Elevating Everyday Architecture
Behind every great neighborhood are great visionaries — thoughtful architects, investors, builders, and developers who walk a mile (plus a year or three) in the shoes of its occupants. At JLG Architects, defining a lifestyle, preserving history, and capturing the story are just pieces of a much more complex puzzle, an intensive design process that results in exceptional residential destinations like Selkirk on 4th, Mercantile, RiverHouse, Pure North, Sand Creek Flats, and The Landing at 1001 NP. This time, we go deep into the design details with JLG’s Marissa Arroyo, Hannah Halvorson, Tommy Schmidt, Brian Carlson, and Jesse Hadley — architects and interior designers dedicated to dreaming up all the ways we live. Make yourself at home on a beautiful tour of their team’s latest projects, from the downtowns of Grand Forks and Fargo to the wetlands of Jordan, MN.
by TRACY NICHOLSON
photos by MICAH J. ZIMMERMAN, CHAD ZIEMENDORF, DUSTYN HADLEY & LONNIE LAFFEN
From Left: JLG Architects’ Tommy Schmidt, Marissa Arroyo, and Brian Carlson
FOR LEASE
Perusing the photo galleries of the newest ‘For Lease” listings is always fun, but what we don’t get to see is the large team of visionaries who work together to ensure residential buildings thoughtfully reflect our every need, our community’s values, the site’s history, and the neighborhood’s unique energy. In multi-family housing, architectural design drives the way we live and interact. In fact, JLG’s team would say that really good design does the work for us—intuitively walking us from parking and trails to pet washes, bike storage, mail rooms, community rooms, gyms, and rooftop patios—creating pathways for a well-connected community within a community.
DESTINATION: DOWNTOWN GRAND FORKS, ND
TOUR #1: PURE NORTH
Pure North in Grand Forks is what we’d call pure happiness amid decades of downtown restoration. Designed by the JLG team and since a 1960s urban renewal project. Pure North was planned to reside on the original 1939 site of Hugo and Dorothy Magnuson’s Pure Foods grocery store, so naturally, the team ensured its third-generation family business made a triumphant return. Today, Hugo’s is the main attraction of Pure North, now a downtown destination that shares a home with Hugo’s Wine & Spirits, Alerus Bank, and 68 residential units above.
Here, JLG collaborated with Hugo’s and Dakota Commercial to address demands for new and diverse housing options, block redevelopment that was also supported by the City of Grand Forks, the county, and the school district, providing 80% tax increment financing to help fund the project.
The result was a multi-dimensional architectural endeavor designed for diverse tenant needs. At the core of Pure North is Alerus Bank and Hugo’s Pure Market – giving all downtown residents access to daily essentials and services, complete with an upper mezzanine to the outdoor patio and shops below. While downtown residents enjoy the proximity, tenants have the ultimate convenience, with a quick elevator ride to the grocery store, bistro, off-sale, coffee shop, or bank. Tenants can also take advantage of a beautiful community room, a game room, a fitness center, a designated study area, underground parking, and spectacular views of downtown.
JLG ensured the site, services, and positioning of the building leveraged the views and reactivated the streetscape, inviting tenants to explore The Greenway, take a stroll through the local farmer’s market, and quickly find their way to downtown dining, shopping, and entertainment.
TOUR #2: SELKIRK ON 4TH
Located in the heart of downtown Grand Forks, surrounded by historic office buildings and a parking garage, JLG’s team once again teamed with Dakota Commercial to raise Selkirk from the ashes, leveraging the site in a way that would celebrate the city’s history and invite residents to return to a now vibrant neighborhood. Selkirk is named after Alexander Griggs, the Selkirk steamboat captain who first staked claims to land on the Red River in 1872. That nine-acre piece of land would later be known as downtown Grand Forks. Griggs, considered the ‘Father of Grand Forks,’ has long been credited as the one responsible for the growth of the city, from a trading post to a town.
Today, Selkirk on 4th is a contemporary, glass-filled mixeduse building designed with public spaces on the street level and three floors of condos above, all connected to downtown via skyway. On the exterior at street level, JLG ensured the building paid homage to historic buildings adjacent to the site. Above the second level, expansive glazing creates transparency throughout the building, with beautiful reflections of the Dakota sky. Solid, lightly colored panels near the alley provide a fresh, modern aesthetic, creating a home for art installations or community movie projections.
