The first floor will contain a community service facility providing services to residents and members of the community. The building will have secure underground parking for the residential tenants. The project will include one, two and three bedroom units. 75% of the units will be two and three bedroom units providing housing options for families with children. Units will have hard surface flooring, full sized kitchen appliances, access to three laundry rooms, and standard nine foot ceilings in all of the units. The building also features a large fitness room for residents.

The first floor community service space  will contain a satellite office of Northpoint Health & Wellness Center.  This office will focus on community outreach with space for events and health education classes, as well as two flexible-use exam rooms. The use of this space for Northpoint aligns closely with the mission of Building Blocks, and will provide high caliber services to residents and neighbors.  Building Blocks will also house their home offices in and provide programming from the community service space.

The top floor features views of downtown Minneapolis to the east and the Golden Valley area to the west. The Commons at Penn Avenue features a large outdoor common patio area for residents to interact with each other. This area features sitting and grilling areas, a tot lot, as well as landscaping for residents to enjoy.

The projects goal is to exceed the requirements of the Green Communities Criteria, which are the applicable sustainable design guidelines for this development. The Commons at Penn Avenue will be seeking certification through the 2011 Enterprise Green Communities Criteria. We expect to far exceed the minimum requirements of Minnesota Housing Finance Agency for sustainability.

The development team will also be focused on how the development integrates with the surrounding community. This may include an information center to make the tenants and neighbors aware of events in the community, spaces in the development that can be used by the community and programs so that the tenants can be a part of the community. Throughout the project’s completion, Building Blocks will work closely with the city of Minneapolis to help enhance its “Penn Avenue North Development” efforts.