Alvera: Much More Than a Building

no exposure to outside elements, and it’s all ground-level work. In this environment, precision is unparalleled, quality is second to none and consistency easily maintained.

“The real savings is in construction duration,” all team members concurred. “The foundation of the building started at the same time module manufacturing began. When the foundation was complete, Rise stacked the modules on-site, and floors three through seven were completed in a short six weeks” adds Dovolis.

“The modular units are incredibly well built,” according to Farrell. “Think about it, Rise builds the apartment units in a factory in Owatonna, ships them on a truck to St. Paul, and crane lifts them into place seven stories in the air. To accomplish this, each unit has its own ceiling and floor, which when stacked together, provides twice the density. It is very structurally sound and solid.”

“It gives us tremendous joy when people see the Alvera in person; most cannot believe it’s a modular project,” says Lawrence. “It might be easy to imagine a garden-style apartment being modular, but people are blown away when they see a seven-story structure with this level of finish and no hint of its modular nature.”

The Parking Problem

The next problem was the bedrock under the site. “We weren’t going to be able to go underground for parking,” recalls Farrell. “We were already height restricted, constraining the number of units going up.” Farrell thought back to his days in New York City where car elevators are used commonly to increase parking density. “We just haven’t seen any in Minnesota at this scale,” he added. The team was about to undertake another first.

Enter Opus, Harding Steel, and All City Elevator. Opus served as the general contractor and oversaw all aspects of the construction, including building the first two stories, which would house the parking and serve as the foundation for setting the modular apartments. But it was All City Elevator President Matt Gamble and his team who were tasked to install the mechanical parking structure with support from Harding Steel. “It’s really quite amazing,” recalls Gamble. “We were able to provide 102 parking stalls using six separate mechanical structures in very little space. You would need three levels of traditional parking to replace what we were able to effectively accomplish in two stories.”

The parking structure allowed the team to deliver 30 more apartments over what would have otherwise been possible, yielding a total of 193 units for the project. “And it’s secure,” adds Gamble, noting that security in urban neighborhoods like this one, especially during civil unrest, is a big concern. The other benefit is timing. One would think that as a tenant, waiting for a mechanical parking structure would take longer than a traditional parking structure. “This system retrieves your car in around 45 seconds,” according to Gamble. The All City team wanted to compare this to a traditional parking garage, so they headed across town with a stopwatch. They found, on average, that it took 90 seconds to drive around and up and down in a traditional structure versus 45 in the automated system they installed at Alvera.

Making it Real

The final piece to the puzzle belonged to Stuart Ackerberg. “We have a responsibility to leave this world better than we found it. We have a duty to make our buildings special. With this site in particular, we were working to activate the West 7th Corridor as a center for artistic expression.” It was with this mission that Ackerberg turned to Forecast Public Art in St. Paul to bring the building to life. Forecast Public Art, in turn, brought in world-renowned artist Aaron De La Cruz. De La Cruz and Ackerberg hit it off immediately. In fact, the two still talk frequently since the project was completed.

It was De La Cruz and Ackerberg who turned to the memory of Alvera Franceschi for inspiration. “Aaron was deeply curious with the story of my mother,” recalls Ackerberg. “He wanted to know everything about her, her love for art, her favorite color, and her warming personality. It set him on a mission. In fact, it set all of us on a mission. We used that energy and that purpose to shape and mold the project into what people now admire from their windows at Children’s Hospital. Even the tradespeople working day to day on the project felt inspired to leave their own fingerprints in the ALVERA.”

For days, De La Cruz and his team hung by a cherry-picker to paint the exterior of the building by hand. Not just a simple mural, but the whole building—all seven stories have painted elements (six stories by De La Cruz and the base by another artist). All told, more than 7,500 square feet is painted, all reflecting artwork inspired by the Alvera story.

De La Cruz was inspired by Alvera Franceschi as a mother and as a lover of art. Her favorite color was orange. Looking at the exterior of the building, the shades of orange not only make the building stand out, but the colors signify the coming and going of the day. Combined with that, De La Cruz used patterns to express a serape (Mexican blanket) to envelop the building as a mother would by putting her arms around her children or in this case the buildings inhabitants. The art, tones, and textures also carry into the common areas and rooftop deck.

Ackerberg didn’t stop with De La Cruz. There needed to be more artistic impact. The team created an “Artist-in-Residence” program where an artist lives in the building rent-free for one year. In exchange, the artist creates fresh and unique artwork for display in the building. Alvera Franceschi was an avid art collector. “Not the traditional, museum art you might think of,” clarifies Stuart. “But when she traveled, she create relationships with local artists, become friends with them and understand their art. Then when she brought home the pieces they were even more meaningful because she knew the artist personally.” At Alvera, and their story.” Ackerberg is honoring her memory. “We have a duty to stimulate others,” added Ackerberg, “and to inspire other developers and builders to do the same.” The buildings art and the gallery lobby will serve as a reminder to the development community that design doesn’t need to be the tail of the dog. “Design is the dog,” says Ackerberg.

