What's a 'detached townhome,' and why are they growing in popularity in the Twin Cities?

A new townhome development could bring 54 dwellings to southern Chanhassen.

Except parts of it won't look like what that sounds like: Of the townhomes at Pioneer Ridge, 14 are "detached" — they don't share walls, and instead resemble more traditional suburban homes on smaller lots, closer together.

Often marketed as "villas," detached townhomes are going up across the metro, largely to meet the demands of an aging population looking to downsize both stuff and maintenance duties, like shoveling and mowing.

"This is a lock and leave," said Amy Tolbert, 61, who moved into her villa with a view of McCarrons Lake in Roseville about a year ago.

The popularity of detached townhomes comes amid a housing shortage and a pitched debate about density in the suburbs. While advocates push for more apartments, condos and townhomes, they sometimes face pushback from neighbors when those developments abut traditional suburban single-family homes.

Cities like Bloomington have discussed detached townhomes as a possible way to add "missing middle" homes with smaller footprints on smaller lots. And the detached townhomes have proliferated across the metro — in Woodbury, Eden Prairie, Bloomington and Roseville.

But the price of the new units usually isn't filling affordable housing needs; many of them are listed for $600,000 or more and aimed at higher-income buyers.

Chanhassen recently approved a new ordinance to make it easier to build detached townhomes, like Pioneer Ridge, which is at the northeast corner of Pioneer Trail and Bluff Creek Boulevard.

Several other cities, including East Bethel and Lakeville, also have city codes that allow detached townhomes.

Chanhassen developments

Chanhassen has approved detached townhomes since the late 1990s. More recently, plans for a development called Avienda, off Hwy. 212, include detached townhomes, Chanhassen City Manager Laurie Hokkanen said.

But the new ordinance allows them without a special approval process and adds criteria to standardize them, Eric Maass, the city's community development director, told the Planning Commission.

"We are now reacting to a broader marketplace and broader market desires for a housing product like this," he said.

In Chanhassen, detached townhomes can now be built in low- and medium-density residential areas where single-family and townhomes are allowed. The code sets standards for them, including lot sizes roughly half the size required for a single-family home in the same zone, as long as there are at least 15 feet between the detached townhomes.

Detached townhomes are characterized as a Goldilocks product in the housing market: something between a single-family home and a traditional townhome or condo with shared walls. Owners are usually responsible for maintaining the house itself, but lawn care and snow removal are typically hired out by the homeowners association.

"It's a nice intermediate step for somebody who doesn't want to have shared walls," Hokkanen said.

That was a big selling point for Tolbert. An empty nester with adult kids, she said she wasn't planning to move from her larger home of 30 years in Arden Hills when she visited what was then the development's model home. The townhome's open layout with mostly main-level living space and a view of the lake won her over.

"It just spoke to my heart, and I literally put in an offer that night," she said.

Her new house has more updated features than her old one, space for her vintage grand piano and plenty of space for parties. She hasn't retired yet, but she said the move sets her up for the next stage of her life.

In Chanhassen, developer Brandl Anderson Homes originally pitched all traditional townhomes for Pioneer Ridge.

But after neighborhood feedback, Hokkanen said, the developer modified the proposal to include detached townhomes where the new development meets the existing single-family homes.

"They really wanted to see single-family homes sharing the backyard with the existing single-family" homes, she said.

While the development sailed through approval, some neighbors still objected. At a Planning Commission hearing, residents expressed concern about higher densities near their single-family homes, questioning whether the townhouses would blend in with the neighborhood or make it look like a crowded inner-ring suburb.

Villas popular with seniors

During the legislative session, Minnesota cities fought a suite of housing bills that would have required them to permit more types of housing, like townhomes and duplexes, in more areas, as well as smaller lot sizes.

Cities criticized the bill as a "one-size-fits-all" approach, and some cities highlighted their efforts to permit more "missing middle" housing on their own terms.

Re/Max real estate agent Sharlene Hensrud said some clients are looking for detached townhomes because they want the feel of a single-family home without the hassle. Plus, she said, many of the new detached townhomes are one level, an attractive design for seniors who want to age in place.

"That really appeals to a lot of people who are coming from a single-family house," she said. "They want to maintain more autonomy."

Busy professionals and others who are looking for a low-maintenance home are also fueling demand for this style of development, said Vic Wittgenstein, a Coldwell Banker real estate agent who is helping to sell the Villas on McCarrons Lake in Roseville.

That development plan includes 20 detached townhomes that share a private dock on the lake. He said they are designed for entertaining and also have less garage space than many suburban homes.

"You don't have all the lawn equipment any longer," he said.