Group banks on truly beautiful river development in Duluth
The RiverWest property, located across Grand Avenue from lower Spirit Mountain, offers a spectacular view of the St. Louis River and 27 acres that one Duluth businessman compared to Canal Park for its development potential. 6:13 pm, Dec. 14, 2020 ×
Standing on where the Munger trail crosses the RiverWest development in Duluth, Brad Johnson, one of the principal developers and partners with the RiverWest development team, talks about how trails will integrate with the project. Ten years in the making, the developers now have all the contiguous land they need to, they say, have a significant impact on economic development in the region and provide space for much-needed housing and retail opportunities in the western part of Duluth. (Clint Austin / caustin@duluthnews.com)
A group of developers, acting as Spirit Valley Land Co., are readying a 26.8-acre site in Duluth for a wave of construction to create a “new neighborhood.”
The company plans to bring a mix of single- and multifamily housing, retail, dining and hotels to the site, dubbed RiverWest. It’s located next to an abundance of trails and outdoor venues, which developers hope will draw both locals and visitors to the development.
The close proximity to such trails and venues is what motivated Brad Johnson to start the project over a decade ago, he said.
Spirit Valley Land Co. has already invested approximately $3 million into the project, which included work like mass grading to ready the site. Now, Johnson said, they’re looking for development partners to start building, which will likely begin next summer. Construction may finish in 2022.