Making it Affordable

The costs of construction today and the rents that are needed to support new construction are at odds with the community’s needs for urban workforce housing. Farrell and Ackerberg knew the project needed to serve the workers of the neighborhood in which it was being built. To accomplish this, the units needed to be efficient. “ALVERA’s homes are typically in the range of four hundred to six hundred square feet,” according to Ackerberg. “In order to do that, we had to place an emphasis on the amenities,” adds Farrell. “During a time when work-from-home was exploding, we needed to accommodate residents’ needs to get out of their space to stretch their legs or take a phone call.” In addition to the typical high-tech gym and rooftop lounge, the team added phone booths and hidden alcoves to provide those much-needed individual touch-down spaces. This is the landing pad for the young professional and support staff who call this building home. The design had to reflect that, according to Farrell.

In the end, the project achieved the goal of accessible housing. Unit rents start at $980 according to the building’s website, and the building is wildly popular with tenants.

Other Modular and Construction Challenges to Overcome

Modular construction will be a big part of the industry’s future. It is promising not only for cost savings, but also speed-to-market, construction quality, and perhaps, even automation. “The biggest savings for us was timing,” according to Farrell. “We are now exploring volumetric modular for all of our projects.” The short time-span from the start of construction to the first day you collect rent can generate significant savings. Not only do you save interest and other carrying costs, “your onsite management team, the trailer, the staff, and all the onsite people are dedicating less time to the project, which can result in significant savings,” adds Dovolis.

Dovolis’ company, DJR, assigned modular veteran Aaron Johnson to the job. Many credit Johnson for his impact on melding the building’s design with the intricacies of modular. When you build in a factory at the pace and timing of a modular project, one hundred percent of the design work must be done upfront. “You are making choices really early on in the process,” recalls Ackerberg. “It’s definitely an adjustment.” So much so that DJR brought in technology to help the team virtually visualize the interior design to facilitate the unusual early timing of design.

Putting a roof on a modular building “was really just like any other job,” according to Mike Olson of Central Roofing Company. The challenge with ALVERA was that the north and south sides of the building were only about six feet from the property line. “There were times when we were bringing in materials in a wheelbarrow and hoisting some of it by hand,” recalls Olson. “We believe in being honest and confronting the difficult issues upfront, which helped with tackling this small site. Credit also goes to Opus for understanding the challenges of this project and working with everyone to deliver an amazing, finished product.”

Additional unforeseen challenges, like construction lending, added to the complexities. “Modular construction might scare away many lenders at first blush,” states Ross Wieser, Senior Vice President at Bridgewater Bank. “There are several issues we had to dig into and understand to develop a comfort level with this project. For example, what is your security interest in an incomplete module in a factory? Who owns the modules or rather who insures the modules while they are in transit?” Wieser concluded that Bridgewater was passionate about the West 7th Corridor, as it has an office in that neighborhood, but he and Bridgewater also believe strongly in the development team. “Ackerberg, really everyone involved, knocked this one out of the park. We believe in multifamily in the long term, and we were honored to be afforded the opportunity to be involved in such a unique project.” In the end, modular construction was just another speed bump to funding the project.

Not the Best Time to Put up A Building

The team again turned to Alvera Franceschi and relied on her strength to work through troubled times. It wasn’t the easiest time to be putting up a structure. During civil unrest in an adjacent community, an entire project was burned to the ground, just blocks away from the site. Add to that workplace issues related to a pandemic, and you have a recipe for a disaster. “We approached each day as an adventure,” says Ackerberg. “It was certainly a vertical learning curve. Learning modular, dealing with site restrictions, lumber pricing, labor shortages, supply chain issues, and dealing with pandemic-related civil unrest, we had daily hurdles to overcome. But the stronger the team, the easier it was to pivot and bounce. And our team was fantastic and they rallied together with a positive approach to really make it happen.”

In the End, a Legacy

Dovolis says, “A testament to the building, and an ongoing challenge, is the number of requests we get for tours of the building. It is really going to inspire the next generation of multifamily development.” Farrell credits the creativity and leadership by Stuart and the rest of the team at The Ackerberg Group. “A project like this doesn’t happen without a progressive partner like Ackerberg.”

ALVERA is truly a legacy of love and a legacy of firsts. It is the first modular project of this scale in the Upper Midwest, with the largest automated parking structure in the Midwest to date. Additionally, the inspired artwork of Aaron De La Cruz met the vision of Stuart Ackerberg and Brian Farrell to enhance West 7th in a way that no one else could at a time when it was needed the most. OPUS was magnificent in shepherding a most complex development using the modular construction. Dean Dovolis will be proudly hosting tours for years to come.