The scruffy industrial town of Newport is ready for a renaissance.
Four large-scale developments are being considered, with the potential to transform the town of 3,500 into a new hub of jobs and housing.
The projects, if approved, could boost the city’s population by more than 40 percent, add hundreds of jobs and bring in the town’s only grocery store. They would bring a surge of development to a city that hasn’t seen much growth in decades.
“We haven’t had new apartments here since 1985,” said city administrator Deb Hill. “But we have a lot going on right now.”
The City Council on Nov. 3 voted to support the largest of the projects — the $39 million Red Rock Crossing, to be built in partnership with Washington County.
In addition, the city is considering:
- The $40 million Red Rock Village project.
- A business park with up to 144,000 square feet, on the site of a former go-kart track.
- A 107,000-square-foot office and warehouse project.
The council approved the Red Rock Crossing project by a 3-2 vote, with council member Dan Lund and Bill Sumner opposing it.
The vote was to approve a district that would give tax breaks for the development, which would be southwest of U.S. 61 and Interstate 494. The tax increment financing (TIF) district would divert the taxes on new development in the area to help pay for the cost of construction.
That project would include 500 units of housing, plus office and retail space. It would bring a new recreational access point to the Mississippi River.
Another project also depends on the tax breaks.
Red Rock Village would stretch along the west side of U.S. 61 between the Glen Avenue exit ramp and 17th Street. It calls for 126 homes, the city’s first grocery store, a restaurant and an $8 million underground parking garage.
It would be built by developer Michial Mularoni.
The business park would be built by Scannell Properties, a real estate and investment company. It is being proposed for the former site of the Raceway to Fun go-kart park on the east side of U.S. 61, south of Tibbett Place.
The office and warehouse project would be developed by August Ventures, an Edina-based commercial real estate company. The 11-acre site is on the east side of U.S. 61, north of Ford Road.
Plans call for a 100,000-square-foot building and a 7,000-square-foot building, for offices, warehouses and commercial uses.
Those projects don’t include another project that is expected to have a groundbreaking later this month. That is the $10 million, 42-unit Red Rock Square apartment building, to the west of the transit station on Maxwell Avenue.
“You just can’t say,” said city administrator Hill, “that there is nothing happening in Newport.”
Correction: An earlier version of this story said the new developments would bring in Newport’s first grocery store. A previous grocery, Fisher Foods, closed in 1992.
