Lake Superior condos proposed in Duluth

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A Duluth developer has pitched a 16-unit condominium building, called “The Breakers” on the shores of Lake Superior.

While views of the lake are ordinary for many Duluth properties, direct access — like this building would have — is not as common. The city’s planning commission approved a height variance request from developer F.I. Salter Real Estate during its meeting earlier this week.

The site is on East Water Street, between the office of Edmunds Co. Real Estate and a line of single-family houses. It’s on a strip of land between Interstate 35 and the lake, which also houses Beacon Pointe on Lake Superior and part of the Lakewalk trail.

F.I. Salter is working with Arola Architecture Studio LLC on the project. F.I. Salter has developed several Duluth properties, including the 140-room Pier B Resort Hotel constructed on a 7.5-acre brownfield industrial pier. It also constructed the 18-lot Hartley Hills residential development, which is on the edge of Hartley Park and Hartley Nature Center in Duluth, along with 57-lot Timber Trails residential development in Hermantown, according to its website.

The developer’s proposal details a four-story building that would reach 55 feet in height, rather than the allowed maximum height of 45 feet in the R-2 zoned district. The developer sought the variance to increase the height, as a 45-foot building would result in 3.5 stories structure or “very shallow” floor-to-floor heights, according to the variance application.

During Tuesday’s meeting, a few commissioners voiced concerns about the structure’s height and its impact on sightlines to Lake Superior.

Although The Breakers would be taller than Beacon Pointe to its west, it wouldn’t have a major impact on views for properties that are located across the freeway. This area of Duluth rises steeply to the top of the hill, Duluth Deputy Director of Planning and Development Adam Fulton said in an interview.

“A building of any height — if it was 10 feet or 20 feet or 55 feet — it would kind of block the view from the freeway in the same way and from Water Street in the same way,” Fulton said.

The building would have underground parking, as well as a rooftop deck and community rooms, according to the application.

The Breakers could aid in a housing shortage the city is experiencing. Although Duluth’s greatest need is affordable units, any new housing would help. New housing projects, like The Breakers, give people opportunities to move from their single-family homes into new buildings, he said.

“We’re enthusiastic about that as an opportunity for different kinds of housing options of the city,” Fulton said.

The city saw movement in the housing market when the BlueStone apartments and loft project opened near the University of Minnesota-Duluth campus, Fulton said.

“Through the introduction of new, modernized apartments … you’ve got lots of students who have moved out of neighborhoods,” he said. “And you’ve seen … single-family homes and neighborhoods convert back to [family] houses [after] they had been student rentals for a long time.”

The BlueStone project may also indicate the speed at which The Breakers would lease up, as the final phase of BlueStone was fully leased when it opened around one month ago.

“It’s pretty astonishing the pace at which absorption has been happening here and I think that’ll hold true for this project as well,” he said.

The Breakers would be among only a handful of condos in Duluth located near the water. However, its proximity to the water could pose construction challenges related to the area’s bedrock. The developer would also have to construct the building with an eye toward large waves that Lake Superior can sometimes produce — meaning the building would have to be resilient for the long-term, Fulton said.

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