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Attention Bloomington families: New units may be being built at Southgate Apartments.

Mid Continent Management Corp., the owner of Southgate, is approaching the Bloomington Planning Commission in hopes of diversifying the possibilities of the 1969-built apartment complex by building 12 new three-bedroom apartments.

Currently, the property is zoned R-4, which allows four to 12 residential units per acre. Mid Continent is asking the commission to zone the property RM-24, which allows 12 to 24 residential units per acre, according to planning documents.

The Planning Commission will consider the rezoning at its meeting on Thursday, August 29. Staff recommended approval, saying it was consistent with the requirements of the Bloomington Comprehensive Plan, which calls for high-density housing with 10-150 housing units per acre.

The complex consists of four apartment buildings at 1001 and 1101 E. 80th Street and at 8100 and 8070 12th Ave S. There are 148 one-bedroom units and 96 two-bedroom units spread across the four buildings.

If the rezoning goes ahead, the project would bring four three-bedroom apartments each to buildings 1001 and 8070. The remaining four three-bedroom apartments would then be evenly divided between buildings 8100 and 1101, according to planning documents.

According to property tax records, each building in the Southgate Apartments complex is worth $6.7 million to $8 million.

Some buildings in the area that were cleared for construction, such as the LOMA in Minneapolis, were designed with three-bedroom apartments to accommodate more families. The Family Housing Expansion Project, a program of the Minneapolis Public Housing Authority, created 16 apartment buildings with three-bedroom apartments designed for families with children.

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