Affordable Housing : Development News

In the past, the corner of University and Dale avenues in St. Paul was known as the "Red Light District," according to city spokesperson Janelle Tummel.

It's come a long way since then, thanks to the community pulling together to make the $13.5 million Frogtown Square development a go, she says.

U.S. Secretary for Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Shaun Donovan, U.S. Representatives Betty McCollum and Keith Ellison, Deputy Mayor Paul Williams and City Council member Melvin Carter III, attended the development's March 4 grand opening.

The project was made possible with $6.4 million in HUD financing plus over $4 million in grants and loans from the city to buy and build on the land parcel, according to project information.

The glassy four-story building has 50 one-bedroom apartments that are geared toward seniors. They have special features such as walk-in showers and easy-to-reach pull-cord alarms to accommodate seniors' needs, according to Tummel.

All of the units, known as the Kings Crossing Apartments, filled up within 24 hours of becoming available and there's a long waiting list, according to Tummel. It goes to show that "It's definitely meeting a need in the area," she says.

The building also includes community spaces, a business center, eating areas, and first-floor retail, she says.

Best Wireless, Fasika Ethiopian Restaurant, Global Market, Grooming House, Just Church'n it Fashions, Rondo Coffee Caf� and Subway fill the retail spaces.  

It's highly energy-efficient and pedestrian-friendly, with accessibility to and from the future Central Corridor Light Rail Transit line, Tummel says.

About the development, which was 15 years in the making, Secretary Donovan is quoted in a prepared statement, saying, "[Its] innovative approach of combining small businesses and affordable housing is exactly the type of smart planning the country needs to continue winning the future towards economic prosperity."

Episcopal Homes, Inc., owns and manages the apartments while Northeast Dale-University (NEDU), a group of community developers, is responsible for the 11,700 square feet of commercial space, according to project information.

Project partners include the Metropolitan Council, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development, Ramsey County, Bigelow Foundation and Twin Cities Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC).


Source: Janelle Tummel, spokesperson for the city of St. Paul
Writer: Anna Pratt  

Dominium Development and Acquisition has a plan to secure historic status for the old Jacob Schmidt Brewing Company complex in St. Paul's West End area and to convert it into affordable live/work spaces for artists.

Different parts of the brewery were built starting in the early 1900s and into the 1940s as the brewing process changed over time, according to Owen Metz, a spokesperson from Dominium.

The group wants to redevelop the brew and bottle house into 220 apartments, including a mix of studios, one- and two-bedroom apartments, and common spaces, according to Metz, who adds that the purchase of those buildings is still in progress.

In a kind of partnership, the Fort Road Federation community developer will separately buy the office building and keg house, which will also be a part of the historic district, where a combination of offices, restaurants, and retail is planned to go, he says.

Both ideas were discussed at a community meeting in mid-February, during which the process of achieving historic designation was laid out.

Metz says Dominium plans to bring back the historic appearance of the brick buildings that have sat vacant in recent years, though the project's cost is unknown at this time. "We're early on in the design process. Nothing is pinned down yet," he says.   

The group is "trying to keep the spaces open," loft-style, while some artifacts from the brewing company's old days, such as pieces of tanks and other equipment may be displayed throughout the apartment buildings, he says.

A waiting list to get into another one of Dominium's buildings, the Carleton Artist Lofts on University Avenue in St. Paul, which has a similar concept, tells him there's a strong demand for such a project, he says.

Also, the area has plenty of galleries, which, he says will "help drive the demand and make it a destination," adding, "It's geared toward people with similar backgrounds and lifestyles and work."  


Source: Owen Metz, Dominium Development and Acquisition, LLC
Writer: Anna Pratt

Through a $28 million adaptive reuse project that began several years ago, the historic Minnesota Building in downtown St. Paul has found a new life as an affordable-housing complex.  

Local politicians celebrated its grand opening last week with a ribbon-cutting ceremony and tours of the 13-story art deco building.

The building, which opened in 1929 as commercial office space but has been vacant since 2006, now features 137 units of affordable housing. It includes a mix of studio apartments and one- and two-bedroom units, along with 8,000 square feet of retail space on the ground floor, according to project information.

As a part of a partnership with the local Amherst H. Wilder Foundation, 10 units are dedicated for long-term homeless households. Wilder is providing support services for those tenants.

