Council Chair says affordable housing is critical to ensure regional growth and prosperity
The Metropolitan Council is awarding $2.4 million in Livable Communities grants to metro-area communities to build and preserve affordable housing. The grants, approved by the Council on Wednesday, will support six multifamily and four single-family developments for a total of 307 new or rehabilitated affordable housing units.
Communities awarded funding include Minneapolis, Minnetonka, Mounds View, Saint Paul, Waconia and a land trust collaborative that includes 12 west-metro cities. The grants will help leverage more than $32 million in private investment and nearly $41 million in other public investment to provide housing that’s safe and affordable to low- income residents in the metro area.
“Our region is facing a crisis in affordable housing,” said Metropolitan Council Chair Alene Tchourumoff. “The Council is able to support affordable housing through the Livable Communities program, which provides grants to communities who are working to build and preserve their supply of affordable housing.
“We know that people need housing options in all life stages and of all economic means – in our region, the supply of affordable housing is not keeping up with demand. Failing to turn that trend around will threaten the region’s ability to grow and prosper and its ability to compete with other metro areas for jobs and residents.”
Grants for multifamily affordable housing
Aeon Prospect Park, Minneapolis - $382,000 to help support a development with 70 new apartment homes in the Prospect Park Towerside Innovation District a block from the Prospect Park METRO Green Line station. The project includes a mix of affordability levels, including market rate units and supportive housing for women-led households with children.
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Dundry-Hope Block Stabilization, Minneapolis - $400,000 towards rehabilitation of Hope Community’s smaller buildings in South Minneapolis to preserve 30 units of affordable housing, including supportive housing for single long-term homeless adults and large family units.
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Minnehaha Commons, Minneapolis - $250,000 to support construction of 43 studio apartments for low-income adults age 55 and older who have experienced homelessness and other barriers to accessing stable housing.
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Park 7, Minneapolis - $400,000 to help provide affordable housing units in downtown Minneapolis next to the Housing of Charity Food Center and Hennepin County Medical Center. The development includes 31 permanent supportive housing units for long-term homeless people, 10 of which are reserved for youth ages 18 to 25.
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The Mariner, Minnetonka - $210,000 towards a mixed-income development near the METRO Green Line Extension Opus Station that will create 246 new units of housing; 55 of them affordable. Redevelopment on the site will include new residential units and amenities.
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Boulevard, Mounds View - $500,000 to support a complex with 60 new affordable units near Highway 10 and Groveland Road. The development has convenient access to public transportation and direct access to a system of bike trails.
Grants for affordable housing for ownership
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Project for Pride in Living, Minneapolis - $120,000 towards development of Greenbelt Homes, a component of the larger Hawthorne EcoVillage redevelopment, building a series of smaller homes on lots that will be cooperatively maintained. Designed outdoor space will make up for smaller interiors and the whole development is linked by an internal walk, or “Greenbelt” that provides another level of shared outdoor space.
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Neighborhood Development Alliance, Saint Paul - $60,000 towards building three new homes on the west side of Saint Paul, reaching out specifically to the Latino community to address racial and ethnic disparities in homeownership.
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Carver County Community Development Authority Land Trust, Waconia - $10,000 toward the cost of acquiring land for one home.
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West Hennepin Affordable Housing Land Trust, Minnetonka - $67,500 to help the land trust, through its Homes Within Reach program, to acquire, rehabilitate and resell four single-family detached homes in 12 western Hennepin County communities to increase the availability of affordable homes.
The Council collaborated with Minnesota Housing and the Greater Minnesota Housing Fund to solicit and evaluate requests for funding. Combined, the three agencies will invest over $125 million to create and preserve 1,823 affordable housing opportunities across Minnesota.
To date, the Council’s Livable Communities program has helped to build or preserve over 22,000 units of affordable homes for ownership or rental.