On the interior, polished concrete floors and bright white walls become the blank slate or gallery, with urban landscape, natural light, and endless views the ‘artwork.’ Here, JLG designed the floorplans to accommodate floor-to-ceiling windows, keepingthe color palette and material selections sleek and minimalist, not distracting the eye from the urban skyline.
DESTINATION: DOWNTOWN FARGO, ND
While downtown Grand Forks was rebuilding after flood and fire, downtown Fargo was re-establishing the role of its many historic buildings, foreseeing a more vibrant, activated community branching from Broadway. Since 2006, Kilbourne Group has been thoughtfully restoring the past and reinvigorating the future, leaning into innovative architectural design that responds to today’s demand for walkable, mixed-use, urban cores that support healthy community growth. “Working with a firm that has a portfolio of many different and complex project types gives us comfort that they can draw from their breadth of experience,” said Kilbourne Group’s Sami Harwood. “JLG is particularly intentional to be mindful of each site’s unique history and building constraints to deliver efficient and beautiful projects.” Kilbourne Group also credits great partners, including the City of Fargo staff, the KCM (Kilbourne Construction Management) team, and the overall community that supports exciting downtown Fargo projects.
TOUR #3: MERCANTILE
Since downtown’s Fargo Mercantile Co. was demolished in 1966, its wholesale grocer site has hosted Goodyear Service Center’s 1968 garage, a pop-up food truck park, a theater, an art gallery, and the Red River Market. In 2022, JLG and Kilbourne Group gave this versatile corner new life with Mercantile, a six-floor lifestyle living center overlooking Broadway. Mercantile reactivates the site with nostalgic opulence and modern amenities for walkable residential, including an automated parking ramp, a rooftop patio and well-appointed community room, pet wash stations, bike storage, floor-to-ceiling windows, and premium retail space for streetside services.
“We pulled a lot of the proportions and details from the old Fargo Mercantile Co., like the lighter color of the original brick and the entrance’s marquee awning, with contemporary elements blended in,” said Carlson. “The bones of the building are very traditional in symmetry and formality, but there are still some contemporary elements and finishes. Interior design was a major focus of this project.”
BUILDING THE STORY
Inside, JLG worked with Kilbourne Group to restore the old Fargo Mercantile Co.’s 1909 character, telling its story through 14-foot coffered and tray ceilings, traditional board and batten details, elegant lighting, rich Art Deco design, contemporary furnishings from Scan Design, and back-lit antiqued mirrored walls that illuminate the nightly streetscape. Throughout the building, the work of several local artists is displayed, including Mike Marth, Marie Lindley, and Dan Jones, paired with salvaged gym flooring from Fargo’s old Woodrow Wilson school at the entrance. Integration of local art and repurposed materials are hallmarks of every Kilbourne Group project.
“We researched images of goods that were once sold in that store, then used that to inform a warmer color palette with hints of wood, which was very prominent in a lot of products at that time,” added JLG’s interior designer Marissa Arroyo. Carefully considering how tenants use the space, Arroyo safeguarded the design with intricate vinyl wallcoverings and high-impact HardStop® protection panels near the doorways and elevator to reduce daily wear and tear.
ELEVATED ENTERTAINING
On the second floor, Arroyo captured the nostalgia of the era with deep navy tones, tray ceilings, and board and batten details to create a more intimate community room. This space features a full kitchen with quartz island, floating shelves, and herringbone subway tile that mimics the repurposed lobby flooring. At the center is an inset rug with pool table, high-top tables, and club chairs — all inviting residents to get to know their neighbors.
Connected to the community room is the rooftop patio and courtyard, with outdoor kitchen and TV, fire pit, trellis, and prime seats to spectacular bird’s eye views of downtown.
Inside Mercantile’s sixth-floor studio are 12-foot ceilings, quartz countertops, and Midwest-made cabinets from Smart Cabinetry. The bedroom features stunning floor-level windows with quartz sills, a walk-in closet, and a jack-and-jill bathroom that leads to an in-unit laundry and storage room.
Before reaching the one-bedroom studio apartment, JLG’s team pointed out the large wood Mercantile sign in the hallway — repurposed cabinet doors from Woodrow Wilson classrooms, now beautifully branding the space.
