Top Projects: The Marshall

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Address: 515 14^th Ave. SE, Minneapolis

Project cost: $65 million

Project size: 563,838 square feet

Owners: EdR; Schenk Realty

Contractor: Kraus-Anderson

Architect: BKV Group

Engineer: BKV Group

John Marshall High School in Minneapolis closed decades ago, but the Dinkytown location was revitalized recently into The Marshall, an apartment community for college-age adults.

Set just north of the University of Minnesota campus, The Marshall boasts 316 units and 994 beds. When it opened a year ago, it became the state’s biggest off-campus housing complex.

But this isn’t your standard off-campus housing – not by far. The Marshall’s long list of amenities includes individual and group study rooms, a seasonal sunbathing deck, an indoor pool, an indoor basketball court, fitness centers, a yoga studio, and underground bike storage. It also has four outdoor courtyards featuring a gazebo, Zen gardens, an outdoor TV lounge, grilling areas, and a sand volleyball court.

Impressive as all that is, it didn’t come easily, according to Bradley E. Severson, partner and structural group manager with architects BKV Group.

“We had to go through a couple of iterations to make the gym work,” said Severson. “Also, some of the housing units were unique – one went upstairs and over to the other side of the building. And, there aren’t corridors on every level. They are on every other level. That added some structural complications.”

To accommodate those eccentricities, the designers and contractors adjusted the framing system and added some columns. Rather than the customary bearing walls in corridors, beams were run across corridors to pick up the joist loads, meaning more wood columns than one would typically find in a modern multi-housing project.

Despite the challenges, the response to the Marshall has been positive: The project is on track for 90 percent leasing in the 2015-16 school year, according to BKV.

“It was a very successful project in the end,” said Severson. “To see the finished product was very rewarding.”

Below is a gallery of additional submitted images of The Marshall:

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The Marshall’s long list of amenities includes this indoor pool, individual and group study rooms, a seasonal sunbathing deck, an indoor basketball court and more.

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