Additionally, the building has a lounge, business resource center, community and fitness rooms, and storage space, project materials state.

Many of the original details, such as the molding, marble and brass fixtures, have been kept intact, while fancy elevator doors were reconstructed to match the originals. Heating and cooling systems, plumbing, roofs, windows and elevators have all been upgraded.    

Sand Companies, Inc., which led the project that started in 2009, will house its metro-area offices in the building.

City spokesperson Janelle Tummel says the building fits into the city's comprehensive plan to fill vacant commercial spaces with a mix of affordable and market-rate housing. "This is a great example of a long-term planning process coming to life," she says.

She hopes it'll attract new businesses and residents to the area.

Among its selling points, "it has some of the greatest views of the river downtown," she says, adding that it's connected to the skyway system, light rail transit, and other downtown amenities. "It's another example of how we're growing and thriving."  

Source: Janelle Tummel, St. Paul spokesperson
Writer: Anna Pratt

It took several years to overcome the challenges of securing funding for a $16 million renovation at Nicollet Towers in downtown Minneapolis, but work on the project finally got started early this year.

The 1970s-built Nicollet Towers has 306 affordable apartments, including many that are geared for families and seniors, according to Jim Bettendorf, the housing director for the nonprofit Volunteers of America Minnesota office, which is in charge of the complex.

Through the years, Nicollet Towers was starting to show its age but getting the funding to rehab it took a special effort, he explains.

With the economic downturn in 2008, "There was no money," he says. "It took quite awhile to get to this point."  

In the end, a number of local and national players stepped up to help put together a unique funding package to make it happen. The result is "a huge project for people who live there and focus groups we serve," he says.  

Construction on the campus, which includes a couple of 20-story and 12-story towers and a ring of townhomes, will take about a year and a half, and residents will stay in the building during the work.

As a part of the project, windows, heating and cooling systems, and elevators will be modernized. The roof and exterior brick will also be replaced, while kitchens and bathrooms in 100 units will also be updated.

Nineteen units will be reserved for people who've struggled with long-term homelessness, making it "one of the larger commitments to homelessness prevention" in the area, he says, acknowledging a $2 million state grant to end homelessness that made it possible.

St. Stephen's Human Services, which has an office in the complex, will provide social services to the new residents.  

"We'll work to provide social services to get [those tenants] into permanent housing," he says, explaining that its program's focus on helping families makes it unique. "Shelters tend to help singles."  

Additionally, rent for tower tenants is subsidized through Section 8, meaning that residents pay a fraction of their income for rent, Bettendorf explains.  


Source: Jim Bettendorf, the housing director for the nonprofit Volunteers of America local office
Writer: Anna Pratt

Following an intense weekend of information-gathering and design, six local nonprofits are armed with concrete materials to start making redevelopment and remodeling projects a reality.

The Search for Shelter Charrette through the Minnesota chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) is an annual workshop that offers up pro bono design labor to local nonprofit agencies working in affordable housing and homelessness.   
 
This year's event, which ran Feb. 11-13 at the University of Minnesota's College of Design, attracted 42 volunteer architects, landscape and interior designers, and students, who split into six teams, according to Jacquelyn Peck, a Minnesota AIA representative. 

Participating nonprofits, which were selected through a competitive process, this year included the Salvation Army Harbor Light Center, Selby Avenue Action Coalition, Emma Norton Services, Rebuilding Together Twin Cities, Families Moving Forward, and Woodland Hills Church.
 
One team worked on a plan for the Emma Norton facility downtown St. Paul, according to Peck.

Some volunteers studied the possibility of building out a coffee shop on the shelter's ground floor.  

They walked around the area to assess the potential market for a new coffee shop. Nearby were clinics and businesses, but there wasn't much in the way of restaurants or food services, she says.

Besides filling a business niche, an in-house coffee shop could be a source of revenue for Emma Norton while providing jobs for women staying at the shelter, she explains.  
 
Another couple of teams brainstormed ways to improve some blocks along Selby Avenue between Dale and Lexington avenues in St. Paul. As a part of a project for the Selby Avenue Coalition, they came up with a jazz theme that ties into an annual festival that could have "more of a year-round presence through art or images or music studios."
 
