Schedule a time to meet with the program coordinator for this grant program to talk about the scoring criteria, funding opportunities and how your project fits in. Schedule a time here.
Maximize connections between housing, jobs, and regional amenities like parks, trails, and cultural centers
Create more housing choices through introducing new housing types or preserving affordable housing, minimizing the project’s impact on climate change through sustainable site design and building practices
Support economic opportunity by creating living wage jobs and training opportunities
Realize more equitable development outcomes
The City of Minneapolis and the City of Saint Paul require prospective applicants to the Metropolitan Council's LCDA program to go through a pre-application process to select projects that they will sponsor. Cities have additional deadlines between April and June that prospective applicants will need to meet. For more information and local contacts please see the City of Minneapolis website and the City of Saint Paul website.
Pre-development is an independent program as of 2022, find more information on the page: Pre-Development
Development grants are for development or redevelopment projects that support Livable communities and Thrive MSP 2040 goals and are ready to begin construction within the 3-year grant period. Eligible costs may include stormwater management, public realm improvements, renewable energy systems, site acquisition and preparation, and general construction costs. Reach out to the program officer for more information on the program and eligible costs. You can also see what was funded last year. Find information about the 2024 Development program below.
Scoring
Match amount: No match required
Award limits: No specific city limits, but guidance is that up to 40% of available funds go to projects in Minneapolis and Saint Paul. The remaining 60% of the funds are reserved for eligible suburban projects Application Limits: Three per city
Grant terms: 36 months (three years) from the date of award
Extensions: Up to two years
Livable Communities grants support specific project activities rather than giving money to the project as a whole. As part of the application the project team will list specific activities and estimated costs. Livable Communities grants cannot pay for work done before the grant is awarded (except for site acquisition). Keep this in mind as you think about what activities you plan to ask to be supported. Some of the activities in the table are only eligible in some circumstances. Refer back to this list as you look through the eligible activity table.
Development applications are scored by a review panel made up of Council staff and external reviewers.
Look through the scoring criteria and how each section is weighed to see how your project might score in the review process. In addition to the overall minimum score, applications need to meet a minimum equity score to be eligible for funding. Criteria that count toward the equity score are marked with an asterisk (*). Questions reviewers will be asking themselves, along with examples of how to achieve points in each category, are available in the 2024 LCDA Evaluation Explanations. We strongly encourage you to review this document as you work on your application. A word document of application questions will be available one month before applications open.
After reviewing the funding availability, timeline, and eligibility sections please visit the Apply for LCA Grants page for details on how to apply for the LCDA Development program. Saving Documents Please save all documents as compressed PDF files with the naming format: [Applicant_Project_AttachmentName]. For example, a site plan from City Y for their Downtown Development would be named City Y_Downtown Development_Site Plan. Contact the program officer if you have any questions about how to save or attach any of the required documents.
From the online Make-A-Map tool:
Click “Sketch the Project” and select “Livable Communities Demonstration Acct” from the dropdown menu. Provide a name for your project.
Use the zoom and pan buttons to navigate to your project site. Click “Sketch a Boundary” and, using the crosshair as a guide, draw the project boundary. A gray polygon with a red outline will begin to appear. Once you have finished outlining the boundary, double click to close the polygon. If there are multiple, non-contiguous parcels that are part of your project, you have the option of sketching another boundary.
Select “Print” and “Create the maps”. The system will generate three maps for LCDA; a Parcel Map, Overview Map, and Aerial Map. Please be patient – depending on your connection, it can take up to one minute to generate the maps.
Click each PDF to download them separately. See “Saving Documents” as a reminder for how to name each of the three Make-a-Map documents.
Other required attachments: Each attachment should be no more than 10 pages long. If you are submitting a stormwater management plan, please include a summary of the plan that outlines the approach to stormwmater management.
LCDA grants support innovative development projects that efficiently link housing, jobs, services, and transit to create inspiring and lasting Livable Communities.