvements and thoughtful location of parking. Due to the site constraints and strict setbacks required by the City of St. Louis Park, the design welcomed an “L” shaped building. The “L” shape allows for a significant amount of space to be devoted to large outdoor recreational areas which are directly aimed at improving the green space of the overall district.

The Elmwood was heavily involved in St. Louis Park’s Green Building Policy as well as the Enterprise Green Communities Criteria. Not only did it achieve approval through a diligent criteria checklist, but also achieved 35 optional points for new construction. The project created more than 9,000 square feet of new green space and planted over 800 new plants and trees.  

The Elmwood went above and beyond the minimum requirement for class I materials on the exterior of the building. With natural stone, stucco, and very large window openings on all sides of the project, the Elmwood demonstrates an elegance desired by the community. At the level two floor transition, the use of a glass fiber reinforced concrete product formed as a large C-channel also shows innovation. The Elmwood project is the first building in the state of Minnesota to use this product as an exterior application.