Opus Time Lapse: Alvera Apartments Completion

The Ackerberg Group enlisted our Client Direct Services group to construct Alvera, a 192-unit, 129,389-square-foot building in the iconic West 7th/Fort Road neighborhood in St. Paul.

The seven-story building sits on a half-acre near the corner of Grand Avenue and West 7th Street with close proximity to United Hospital, Children's Minnesota Hospital, Xcel Energy Center and the West 7th entertainment district.

Retail space and 110 covered parking spaces can be found on the ground level. The majority of parking spaces are within a unique, semi-automated parking system that stacks vehicles three-high.

The building was constructed on a very long and narrow parcel. Private property is adjacent on both long sides, which limited construction access to the site's two narrow ends fronting the streets. This challenging access was compounded by the requirement of installing the prefabricated modular apartment units. Weighing up to 40,000 pounds each, erecting and setting them into place required a very large crane, for which very little space was available on the narrow urban site.

With deep expertise building in tight urban areas, our team was well-equipped to navigate these nuances. Agreements were negotiated with adjoining landowners to allow access for the crane and lift to erect and set the modular apartments. All subsequent façade work was completed from roof-mounted swing stages.

Project Type: Multifamily
Size: 192 units; 129,389 SF
Completion: October 2021
Location: St. Paul, MN

Services Provided: design-builder

Watch construction from beginning to end in less than 30 seconds!

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