InForum: EPIC announces plans for 2nd phase of downtown Fargo Gateway development: The Arch

The $31 million, seven-story building will include a mix of commercial and office space, condominiums, and underground and main floor parking.

FARGO – EPIC Companies has announced plans to begin construction this summer on The Arch, the second phase of the Gateway development just off Main Avenue on the southeastern edge of downtown Fargo.

The $31 million, seven-story mixed-use building will overlook the Red River, and encompass 188,310 square feet of space, including 60,310 square feet of underground and main floor parking (116 spaces).

About 20,000 square feet of the ground floor space will be given over to commercial and office space, with another 108,000 square feet built as condominiums for sale.

EPIC spokeswoman McKenzy Olson said that the building will have about 60 condominium units, with one-, two- or three-bedroom options available.

Construction on The Arch is expected to begin this summer. Razing of what is left of the current Gateway Center strip mall is expected to begin after the Fryin’ Pan restaurant is moved into the Gateway North building at 310 Main Ave., Olson said.

Completion of The Arch is expected in late 2022 or early 2023, Olson said.

EPIC Gateway East Real Estate Holdings is seeking approval for Renaissance Zone property tax exemption and state income tax exemptions for the project.

Fargo’s Renaissance Zone Authority is expected to review and vote on the application for those tax breaks at its meeting Wednesday, May 26. If approved, the request would then go to the Fargo City Commission for final approval.

The estimated Renaissance Zone property tax benefit that EPIC is seeking over five years is $2,037,535, Planner Kylene Bagley said Monday, May 24. The tax breaks for the buyers of the condominiums would be determined by the size of each unit, Bagley said.

The application received a score of 98 out of 100 possible points, according to city documents.

Olson said the building, relatively close to the Red River and Island Park, would be, “an area to live, work and play.”

She said it also gives people interested in ownership “the opportunity to buy something in the downtown area.”

Construction of the first phase of the overall development, the $13.2 million Gateway North building, is expected to be completed this fall. It is a mix of commercial space and apartments, Olson said.

EPIC first announced the Gateway project on the busy Main Avenue corridor in December of 2019.

West Fargo-based EPIC Companies has developed a number of mixed-use buildings and entertainment spaces in the Fargo-Moorhead-West Fargo area. EPIC also has projects in Bismarck, Jamestown, Minot, Grand Forks and Horace in North Dakota, and Detroit Lakes, Minn.