Viewed from the street or terrace is a variance of masonry that JLG used to pare down the building’s expanse into smaller, distinct sections. “The entire building is actually one city block long,” said Carlson. “To break it up, we have a lighter brick towards Broadway, similar to the tone of the original building. Just past the courtyard, the exterior transitions to a darker, more contemporary brick with its own architectural flavor and window design, mimicking the warehouse across the street.”
“Part of what makes Mercantile so special to us is how seamlessly it blends in with downtown’s historic character and masonry buildings,” added Schmidt. “We really put a lot of care into getting this just right. From the scale to the more intricate detailing of the muntins, newel posts, corbeling, and cornices; it stays true to what’s already existed here and what makes downtown Fargo so beautiful.”
“The most important aspect from a design standpoint is how prominent the corner of the building is,” said Harwood. “Just kiddy-corner from Mercantile is the Fargo Theater and its beautiful marquee, which is probably one of the most iconic sites in North Dakota, and Mercantile gets to be the background of many of those pictures of the theater and vice versa. It was incredibly important to make sure that corner of the building was done well, and JLG designed a truly beautiful response to the challenge. Downtown Fargo is the economic and social center of our region, and we truly believe that a vibrant downtown creates smart, healthy cities.”
TOUR #4: THE LANDING AT 1001 NP
For the design of The Landing at 1001 NP, Kilbourne Group worked with JLG to revive the original character of the historic NP railroad line that once traversed the area. Home to 26 unique apartment layouts, The Landing was designed for practicality, health, and accessibility, greeting tenants with an impressive supergraphics installation of archived railway images, reclaimed wood beams resembling railroad ties, and a vibrant abstract by Andy Stark. Throughout the building, the nostalgia of high-style railcar travel and modern amenities emerge, including beautiful downtown views, heated underground parking, plentiful bike storage, and a well-designed community club room — all at a prime location in the up-and-coming U10 neighborhood between University Drive and 10th Street.
“My favorite part of this lobby is this super-graphic wall, which we overlayed in one of the branding colors of The Landing,” said Schmidt. “It’s a giant map of the old Northern Pacific rail line, which was just south of this building. We were very intentional with the map’s design and placement, so you can trace the path of the NP line from Minneapolis through North Dakota, all the way to the West Coast. It was a very cool element to be able to incorporate into this project.” JLG’s team works closely with specialized manufacturers to design custom vinyl supergraphics that can be seamlessly installed in a similar fashion as high-end wallcoverings.
RECLAIMING HISTORY
“The graphic on the opposite wall is an old image of one of the Northern Pacific’s rail engine cars,” explained Arroyo. “We used NDSU’s archives to gain access to this image, then worked with the same manufacturer, correctly pixelating it to fit this entire wall expanse. Throughout, we incorporated a lot of industrial and raw materials, including reclaimed wood, metal, and concrete. We also have exposed I-beams and a reclaimed bench using the same wood as the ceiling beams.” Just through the glass within the lobby is a vacant space that
“In the bike storage room, we created a supergraphic from an archived photo of the Red River with a woman on an old-time bicycle,” added Schmidt. “It all ties back to the history of the place and the purpose of this space; just being intentional with these details and really taking our time to make sure we’re picking the right images.”
“A lot of the time, it takes looking back to understand what the future might hold for a specific site,” added Harwood. “What was on the site before? What has been lost to urban renewal that needs new life? Fargo’s Downtown has such a rich history, and we strive to celebrate thoughtful, complex, and beautiful projects that add new housing options, activate street life, and revitalize underutilized land.”
At The Landing, JLG designed several unique floorplans that flow from heated underground parking, bike storage, or off-street parking to the main entrance, mail room, professional-grade fitness center, and a captivating rooftop lounge with grill stations. Here, dogs of all breeds are welcomed, including access to a specially designed heated pet relief area and wash station.
The Landing’s second-floor clubhouse is orchestrated for transparency and adaptability, including a well-stocked kitchen with a three-dimensional backsplash, wood island, stone serving perimeter, and adjoining outdoor terrace. Here, Arroyo and the team chose metal tile, elegant leather furnishings around the fireplace, a custom L-shaped booth, and built-in standing-height tables with a view, all with ample access to outlets for work or play.