Both teams "captured the spirit of the street through design and research," Peck says.  
   
For the Salvation Army Harbor Light Center, a roomful of mattresses on the floor was reconfigured with bunk beds that give people more personal space, including storage cabinets. Keeping sightlines clear while also providing a secure place for people's belongings was important, she explains.    
 
She says the volunteers received plenty of praise from the nonprofits and "they're excited to take the next step."
 
Likewise, the vast majority of volunteers responded positively, saying they would do it again. "I think it was a good event for the volunteers as well as the agencies," Peck says. 

Source: Jacquelyn Peck, AIA-Minnesota representative
Writer: Anna Pratt 
 

As a part of the 25th annual Search for Shelter Charrette through the Minnesota chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA), a group of architects and designers will come up with design solutions to address various affordable housing and homelessness issues. 

The workshop at the University of Minnesota's College of Design, which goes from Feb. 11 to 13, is the only one of its kind throughout the AIA network, according to event information.

Jacquelyn Peck, a Minnesota AIA representative, explains that about 50 volunteer architects, landscape and interior designers, and students who turn out for the weekend will break into eight-person teams. The teams are then individually assigned to a handful of different projects. 

Nonprofit organizations apply to participate in the event through a competitive process, she says.  

The event includes opening remarks from Minnesota chapter president Steve Fiskum, a panel discussion with area housing experts, and presentations from the selected nonprofits. 

Afterward, teams meet with nonprofits to go over more details. They spend the day visiting sites, developing designs, and creating accompanying images. To help the nonprofits get going on the projects, "We give them a weekend of intense design, with boards and images," Peck says.

She describes the event as a springboard to "get [nonprofits'] ideas down into something tangible so they can talk about it and educate others with."

On Sunday at noon, the teams present their work as part of a program that's open to the public.     
 
Past projects have centered on everything from connecting scattered affordable housing sites to remodeling homeless-shelter lobbies.

One project that has been a success, starting off at the design charrette in 2008, is the revamped facility for YouthLink, which provides services to homeless youth. "They took images and got funding to do the remodeling and addition work," Peck says, adding, that the facility re-opened a few months ago.  


Source: Jacquelyn Peck, representative of the Minnesota chapter of the American Institute of Architects
Writer: Anna Pratt

The state's largest affordable-housing complex will soon undergo a considerable rehab.

Funding for a project to revamp Riverside Plaza in Minneapolis's Cedar-Riverside neighborhood closed on Jan. 5 while construction could begin next month.  

The modernist 11-building campus, which renowned architect Ralph Rapson designed in the 1970s, has 4,440 residents, plus a charter school, grocery store, and tenant resource center, according to city information.

Matt Goldstein, who works in the city's housing division, says that getting the finances lined up is a huge accomplishment on its own. 

A complicated $132 million deal restructures the property's debt and finances a $62 million renovation that includes $7 million for site and common-area improvements, according to city information.

Notably, 88 percent of the project's funding comes from private sources, he says.   

Goldstein explains that the rehab comes out of necessity. The heating and cooling system had started to go, which could leave a whole building without heat. As such, "The vast majority of work is being done behind the walls," he says.  

Otherwise, the building could become uninhabitable and would "create an amazing burden on shelters and other available housing stock," he says, adding that there is no money to acquire the property and tear down the building.   
 
For the city, the bottom line is about extending the building's lifespan and "enhancing the quality of life for these residents," he says. "The comprehensive nature of the renovation does that."  

Other goals of the project are to increase safety on the campus, improve energy efficiency, and better provide for pedestrians and bicycles. The city also pushed for a workforce plan that creates 200 construction jobs, with 90 spots reserved for neighborhood residents.

Goldstein is hopeful about the project's potential impact on the area.

The renovation is aligned with several other projects, Goldstein explains. The nearby Cedars, also a large affordable-housing complex, will soon be revamped, while planning for the neighborhood's Central Corridor Light Rail stop is underway, along with additional streetscape improvements.   

It's part of a conscientious effort to make the developments work together. "The Riverside Plaza project isn't happening in a vacuum," says Goldstein.

Source: Matt Goldstein, Housing Division for Minneapolis
Writer: Anna Pratt

St. Paul-based Everwood Development plans to bring workforce housing to a longtime office and classroom building at 7th and Hennepin Avenue in downtown Minneapolis, a move it believes will help re-energize the area.

