303-unit Golden Valley apartment project underway

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A local development team is making good on its plans to bring hundreds of new housing units to Golden Valley.

Sentinel Management Co. of Edina and Monarch Holding Co. announced late last week that they have closed on financing for a 303-unit apartment building on a former Wells Fargo site in Golden Valley, the second and final phase of a redevelopment that also includes a new Wells Fargo branch bank.

Developers Fabrizio Montermini of Sentinel and Brian Woolsey of Monarch secured a $50.8 million syndicated loan from Old National Bank and Associated Bank, and a $9 million loan from Bridgewater Bank for the project, which is now under construction on a site at 8200 Golden Valley Road. The Bridgewater loan was collateralized by a city-backed tax increment financing note on the site, according to a press release.

Private equity rounds out the funding. The equity group, led by Sentinel, also includes Monarch, Twelve Clans, and other investors.

Montermini said Tuesday that the developers have been working on the site since 2021. The complicated phasing of the project, and the fact that it’s in a TIF district, added layers of complexity, so “we needed good partners,” he said. “And the city has really helped.”

The developers worked with Dan Trebil of Northmarq to help assemble financing. The team ultimately went the regional bank route, where the developers have “strong relationships,” said Montermini, managing director of Sentinel, which has developed or managed more than 1 million square feet of nonresidential commercial space and 6,000 multifamily units.

“The strength of the sponsors and the history of our company, being around since 1972, gave comfort to the lenders,” Montermini said in an interview.

The project is largely market-rate, but 15% of the units will be affordable for households at 60% of the area’s median income. The building will offer amenities such as an 18,000-square-foot outdoor courtyard with a pool, hot tub and sauna. Also planned are a movie theater, sports simulator room, rooftop lounge, and work-from-home stations.

Working with the developers are Minneapolis-based ESG Architecture and Design Inc. and general contractor is Big-D Construction Midwest. Golden Valley-based Civil Site Group is the project engineer and Larkin Hoffman and Winthrop & Weinstine provided legal counsel.

Construction is moving full speed ahead. At present, crews are pouring footings and foundations, said Montermini, who added that the goal is to pour all the concrete before winter. Pre-leasing will begin in about a year and construction is scheduled for completion in January 2026.

Finance & Commerce reported in June 2023 that Sentinel, doing business as 640 Golden Valley LLC, paid $3.8 million in cash for the property at 8200 Golden Valley Road. Wells Fargo was the seller. At about the same time, the developers secured their final city approvals for both phases of development.

As part of the first phase of construction, which started last year, crews removed a Park Nicollet Clinic from the site and constructed a 4,300-square-foot Wells Fargo branch. In May, Wells Fargo moved into the new building, while crews began demolition and earth work on the north and east sides of the block, the developers said.

“We got all our permits, demoed the old Wells Fargo, and now we’re starting on the multifamily,” Montermini said.

In a March 2023 interview, then-Golden Valley planning manager Jason Zimmerman told Finance & Commerce that the proposed Sentinel project would be a “fairly significant” and that the city hadn’t seen anything “quite this large in a while.”

Montermini sees strong demand for housing in the area.

“Golden Valley is really a prime location for people who want to be close to the city, but may also work in the northwest suburbs like Plymouth or Maple Grove,” he said. “It’s a perfect connecting point for that part of the metro.”

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