Throughout every community space, JLG stayed attuned to the industrial railway period, including archived imagery of Fargoans boarding a Northern Pacific train, complimented by a compelling collection of local art from Dan Jones, Mike Marth, and several others.
As the final stop on this tour, The Landing takes us to a spacious residential patio on the south side, where JLG infused inspiration from a former rail line loading dock – a feature highlighted at the historic Union Storage building nearby. The architecturally striking patio offers an over 200-foot-long custom wood and steel canopy for solar protection in the summer months and interior exposure in the winter months.
TOUR #5: RIVERHOUSE
Just three blocks off Broadway, the newly opened RiverHouse is an extraordinary 115-unit complex that overlooks the Red River, downtown Fargo, and historic city parks and trails, with Hjemkomst’s storied Viking ship emerging from the treetops. Steeped in history, RiverHouse sits on property formerly housing a military entrance processing station and the old Fargo School District warehouse. For JLG, this is where extensive research pays it forward to recreate the industrial past, including the site’s first occupants of flour mills, grain elevators, and steamboats.
“The exterior design harkens back to the simple geometry of materials and the scale of the early, wood-framed mill and elevators,” explained Carlson. “The big driver of this design, really shaping the building, was making sure we captured and maximized the number of units that had views of the river. We actually have seven corner units on each floor versus just a simple rectangle.”
NORDIC REVIVAL
Setting the stage in the lobby, Arroyo referred to the site’s historical imagery as a driver of the design, embracing visible ductwork and the simplicity of materials like wood and concrete in their more raw and exposed states. Once again, archived images are prominently displayed, sharing the stories of the site’s legacy in local industry. Here, the team incorporated local art, maple panels, raw plaster walls in a geometric basket weave design, and a Scandinavian-influenced design palette.
“The accent colors are lighter, intriguing, and inviting, influenced by the idea of water and movement,” explained Arroyo. “Intentional use of daylighting, neutral colors, and natural materials were implemented to encourage activity and wellness, ideal for the lobby’s proximity to the fitness room and bike room/ storage.”
Throughout, Kilbourne Group worked with Josie Perhus and Tyler Gefroh to curate the work of local artists, including Meghan Duda and Megan Johnson, among others.
“From above, what’s really striking is the shape of the building, how irregular it is from the street grid,” added Schmidt. “We wanted to be respectful of the historic nature of the downtown street grid, so on the first floor, we kept the building pushed right up to the sidewalk. To activate the corner, the community spaces are on the first floor, so we have that visibility and shared energy with the street. The way the building is angled flows directly into the entrance of the flood wall across the street.”
With an ideal site providing direct access to park trails and water recreation, JLG’s team walked in the shoes of its future tenants: active adults and empty nesters. To encourage health and wellness, the building includes a heated parking garage, a pet run and relief area, a fitness center and golf simulator, a rooftop terrace with grill stations and fire pits, storage units on each floor, EV charging stations, and easy access to river trails.
JLG also designed ground-floor storage and lockers that house anything from fishing gear and bikes to kayaks, skis, canoes, golf clubs, and hunting gear. In this space, tenants can make use of the large pet wash station and indoor bike wash, bike storage, and repair station, affording 75% of the units a dedicated bike rack. “This design was very intentional, we wanted people to be able to go from their bike to the trails in no more than 10 seconds,” said Schmidt. “There’s also a garage door for kayaks and canoes, so you can park right up to the door and load up.”
NAVIGATING SIXTH FLOOR
On our way to the sixth floor, Arroyo pointed out the corridor’s riverbed-inspired carpeting and acoustical ceiling tiles installed to control noise. “We also did woodpanel framing around the doors to help break up the long hallways, changing the color tone from light wood to dark wood to coordinate with the two different sections of the building,” said Arroyo. JLG also split the 600-foot hallway in the middle, allowing views and natural light to infiltrate both corners. “We don’t just design for the lobby and the units, we also look at the overall experience of how residents navigate from the lobby to their units,” added Carlson.
Inside the sixth-floor three-bedroom unit, the skyline of two states intertwines for a breathtaking work of art, immersing tenants in wooded park, trail, and river scenery, with Moorhead’s Hjemkomst Center just across the riverbank. “This is probably the best view in Fargo,” said Schmidt. “The building actually mimics the oxbow or bend in the river here, creating a really spectacular view. You can even see Concordia’s bell tower off in the distance.”
