During Tuesday’s New Ulm Economic Development Authority (EDA) meeting, city staff provided the board with a roundup of all the residential housing projects in some state of development.

The list of project including Kuepers Highland Avenue Apartments, Land Haven Addition, River Haven Housing, Garden Terrace Tree, NUBRIC Tiny Homes, George’s Ballroom site and Marktplatz Mall site.

The Kuepers Apartment project at 901 N. Highland Avenue began in late September of 2025. The entire project will consist of four, three-story apartment buildings with eight detached garages, along with a sports court, children’s playground, dog park, parking lots and stormwater ponds.

EDA Director Heather Bregel said the first two apartment buildings are nearing completion with plans to start leasing in August. Plans for the next two buildings have already been submitted to the city. The second phase would include two 36-unit apartments further west on the property.

The first two of four apartment buildings at 901 N. Highland Avenue are nearing completion. The developers hope to begin leasing out apartment units as early as August. Photo by Clay Schuldt

In total the highland apartment project would create 144 new apartment units in New Ulm.

“They plan to keep going and get that built,” Bregel said. “It is exciting.”

At 2211 Jacobs Street, groundwork has begun on the Land Haven Addition, which will be home to the city’s first “barndominium” subdivision.

A barndominium is a residential building combining a traditional barn-like structure with residential dwelling features, sometimes called a “shouse.” The plan for the property is to construct 28 building lots. Twenty-two of the lots would be used for bardominium units.

Earthwork and utility installation has begun at the Land Haven Addition. President of Land Haven Development Tony Gulden said gas, sewer and water utilities are in place with electric utilities coming within the next week.

The groundwork and utility installation has started at New Ulm’s first barndominium development located at 2211 Jacobs Street. The Land Haven development will have 22 barn/residential residential dwelling constructed on site. Some of the first buildings are expected to be built over the summer. Photo by Clay Schuldt

He said four storage units will be built first, with construction beginning before the end of the month. Gulden said a few shouses will follow the storage units. He is confident they will have some bardominium units up before the end of the year.

Bregel said River Haven Housing development at 1800 North Highland Avenue and 1425-1625 Maplewood Drive has submitted a plan for groundwork. The plan is to complete the grading at this site by the end of the year.

The River Haven project will include the creation of six town homes, six single-family dwellings, five twin homes and two four-story apartment buildings with a total of 48 units in each structure for a total of 118 units.

The two apartment units will be constructed during the first phase of the project, with the townhomes/row homes coming as part of the second phase. The townhomes will be owned and operated by the developer. The twin homes and single-family lots would be sold to area private developers.

In January, groundwork on the third Garden Terrace Apartment building started.

The former site of George Ballroom remains vacant a yearn and a half after the was demolished. Plans to redevelop the site into a 104-unit apartment building were put on pause by the developers last October. The developers are seeking for additional investors in the project. City Manager Chris Dalton said it possible groundwork could begin on the project before the end of the year. Photo by Clay Schuldt

Bregel said the project is on schedule and work on the foundation is expected to begin soon. The project is anticipated to be complete by February 2027.

Last year, the EDA sold the two existing Garden Terrace buildings and an adjacent vacant lot to Rebound Real Estate, which is constructing a third Garden Terrace building on the vacant lot. The new building will be three stories with 39 units.

Upon completion of the new building, Rebound plans to lease the building to Oak Hills Living Center, which operates a senior living facility on an adjacent property. Oak Hills will take over all expenses associated with the property. The long-term goal is to create a continual campus for Oak Hills, which is next door to the Garden Terrace apartments.

Foundation work for the “Tiny Homes” project at 418 and 424 S. 13th Street and 1305-1315 South Minnesota Street is expected to start this month. The Tiny Homes project was spearheaded by New Ulm Business Resource and Innovation Center (NUBRIC) to expand workforce housing in the community.

Tiny homes are simplified living spaces with small floor plans. Each of the tiny homes built in this development would be 20 feet by 20 feet and 20 feet tall at the peak. The homes would have a full main floor and a smaller loft second floor.

An overhead map of the proposed Tiny Home development at 418 and 424 S. 13th Street and 1305-1315 South Minnesota Street. The first phase of the development calls for the creation of two tiny homes. Foundation work on the first tiny homes is schedule to begin after Memorial Day. Submitted photo

NUBRIC CEO Steve Brown said the plan is to create 15 tiny homes total, but will start with two test homes to create interest in the community before building the remaining 13.

“We plan to start right after Memorial Day,” Brown said. “We will get the ground level for the first two.”

Brown anticipated the first two tiny homes would be complete before the end of summer.

City Manager Chris Dalton gave a brief update on the new apartment construction at the former George’s Ballroom site.

Fischer Development, the developers responsible for the demolition and salvage of the ballroom, announced last October construction of the new building was paused while the project designs and financials are refined.

Groundwork on third Garden Terrace building began back in January and is nearly complete. The foundation work is expected to begin soon with a target of completing the new three-story apartment unit by Feb. 2027. Photo by Clay Schuldt

Dalton recently attended a meeting with the developers on the project. He said the project is still moving forward, but there has been some design changes. Fischer Development is still working to bring more investors on the project. There is potential that some of the initial earthwork on the site could begin later this year.

EDA chairwoman Michelle Markgraf asked if there was any new information on the Marktplatz Mall project.

Marktplatz Mall has been closed as a retail space since 2018 after the Herberger’s store was liquidated. In April 2020, EBMD purchased two of the three mall parcels. In Sept. 2023, the city of New Ulm approved the sale of the final center section of Marktplatz mall to EBMD.

EBMD expressed interest in redeveloping the mall for apartments. This would include the demolition of the top level of the building. The plan was to construct a minimum of 30 apartment units.

Dalton said the proposed project is still in the works, but said the city will not have any new updates on the project until next year.