Forty-five studio and two-bedroom apartments will go into the eight-story building, while the International Education Center for international adults, the current tenant, will stay on the first three floors. 

Over the last several years the old-fashioned building has been 70 percent vacant, according to Elizabeth Flannery, a project partner at Everwood.  

Workforce housing "would actually help that whole area," she says. "We think we need more of it in downtown Minneapolis. We think it's important to increase residential density," with housing opportunities at all levels.

In some ways, the redevelopment will pay homage to its early days.

The $9.5 million City Place Lofts takes its name from the engraved words "City Place," which can be seen above the original entrance of the 1921 building, Flannery says.

The building, which formerly housed the Lincoln National Bank and has long been used for office space and classrooms, was referred to in a book dating back to the early twentieth century as the "Gateway to the Land of Plenty, " according to company information.

Everwood will pursue historic status for the building, she says, adding that the company hopes to leverage state and federal historic tax credits.

Part of the plan is to bring back its original entrance on Hennepin for the lofts. "It adds to the historical integrity of a property," she says.  

"It's a beautiful building," she says, adding that it ripe for conversion, with many built-in amenities including nine-foot ceilings and a terrazzo floor that has been hidden under layers of tile and carpet.

Its 550-square-foot to 800-square-foot studio and two-bedroom apartments, which will be offered at 30 to 40 percent of average rent, will cater to those who work downtown and want to live in the area, she says. "It'll be a high-quality product," she says. "We want it to be a place where people want to live."  

Flannery says the company hopes to start construction after it closes on the building early this summer.

Source: Elizabeth Flannery, Everwood Development project partner  
Writer: Anna Pratt

HOME Line, a Minneapolis-based nonprofit tenant advocacy organization that has a hotline offering free legal advice to renters, recently set out to collect more information about the results of its work.

Fortunately, the organization had kept tabs on things going back to 1992.

HOME Line housing attorney Samuel Spaid worked with a University of Minnesota statistician, Craig Rolling, to analyze data from a sampling of only about 10 percent of callers, who most frequently described difficulties related to home repairs, evictions, security deposits, foreclosures, and breaking leases. The hotline gets about 11,000 calls a year. 

They learned the organization had helped many more people save money and avoid eviction than they had previously imagined. "We were massively under-reporting the impact of services," says Spaid. "It changed the way we look at what we're doing."   

They presented their findings at a housing forum last month from the Center for Urban and Regional Affairs at the University of Minnesota. 

Through a mathematical formula that accounted for calls similar to the sample population, they discovered that through the years HOME Line has been instrumental in landing $5.4 million in security deposit money and $10 million in rent abatements while preventing 8,700 evictions. The old figures hardly came close; the organization previously reported $500,000 saved in security deposits and $740,000 in rent abatements and 2,851 prevented evictions.

For renters in buildings that were being foreclosed on--a growing problem--the number-crunching indicates that tenants who stayed put after the 6-month redemption period collectively saved $4.19 million from 2006 to 2010.  

Many renters don't know that they can linger in a building undergoing foreclosure, often for up to nine months, Spaid explains. During that time, renters usually pay little or no rent. "The fact that they were able to recoup some losses was surprising," he says.    

Eighty percent of tenants who followed through on HOME Line's suggestions got repairs made. In fact, half of the people who merely sent landlords a form letter got some money back. Those who didn't take their advice got no money back.   

Overall, renters have saved $15.4 million by following through on HOME Line's advice, compared to the $1.2 million it put out there before. 

The information puts the organization in a good position for giving advice going forward. "We're able to tell what likely outcomes are and say, 'this is what someone should do and why,'" he says.


Source: Samuel Spaid, Housing Attorney at HOME Line
Writer: Anna Pratt

Urban Homeworks, a faith-based organization in North Minneapolis that rehabs and builds scattered, small, multi-unit and single-family housing, will turn Lovell Square into affordable housing once again.

The vacant Lovell Square complex includes nine buildings, some of which are 100 years old--others date back to the 1960s and 1990s--at 11th and Irving avenues north in the city's Near North neighborhood, according to Ben Post, an associate director at Urban Homeworks.

