If you have wondered why walking the grounds of Noerenberg Memorial Gardens feel so tranquil and peaceful, it may be helpful to know that the care and generosity cultivated on this land started over one hundred years ago. Among the first settlers on Lake Minnetonka, Frederick Noerenberg, the founder of the Grain Belt Brewery, built his family estate on this site overlooking Crystal Bay in 1890 and named it Wilkommen.
English in design, the Queen Anne inspired home was set on 73 acres and nearly 8,500 feet of Lake Minnetonka shoreline. Alongside the staff of 17, the meticulously manicured tiered rose beds and groomed grasses were maintained by Noerenberg and his wife, Johanna. The northern part of the original Gilded Age estate included a gentlemen’s farm. The livestock raised here went to supply the family as well as area establishments. The estate was doted upon for years by the Noerenberg’s daughter, Lora Noerenberg Hoppe. Hoppe lived in the home until her death in 1972. She was 85. The family’s wish was to raze the home and dedicate the garden...
Plog post update: Lakeview Golf Course Orono MN - Luxury Development
Planning is underway for the residential development of Orono’s Lakeview Public Golf Course. Since the 1950s 142 acres of land, located just west of North Arm on Lake Minnetonka, has been home to the Lakeview 18 hole public golf course.
For the past couple years the Lakeview Golf Course has been exploring every option to combat the increasing number of golf courses and rising taxes. In 2013, Lakeview Golf Course decided to bring their thoughts of developing the 142 acres of land before a city meeting for residential and council input. Their goal was to alleviate the dwindling margins from the course by rezoning the land in order to develop residential homes.
Since then, months have passed with multiple city meetings discussing all sides of the idea. After listening all sides, the Orono City Council, at the beginning of this year on January 13th, approved the zoning change in land use from Parks Recreation and Open Land to...
2013 brought much improvement to the Orono housing market. Sellers and Buyers remained optomistic that the overall economy and Orono housing market would continue on with the improvements made at the end of 2012. Strong buyer demand in Orono housing matched with the small 2.3% decrease in listings pushed Orono’s 2013 median sales price up 32.5% while the average days on market fell to 168, lowering the number of months of housing inventory by 31% over the previous year. Builders in 2013 had been trying to keep up with buyer demand, however, due to the amount of demand and the lack of new construction inventory the % of original asking price for new construction remained above 100%, ending with the 12 month median at 103.8%. Despite the overall low inventory, Orono's total sales for the year increased by 8.7% to 175.
As we look forward over the next 12 months to the direction of the local housing market, we will be following a couple key factors. First, the Fed's continued pull back of quantitative easing which, when paired with economic data, will impact current interest rates. Secondly, keeping an eye on the housing affordability index will be important. The housing affordability index, which is based on the median...