Construction has begun in Edina on a single-family house that will be sold to raise money for real estate education programs at the University of St. Thomas and serve as a learning tool for undergraduate and graduate students during the fall 2013 semester.
The house at 6443 McCauley Terrace, southeast of Highways 169 and 212-62, will overlook the west side of Arrowhead Lake. JMS Custom Homes, whose owner Jeff Schoenwetter is a member of the St. Thomas Real Estate Advisory Board, is the builder, and the Alexander Design Group of Wayzata is the architect.
A sign at the construction site thanks the organizations involved with the unusual project that ultimately will benefit real estate programs at St. Thomas.
Crown Bank of Edina will provide all construction funding to JMS for the 5,900-square-foot house, which will have four bedrooms and five bathrooms.
JMS and Alexander Design Group are donating services. Other expected donors include Edina Realty, which will market the house and provide financing for qualified purchasers; Shenehon Co., appraisal services; Fabyanske Westra Hart & Thomson, legal services; and various subcontractors.
JMS expects construction to be completed in time for the house to be placed in the 2014 Spring Parade of Homes, with a target price between $1.6 million and $1.75 million. JMS intends to donate net proceeds from the sale to St. Thomas for the benefit of its real estate programs, with a fundraising goal of $250,000 or more.
“The intention is to create as large of a delta as possible between the cost to build the home and the sale price,” said Herb Tousley, director of the Shenehon Center for Real Estate and the Master of Science in Real Estate program in the Opus College of Business at St. Thomas. “Everyone associated with the project will be asked for contributions or reduced costs on services and materials needed to build the home.”
A view of the lake from the yard of the new home being built in Edina. (Photo by Mark Jensen.)
The house will be featured as an example of the “Green Path” standards endorsed by the Builders Association of the Twin Cities. The standards encourage energy efficiency in new construction and in home features such as appliances, lighting, heating and air conditioning.
Tousley also cited the importance of the project in allowing St. Thomas real estate students to get hands-on experience and to learn more about the housing construction industry and what it takes to market and sell a house.
St. Thomas offers Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees in real estate. The affiliated Shenehon Center for Real Estate provides executive and continuing education programs to meet the needs of residential and commercial real estate professionals, holds conferences and special events, and sponsors the Minnesota Real Estate Hall of Fame.
This sketch shows what the house on Arrowhead Lake in Edina will look like when ready for sale in the spring of 2014.
