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The Metropolitan Council has approved more than $10 million in Livable Communities grants to Twin Cities metro area communities for brownfield clean up and mixed-use and innovative development that connects Minnesotans with jobs, school, transit, and other services and destinations.
Grants include:
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$1.8 million award for rehabilitating a vacant industrial building in Minneapolis for office space and mixed-income housing
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$1.8 million award towards a mixed-income community in Roseville
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Nearly $650,000 for brownfield clean up in Bloomington to make way for a hotel and restaurant.
“For more than two decades, the Livable Communities Grant Program has turned polluted land across the Twin Cities into fertile ground for economic growth and opportunity and invested in our local communities," said Governor Mark Dayton. "These 2018 grants will create more than 2,100 jobs and support the development of more than 1,500 new units of housing."
"These grants not only contribute to the development that is occurring in the Twin Cities metropolitan area, they also help to leverage an estimated $635 million in other investment from the public and private sectors,” said Council Chair Alene Tchourumoff.
 “The Livable Communities program has been very successful at promoting and supporting smart and sustainable growth across the region, including development near transit, expanding affordable housing and cleaning up industrial land for redevelopment,” she said. “I congratulate the cities awarded for the work they’re doing to enhance their communities for current and future workers and residents.”
Grants are awarded on a competitive basis. Applicants are local units of government that participate in the Livable Communities program. Proposed projects must meet criteria that the Council has vetted and approved.
Since the Livable Communities program became law in 1995, the Council has approved grants totaling nearly $370 million to assist projects that have created or retained more than 55,000 jobs, cleaned up 2,400 acres of polluted property for redevelopment, created or preserved nearly 24,000 affordable housing units, and leveraged billions in additional public and private funds.
Grants for innovative development
Six projects, combined, are expected to:
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Add 268 affordable and 322 market-rate homes
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Create more than 1,000 permanent full-time jobs and 1,100 temporary (construction) jobs
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Increase the net tax capacity by nearly $3 million
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Leverage more than $270 million in private and other public investment.
LEEF, Minneapolis - $1,831,428 toward site acquisition and preparation to rehabilitate a vacant industrial building for tech/creative office space and developing a mixed-income residential building.
 West Broadway Curve II, Minneapolis - $780,000 toward construction of an apartment building and townhome-style dwellings, including mixed-income rental units.
Ain Dah Yung, Saint Paul - $350,000 towards construction of permanent supportive housing for Native Americans aged 18 to 24.
The Avenue on France, Edina - $1.3 million towards the redevelopment of a 22-acre office park area into retail, office and residential uses, including a stormwater management feature.
The Collaborative, Edina - $1,441,565 towards redevelopment of the northern section of 50th and France, including retail and housing.
Edison, Roseville - $1,797,007, primarily for solar panels at a mixed-income community for veterans and people who previously experienced long-term homelessness.
Grants for brownfield cleanup and investigation
Fourteen projects, combined, are expected to:
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 Clean up 25 acres of land
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Create or retain more than 900 full-time jobs
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Increase the net tax capacity by $2.6 million a year
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Add more than 1,000 housing units (including more than 400 affordable housing units)
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Create more than 265,000 square feet of commercial/industrial space
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Leverage more than $365 million in private investment.
Minnesota Center/Drury Southwest, Inc., Bloomington - $649,500 for remediation at a 3.8-acre site that will house a 214-room hotel and restaurant.
Hilger Landfill (former), Maple Grove - $500,000 for remediation at a 13-acre site that will house a 193,000-square-foot office/warehouse.
 205 Park, Minneapolis - $352,200 for disposal of contaminated soil at a site that will be developed into housing, including affordable units, and commercial space.
510 Lake Street, Minneapolis - $215,300 for disposal of contaminated soil for the development of affordable apartments.
Bunge East Redevelopment, Minneapolis - $73,500 for disposal of contaminated soil for the development of mixed-income, including affordable, apartments.
Calhoun Towers (Phase I), Minneapolis - $544,300 for disposal of contaminated soil for construction of market-rate apartments.
Midtown Corner Senior Housing, Minneapolis - $85,600 for disposal of contaminated soil for development of affordable apartments and commercial space.
Mino-bimaadiziwin, Minneapolis - $207,900 for disposal of contaminated soil for development of affordable apartments with community wellness and office space.
Sons of Norway, Minneapolis - $503,600 for asbestos abatement and disposal of contaminated soil for development of market-rate apartments, and office and retail space.
Malcolm Yards, Minneapolis - $45,700 for contamination investigation at a 17-acre site for potential development of housing, commercial/industrial space and a regional stormwater treatment system.
Hmongtown Marketplace, Saint Paul Port Authority - $50,000 for contamination investigation at a 5.7-acre site for potential development of rental housing, including affordable units, and commercial space.
Oakdale Development, Saint Paul - $15,700 for contamination investigation at an 8-acre site for possible housing development.
The funding round also includes two grants to Saint Paul for contamination investigation, $13,200 and $9,600, intended to encourage development in areas of concentrated poverty that show potential for job creation.
Pre-development grants for transit-oriented development
Artspace-Hopkins, Hopkins - $30,000 for a market study to evaluate the potential for affordable artist housing with connections to transit.
Public Safety Annex, Saint Paul - $28,125 for analysis and design work for renovation of the existing building to create office space on the upper floors and retail on the ground floor and improve the realm, access to transit and pedestrian spaces.
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The Metropolitan Council is the regional planning organization in the seven-county Twin Cities metropolitan area. The Council runs the regional bus and light rail system and Northstar commuter rail, collects and treats wastewater, coordinates regional water resources, plans regional parks, and administers funds that provide housing opportunities for low- and moderate-income residents. The Council board is appointed by and serves at the pleasure of the Governor.
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