Contractors started work on a five-story, 80-bed apartment building on the corner of Finn Street and Grand Avenue on Oct. 22.

The process started with demolishing two student rental houses that developer Graham Merry owned. The houses have been empty since the St. Thomas students who rented them moved out in June. Construction won’t be finished until end of August to early September 2013, but Merry said he’s going to start leasing the new apartments this month.

“Obviously, we don’t have any apartment to walk anyone through because it’s under construction, but what we have done is develop a website for the apartments building with renderings, computer images from the architect that display as best we can, what the apartment will look like,” Merry said.

Merry said although advertising hasn’t been put on the site yet, inquiries are on the rise.

“We haven’t gotten any signage out in front of the site yet, and we actually have people stopping our contractors and asking them about it,” Merry said.

John Hershey, St. Thomas neighborhood liaison, said even though there were significant neighborhood concerns about the building, when city officials looked at Merry’s application, they felt they had little choice but to approve it.

“They basically looked at each other and said, ‘you know what, this meets zoning code, so we really don’t have a legal way to oppose it even though we think it’s too big or whatever we think about it,’” Hershey said.

The main issue keeping this apartment complex from being built was a one-year moratorium on that type of building on Grand Avenue.

The city also created the West Grand Avenue zoning study which will evaluate all the different kinds of zoning on Grand Avenue between Fairview and Cretin Avenues and come up with new guidelines.

Last year, juniors Olivia Trefilek and Megan Hoffman, and senior Andrew O’Brien lived in one of the houses that was torn down to make room for the new apartment, and Merry, their landlord, told them they couldn’t resign their lease for the next year.

“It was so sad because one of our roommates sent us a picture of our house getting torn down,” Hoffman said. “It was one of the most devastating things because it’s just all of the memories that have just gone. We had the greatest time in that house.”

Merry said he anticipated a reaction from neighbors, but wasn’t exactly sure what to expect.

“I was aware that this is a very organized neighborhood and that this project was very much at the center of their attention,” Merry said. “Neighbors care very much about this neighborhood as I do as well. There’s just a lot of people with a vested interest in how things go.”

Hershey said it’s not surprising that neighbors had concerns about the new student housing.

“That’s always a local concern,” Hershey said. “The bottom line for me is, this is going to be big. It’s going to change the skyline of Grand Avenue at that particular point.”

Hershey also said that in 15 years at St. Thomas, large concentrations of students in apartment buildings haven’t been the ones that generated complaints.

“They’re managed. We have far, far less difficulty with those kinds of buildings than we do with single family and duplex units where there is no on site supervision. I very seldom respond to a complaint about a party in an apartment,” Hershey said.

“My hope is that the neighbor’s fears will be eased as they experience the professional management of the building,” Merry said.

The apartment building’s proximity to St. Thomas, businesses on Grand Avenue, the city bus route, and the Mississippi River made the location irresistible to Merry.

“It’s kind of the best location in a great neighborhood, Merry said. “This is an incredible location for housing.”

Trefilek said that although she was disappointed that she had to move, she thinks the location is a a good one and will be popular with students.

“The location is so key. That was the number one reason we lived there,” Trefilek said.

Heidi Enninga can be reached at enni5264@stthomas.edu.