New Dinkytown Apartment Complex Deal Finalized

By Paul Groessel Twin Cities Business

The Dinkydome is getting hitched. Property sales to Doran Development were finalized, and renovations of the 90-year-old building, along with construction of a new 12-story apartment complex, named Sydney Hall, will begin immediately.

The renovation of the University of Minnesota landmark will take two years, in time with the intended occupancy date of July 2010 for the complex’s 198 apartment units and ground-floor retail units. Twenty-three surface parking spaces and 192 underground spaces will also be constructed.

From its connection to the iconic Dinkydome, the new Sydney Hall will extend to the northeast corner of Fifteenth Avenue and Fourth Street Southeast, and the former university parking lot on Fourth Street.

With a range of floor plans, from studio apartments to four-bedroom units, the new complex “will be the premier student housing project in the Midwest,” said founder and chief manager of Doran Development, Kelly Doran, in a press release.

The coordination between Doran Companies, Dinkydome tenants, the university and the City of Minneapolis, “took a little longer to put together,” Doran said, “but it was worth it.”