No Place Like Home: Centra Breaks Ground on 136-lot Project in Coon Rapids, MN

September 25th, 2019

Former home to a strip shopping center and bowling alley, a Coon Rapids parcel sat vacant for 20 years.  Now a local homebuilder has it set for a triumphant revival.

Homebuilder Centra Homes has been headquartered in Coon Rapids since the firm’s founding eight years ago.  So when Coon Rapids city staff solicited plans to redevelop 30 acres south of Coon Rapids Boulevard, Centra Homes President Dale Wills and team jumped at the chance.

“The site is literally two miles from our headquarters.  This project represents an exciting opportunity to partner with city officials and reinvest in our community.”

 Dale Wills, Centra Homes Founder and President

Port Riverwalk – Details About The Future Community

Centra submitted a bid and was awarded the project in 2018.  The resulting project, dubbed Port Riverwalk, is set to break ground later this fall. 

The subdivision will deliver:

• 136 new homes with a variety of neighborhoods
• three style options, and
• prices beginning in the upper $200s

 “This project will be attractive, well-designed, quality construction.  We want it to look nice and be high quality and everything Centra has presented is consistent with that.”

—Grant Fernelius Coon Rapids Community Development Director

Perhaps most importantly, the Port Riverwalk community will also reinvigorate a hometown parcel that sat stagnant for two decades.

Wills says that title issues and some environmental challenges complicated previous development efforts on the site.  Fixing those meant extensive work with city staff to clean up easements, title discrepancies and address the other concerns. 

Coon Rapids Community Development Director Grant Fernelius says that interactions with Centra have been very positive and found the team from Centra responsive and patient throughout the process.

While sorting through the various issues took time, Wills is quick to cite Centra’s collaboration with the team at the city hall as crucial to developing a path forward.

“I can’t say enough good things about our partnership with the city of Coon Rapids,” says Wills.

The project breaks the lots into approximately:

• 67 court homes
• 34 single levels and
• 35 two stories

Configuration options are available for each.  This variety offers housing options for young families, growing families and downsizing retirees, each organized in separate neighborhoods.  

In addition to housing style options, plans call for all homes in the development to be  Wi-Fi certified. This means that every home will have a base google platform offering integrated connectivity with the home’s thermostat and video doorbell as well as an option to upgrade to a true smart home.   

Foundations will be poured soon and Centra hopes to open sales for the homes in late February or March.  Interested buyers can track progress on CentraHomes.com, or contact the sales team directly at (763) 772-1000.

“This is our hometown project.  We are elated to have the opportunity to deliver quality new-construction homes to Coon Rapids.”

— Dale Wills, Centra Homes Founder and President

Contact Information:

Centra Homes President, Dale Wills
(763) 772-1032