As a part of the $1.78 million project, Urban Homeworks plans to rehab six of the nine buildings, including 18 units that range from 1 to 3 bedrooms. "Even though it's a challenge, we thought it'd be cheaper than losing them and starting over," he says, adding that the other three buildings will be demolished.   

In the 1990s the buildings were substantially rehabbed, he says. Since then, however, they've fallen into disrepair as problems with mold, asbestos, lead paint, and other things have gotten out of hand. "It's a sad story," he says. "[The buildings] all went through a big investment and renovation but they deteriorated due to a lack of maintenance."

City officials approached the organization a year ago about redeveloping the properties. "They were beginning the foreclosure process and were trying to figure out solutions [for the buildings]," he says.

After checking out the development, he says, Urban Homeworks agreed to take it on. "We've been able to bring back a lot of rough buildings from foreclosure," including vacant, boarded-up, and condemned buildings, "so we were less intimidated than others."
 
Funding for the project comes from the city's federal Neighborhood Stabilization Program, Minnesota Public Housing Authority and Hennepin County, according to Post.    

Urban Homeworks will soon close on the property, he says, and the group aims to start construction in April. 

Source: Ben Post, associate director, Urban Homeworks
Writer: Anna Pratt

An $80 million redevelopment proposal for the 6.5-acre parcel at Lake Street and Hiawatha Avenue in South Minneapolis, where the building that formerly housed the Brown Institute sits, emphasizes the popular Midtown Farmers Market and other nearby amenities, including light rail transit and the YWCA.

The current building, which is owned by the Minneapolis Public Schools, would be torn down. Whether the school district might still have offices or classrooms in the complex is up in the air, according to Jack Boarman, a senior partner with the BKV Group Architects.

The local architecture firm is collaborating on the project with a handful of partners that fall under the umbrella of L&H Development. Theirs was the only response to a request for proposals from the public schools and city, which had a Nov. 1 deadline.   

Under the proposal, a mix of affordable, senior, and market-rate housing units, along with street-level retail and office space, would be scattered throughout a series of three to five buildings.

It's an area that has mainly single-family homes, according to Boarman, who adds that the proposed variety of housing would open it up for residents of all income levels. 

Boarman says the team tried to be sensitive to the Corcoran neighborhood's goals for the area, creating a walkable place that will serve residents and the broader community.

For starters, "People can move through the development into what we're calling the Farmers Market Plaza," he says, adding that the buildings would be configured around a series of courtyards, with sidewalks and a boulevard leading to the Hiawatha Light Rail Transit line.
 
Sustainability is top of mind, he says, and easy access to the train encourages residents to go car-free.

In the coming weeks, the proposal will go before a city committee and the neighborhood group, with Minneapolis Public Schools making a decision on the matter sometime in December.

Source: Jack Boarman, senior partner at BKV Group Architects 
Writer: Anna Pratt

A home that's reasonably priced, safe, and sustainable should be within reach for anyone.

That's the statement that brought together more than 800 attendees, from high-ranking public officials to low-income residents, at the Nov. 8 "Homes for All" conference at the St. Paul RiverCentre.

Among the event's highlights was a keynote speech by U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan, a how-to workshop about making changes for the greener around the house, and an audiovisual exhibit featuring an oral history of homelessness.  

Emmy-Award-winning actor and vocalist T. Mychael Rambo led a  breakout session, while representatives from more than 40 housing, health, and financial organizations were on hand, as were U.S. representatives Keith Ellison and Betty McCollum and senators Al Franken and Amy Klobuchar.

Chip Halbach, the executive director of the Minnesota Housing Partnership, says that he and other advocates hope the get-together will influence housing policy for the better, especially as the state's political leadership turns over and the legislative session nears.

"It's important to get people energized and thinking about what the state can do come January," Halbach says. His goal is to lay the groundwork for various housing-related bill proposals that will be introduced this session, and which he says deserve special attention in a budget-cycle year,

The challenges are many. Homelessness has spiked in the recession, and this has produced all kinds of side effects, he explains. "We have a situation where more people are losing homes and renters are paying a higher percentage of their income for housing." Recent U.S. census figures show that one in eight families in Minnesota are facing severe housing situations, he says.

There may be greater need and fewer resources these days, but he insists, "It's moral issues that are at stake."

