That yearning for a more carefree lifestyle is nothing new in the Twin Cities, where subdivisions of owner-occupied houses maintained by an association have been popular for at least a couple of decades. “We wanted to ensure we could adapt to the different style of living.” “It was too big and too much work once the kids had grown and moved out on their own,” said Julie Kasa. The couple were ready to swap their laid-back life in the country but reluctant to embrace urban living full-throttle.įor nearly two decades, they owned a big house on an exurban lake, but had grown weary of the isolation, the commute and the upkeep. “We have every demographic you can imagine.”Īt Mills Creek that includes young professionals with children and still-working empty-nesters like Julie and Craig Kasa, who were among the first batch of residents to live at Mills Creek. “We couldn’t have been more right and we couldn’t have been more wrong,” he said. When Ellis first started mulling the concept about five years ago, his target market was millennials saddled with student loans and other debt and retired baby boomers who are done with maintenance but don’t want to live in the city. And in hopes of attracting pet owners who eschew long hallways and elevators, there’s a dog park and a private walking path rings the development. Like most traditional market-rate rental buildings, Mills Creek is decked out with resort-style amenities including a clubhouse, outdoor pool and a putting green. On a per-square-foot basis, Mills Creek rents are a bit rich compared with most rentals in the suburbs but competitive with new luxury rental buildings in downtown Minneapolis and St. Across the metro the average rent for a two-bedroom apartment is $1,353, according to Marquette Advisors, which tracks buildings with 10 or more units. Rents range from $2,295 to $3,200 for two- to four-bedroom houses, which are anywhere from 1,200 to 2,038 square feet. Since Mills Creek opened last year, 42 of the 66 planned units have been leased construction is still underway on several of the houses and some of the amenities, including the putting green and pool. “At the same time there are certain benefits to living in a rental community.” “Everyone can agree that there are certain benefits to living in a single-family home,” said Freddy Ellis, a managing partner and co-founder of Watermark. The key difference: All 66 houses are rentals. Mills Creek looks like like any other new, upscale subdivision in Maple Grove. The company is also pursuing sites in Nashville, Kansas City, Dallas and other cities. The developer, Illinois-based Watermark Equity Group, says it’s testing the idea with Mills Creek and Beacon Ridge in Plymouth, a 37-unit project that’s about to break ground. Mills Creek is one of two single-family subdivisions in the Twin Cities being “built to rent,” a concept that’s making its way from Florida, Arizona and other Sun Belt states with large transient populations. While developers are pumping out thousands of high-rise apartments and side-by-side rental townhouses, investors are hoping to attract a new generation of renters who want maintenance- and mortgage-free living, but don’t want to share a wall, hall or garage with their neighbors. “They don’t want to plow snow, or take care of the yard or fix things if they break.” “People are busy, everyone works and no one has time to take care of things,” said Malinda Potter, the leasing manager at Mills Creek. With rows of tidy single-family houses set on carefully tended lawns, Mills Creek in Maple Grove looks like just like any other upscale suburban subdivision, except for one critical difference: There’s not a single resident pushing a mower, pulling weeds or painting the trim.Įvery one of the 66 free-standing houses here is a rental that’s maintained by a management company - and it was built that way, making it the first of a kind in this area, but likely not the last.
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