Exploring interior design, Arroyo once again incorporated floor-level windows and quartz sills to bring the outside in, coordinating cabinetry and finishes with a deeper, more industrial color palette, all balanced with crisp white angled walls. This unit also captures RiverHouse’s stunning outdoor landscape by landscape architecture firm, Confluence; a thoughtful geometric design of outdoor turf and natural grass within a secure and fenced-in gathering grounds providing fire pits, grill stations, yoga, lounging, and pet amenities.
“This was our first project on the river, so trying to capture as many river views as possible was huge for us,” explained Harwood. “The top floor units have tremendous views of the river and Hjemkomst Center in Moorhead, which are truly unique to any building in Fargo. The JLG team was very intentional with making the building shaped in a way that framed those views so that residents have that ‘wow’ moment each time they come into their unit.”
DESTINATION: JORDAN, MN
With a population just under 7,000, the small Twin Cities suburb of Jordan, MN, was on the brink of big growth, exploring alternatives to single-family homes that would appeal to new residents and a younger generation of professionals. With a team led by developer Patrick McGlynn and JLG Architects’ Jesse Hadley, Tommy Schmidt, Ross McIntyre, Nicole Washburn, Hannah Halvorson, and Brian Carlson, Sand Creek Flats became the first of its kind in the area.
TOUR #5: SAND CREEK FLATS
At Sand Creek Flats, JLG invited tenants to live a healthy, active, and well-connected lifestyle that reflects the soul of a small town and the ambition of a thriving city. Built at the edge of a bluff overlooking acres of unspoiled wetlands, Sand Creek Flats bring in-demand multi-family and luxury living that renews conservation and appreciation of the native Minnesota landscape.
JLG helped McGlynn maximize Sand Creek Flats’ unique footprint within four floors, 72 units, and 5,700 SF of commercial space, providing a pet-friendly community with casual amenities that encourage residents to embrace the outdoors. From grill patios to lawn games and a rooftop terrace, residents and community members have every reason to come together, following scenic pathways to the region’s trails and parks. Sand Creek also features quiet lounge areas, a commercial lobby space, a secure package delivery room, and enclosed parking.
With minimal frontage on a commercial street and part of the site facing the back of an auto dealership, JLG looked deeper, seeing the focal point of beautiful Minnesota wetlands. As JLG’s Jesse Hadley explained, “Our response was a really unusual building footprint and non-traditional shape that pushed the commercial part of the site to the front, making sure every dwelling unit had a view of the wetlands or trees. We had to be really thoughtful in this process when considering the orientation of the building to create views like that. We didn’t just think about the experience within the building, we also had to think about the experience as you approach the front door, traverse through the lobby and corridors, as well as access to daylight and views into the corridors. Throughout the project, we looked for opportunities to punch through the outside wall of the building to bring the outdoors inside.”
TAILORED TO TENANTS
JLG’s team helped McGlynn envision how people would move through the space, creating a three-dimensional floor plan to explore several concepts with the developer. Threedimensional modeling, Enscape, and VR (virtual reality) programs gave the experience of walking through Sand Creek before it was built, showing inside the units, community spaces, and corridors, complete with finishes, furnishings, views, and lighting.
To connect interiors to the outdoors, JLG’s interior designer, Hannah Halvorson, selected a finish palette that reflects the natural beauty of the wetlands. “The concept for Sand Creek Flats started with the Minnesota state rock, Lake Superior Agate, which gets its unique red, orange, and yellow tones from the abundant iron ore in the soil in the Lake Superior region,” explained Halvorson. “To complement and ground the saturated colors of the Agate, with blues and greens inspired by the nearby wetlands, we used the iron ore’s rich black and charcoal tones as a base color for the overall palette, present in the dark corridor carpet, accent wall treatments, and dark accent cabinetry. This provides a high contrast palette against the colorful, natural textures of greenery and warm wood tones.”
“Overall, it has been a great experience,” Patrick McGlynn said of working with JLG Architects. “They are problem solvers and really feel like a member of my team. They don’t design the same building over and over. JLG did a great job of maximizing the view for each unit. Our tenants love the property.”
FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:
JLG Architects
214 Broadway, Fargo + 323 DeMers Ave. 2nd Floor, Grand Forks
JLGarchitects.com
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