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