Source: Chip Halbach, executive director of the Minnesota Housing Partnership
Writer: Anna Pratt

Minnesota's population became much more diverse from 1970 to 2000, but over that time most of the people working in development in communities of color had one thing in common: They were white.

People from within those communities could use a leg up to join and diversify the local professional-development ranks. That was the impetus behind a yearlong training program that Local Initiatives Support Corp. (LISC) began in 1997. Since then 110 developers have graduated from the Careership program, with as many as three-quarters going on to work in the field of community development.

This year, 12 people are taking part in the program; as many as 70 apply annually. They earn a stipend $12,000 while putting in 15 hours each week at a sponsoring organizatio --usually a nonprofit but sometimes a government agency or a for-profit developer. There, and at monthly seminars and consultations with an executive coach, they learn the ropes of building community through development work.

For about 35 percent of the participants, that development work is the bricks-and-mortar sort, says senior program officer Barbara Jeanetta. Housing and commercial development has remained a core activity for students and graduates of the program. But people from communities of color and immigrant groups understood that "it was not just about physical development," Jeanetta says. "They innately knew it was much more integrated." That means that many work on building more intangible kinds of community assets--employee training, youth development, and home-buying, for example.

Careership is especially helpful for people who lack a college degree and have "spotty" work records due to time spent caring for a parent or child, Jeanetta says. These people often don't have a professional network, but they start to build one over their year at the Careership program.

Source: Barbara Jeanetta, LISC
Writer: Chris Steller

"Brick House" was the nickname for Memorial Stadium, the predecessor at the University of Minnesota's Minneapolis campus to TCF Bank Stadium, the new home of the Golden Gophers football team.

Now an actual house near the stadium--wooden, not brick--has been renovated by the University District Alliance, a community organization formed in the stadium's wake to strengthen ties between the university and surrounding neighborhoods. It's the first of three houses located in target areas near the new stadium to hit the real estate market after purchase and renovation by the Alliance.

When Minnesota legislators approved state funds for construction of TCF Bank Stadium, they were also motivated to mitigate negative impacts of the mammoth campus on adjacent residential areas. A special aim was encouraging home ownership in neighborhoods where the pace of conversion from family to student rental housing has accelerated in recent years.

The Alliance--made up of resident associations in three neighborhoods of Southeast Minneapolis, the university, and the City of Minneapolis--decided that renovating houses for sale to new resident-owners was the best way of spending the bulk of $750,000 the state allocated to demonstrate how local projects could keep campus-area neighborhoods stable and sustainable.

"Initially there was the hope to at least break even, but that's not going to happen," says James De Sota, Southeast Como Improvement Association coordinator, whose group pushed the Alliance to use green building materials and methods in the renovation work.  Still, he says, efforts at cooperation by local groups, the university and city government are off to a "nice start."

Source: James De Sota, Southeast Como Improvement Association
Writer: Chris Steller

A turnaround at the St. Paul crossroads known as UniDale has been 25 years in the making, and 2010 looks to be a big year for progress there. A new mixed-use development, Frogtown Square-Kings Crossing Apartments, will mark a significant milestone in the transformation of an intersection that is due to host a major stop on the Central Corridor light-rail transit line.

The intersection of University Avenue and Dale Street was at one time notorious as the site of an adult-entertainment complex known as The Notorious Faust Theater (yes, that was the business' full and official name). The Faust gave up the ghost in 1995; standing on that site now is the new Rondo Community Outreach Library, in a building with housing above.

Kitty-corner from the library is the Frogtown Square site. The deal for the new building closed May 31, allowing construction to begin the next day. Frogtown Square will have 11,000 square feet of commercial space at street level. Kings Crossing Apartments will contain about 48 units of affordable rental housing for senior citizens on the upper three floors.

Meyer Construction, a minority-owned firm, is the general contractor for the $13 million project, which is a joint effort of four community development corporations (CDCs) and Episcopal Homes.

What might light-rail riders see at Frogtown Square's retail level? "At one point, we talked about a hat store," says Patty Lilledahl, who directs business development and finance for the City of St. Paul--a "perfect fit," if it happens, for the building's residents.

Source: Patty Lilledahl, City of St. Paul Planning and Economic Development
Writer: Chris Steller