14th & Main Apartments/architectural rendering

Moorhead City Council

Nancy Edmonds Hanson

A leading developer will be adding 28 more apartments to downtown Moorhead in the coming year after the Moorhead City Council approved his request for a tax exemption on Monday.
The council unanimously approved Kevin Bartram’s request for a Renaissance Zone tax exemption for the multifamily building he has proposed at the corner of 14th Street and Main Avenue. To be constructed by RFI2 LLC, the project will occupy the site of a former gas station that has been vacant at least since 2008, as well as an adjacent house and garage apartment.
According to economic development consultant Derick LaPoint, the defunct gas station has known contamination issues. Bartram will demolish the building, remove any remaining underground tanks, and clean up any leaks that may have resulted from them. Construction is expected to begin this summer, with completion in the summer of 2026.
The Renaissance Zone program dates back to 2011. It was created to support urban development, infill of vacant or deteriorated properties, and concentrate reinvestment in and near downtown. Based on its requirements, the new building will be entirely or partially exempt from property tax on new construction (but not the land itself) for 15 years – 100% for the first five, 75% for years 6 through 10, and 50% for the final five years of the term. The total maximum benefit is estimated at more than $500,000.
Bartram has been responsible for much of the downtown residential development Moorhead has seen over the past 20 years. He and his partners’ first project was renovating and extending the Kassenborg Block, the oldest original building in the area. It now anchors a complex of six residential and mixed-use buildings at Main and Fourth Street, including the former sites of Kirby’s and Ralph’s Bar.
Bartram’s developments also include the Simon Warehouse on Center and 11th Street, and 9Thirteen Lofts and Block 37 west of Hornbacher’s on Main, as well as the renovated Fairmont Creamery and the new apartments to its east. His most recent project is the adjoining pair of apartment and mixed-use structures called 650 Center, located on Center at what will become the corner of the planned extension of Sixth Street. A decision on plans for the former FM Hotel, now renamed the FM Center, have not been confirmed, but may include housing units along with a possible boutique hotel.