Villager: Pandemic puts a small, hopefully short-lived dent in rental market

By Frank Jossi, Villager Newspaper

Article Excerpt:

The Harper, the new five-story apartment building at the corner of Selby and Snelling avenues, opened in March, just in time to suffer through the first few months of the coronavirus pandemic and the state-imposed lockdown of the economy.

Developed by Ryan Companies, the same firm that developed the five-story Vintage at Selby across the street, the Harper also weathered several nights of civil unrest following the death of George Floyd in South Minneapolis on May 25. First-floor windows were boarded up in fear of vandalism. Still, prospective tenants continued to tour the building, albeit at a slower pace.

The leasing of the Harper “has been going well in a tough time,” according to Joseph Peris, a manager of real estate development for Ryan. “We’ve gotten a good reception from the neighborhood. There’s definitely a demand for living in the Snelling-Selby area.”