Developer breaks ground on Ellendale apartments

After years of waiting, Darrin Stadheim is seeing his vision for his hometown come to fruition.

Construction work on the Ellendale native’s newest – yet somehow, oldest – project has begun in earnest, four years after it was first announced.

“We’ve all been working hard on this, including the city, including the EDA, since 2021,” Stadheim said at the groundbreaking for Radel Court on June 26. He is the owner of Stadheim Properties, which developed the project.

The state’s Workforce Housing Development Program awarded the project a $491,000 grant in 2021, matched by the city; another grant helped cover the cost of clean-up of the site and preparation work.

Then the funding dissipated, and the project was put on hold.

The benefit of waiting, however, “is we’ve realized some lower rates,” Stadheim said, both by taking out some of the expense as well as costs that came down.

Trimming costs was vital to keeping the apartments affordable – especially in a town the size of Ellendale.

The 22 units – a combination of one- and two-bedroom apartments – will be offered at market rate, and managed by Diversified Property Management of Owatonna.

The project is expected to be complete by the end of January.

“There’s been a lot of genuine interest in the project since ’21,” Stadheim said, and the interest remains.

There are several people waiting for an apartment, he said, including teachers, older couples and singles.

That could be the key to a housing shift, said Allan Radel, a longtime Owatonna developer who now lives at Beaver Lake with his wife Randee.

When a couple that downsizes already owns a home, “that home will be for sale to a younger couple, hopefully, so it just creates more housing all around,” he said.

“It’s good for Ellendale; it’ll get things going,” Radel said of the project, which now bears his name.

Why?

“Well, if you look if you look down that street, the name of the street is Radel Court – that should give you a clue,” he laughed.

It’s named after his father, Harlin, who was “the county commissioner (representing Ellendale) back in the day,” Radel said. “So I just figured, with Radel Court there, how could I not be involved?

“I’m excited,” he said. “I think it’s a good project; I’m happy to be an investor.”

Stadheim, Radel said, “is just excellent at what he does, as is (Scott) Mohs.”

Mohs Contracting, of Owatonna, is heading up the construction.

“There are top of the line people working on it,” Radel said. “They’ve been in business for years. You look around, they’re doing things right. Top-notch, all the way through. They just do an excellent job.”

Steve Glynn, vice president of construction for Mohs, said it’s now full steam ahead.

“I think Darrin did a really good job here, making this affordable for Ellendale,” he said. “He didn’t go overboard, to the point that rent rates will be really high; I think this is going to fit the community really, really well.

“I grew up in Blooming Prairie,” Glynn said. “I’m a local guy, so I get it. When things happen in a small town like this, it’s a big deal.”

It’s a big deal for Radel, too – for a different reason.

“I’m 79 years old,” he said. “At my age, you think about legacy. That legacy” – he pointed to the street in front of the building site – “was from my dad, and just to tie it all together, I had to do it. Radel Court just leads right in here.”

The building site is at the corner of U.S. Highway 30 and Sixth Street South.

“It’s almost like country living,” Stadheim said of his project, which sits on a wooded lot.

“It’s a great thing for Ellendale.”