Housing Development

Introduction

Here you will find resource organizations that can help your neighborhood assess it's housing needs, administer loan programs, and plan and/or implement projects to rehabilitate or construct new housing. Resource groups that serve individual home buyers and home owners are also listed.

Overview

This section includes City /County Housing Contacts , Housing Resource Centers , Neighborhood Housing Services ,Community Development Corporations ,Community Development Intermediaries & funders, Housing Development Consultants, Architects & Planners , Rental Property Owners Groups/ Property managers.

Page Index

  • Key Issues
  • Common Problems and Solutions
  • Successful Strategies
  • Annotated Web Resources
  • Topic Library
  • Sub-Topics and Vendors


    • Key Issues Related to this Topic

  • Adding quality to the built environment pays off for generations to come. People come and go, but the buildings remain. Minneapolis and St. Paul neighborhoods are fortunate to have many wonderful homes, apartments and commercial buildings that have been designed and built with care. A challenge facing our neighborhoods and cities is to leave buildings that future generations will continue to admire.

  • Market forces, zoning, local capacity and neighborhood pride all shape the built environment. Neighborhood associations are only one player among the hundreds of private investors, property owners and city & county staff who determine how well a neighborhood's buildings and open space will be maintained.

  • Strategic investments made by neighborhoods, can restore confidence and attract new investments. By rehabilitating or replacing key blighted residential and commercial properties, neighborhood groups can change the perception of a block or area so that home-owners, private investors and businesses choose to invest in improving their properties.

  • Healthy communities have a full range of life-cycle options available. Given the wide range of service, trades and professional jobs needed to make a city work, healthy neighborhoods need low, middle and higher priced housing available. Also, given the changing circumstances for people as they get started in the work force, become established and then retire, healthy neighborhods need a good mix of multi-family rental, duplex, single family and senior housing available.

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    Common Problems and Solutions

  • Many home-owners and rental owners lack the funds to maintain their properties. In very low-income neighborhoods people don't have the income sufficient to meet all of their basic needs. In these neighborhoods, it is the under-capitalization of the neighborhood that leads to housing deterioration.

  • As the housing market rebounds, maintaining affordability becomes the new challenge. Many Minneapolis and St. Paul neighborhoods that once had depressed housing markets and decreasing home values have now turned a corner. Home owners and rental owners are now eager to buy properties in these neighborhoods and the cost of buying a home, paying property taxes and renting a unit in thes neighborhoods in out-pacing the income of many residents.

  • Planning and implementing physical redevelopment is complex; don't do it alone.   While a few neighborhood associations in Minneapolis and St. Paul have bought, redeveloped and sold their own properties, most neighborhood groups choose to work with a local Community Development Corporation (CDC) or other city departments to plan and implement their housing projects.

  • Neighborhood housing committees can develop expertise over time. Because housing issues are so complex and time-consuming to deal with, most neighborhood associations choose not to conduct all of their housing business at general meetings, and form housing committees to work on these issues. Investing in training for your housing committee volunteers can greatly empower your neighborhood's housing committee by helping your volunteers gain the background and vocabulary they need to thoughtfully guide the housing work being done by city departments and non-profit and private developers in your neighborhood. The Twin Cities Local Initiatives Support Corporation has excellent training classes for neighborhood staff and volunteers on many community development topics.

  • Development projects require a long-term commitment. Often housing, commercial and mixed-use development projects require 3 to 5 years to complete from planning to site acquisition, to acquiring financing, to implementation and sale to a new owner. Nighborhood groups need to develop long-term partnerships with CDCs and city departments to make their dreams come true. Pace your efforts to avoid volunteer and staff burn-out.

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    Successful Strategies

  • Developing a comprehensive land use plan can aid in making specific decisions. Several Minneapolis neighborhoods (CARAG, Elliot Park, Ventura Village and Lyndale) have developed or are developing comprehensive land use plans for their neighborhoods that will focus on their housing, commercial and open space needs. If these plans are coordinated with the city's zoning map for the neighborhood, and with adjacent neighborhoods, they can provide a powerful tool for neighborhood volunteers to use when they are asked to make decisions on how to best use an individual parcel or property in their neighborhood.

  • Community Development Corporations use many strategies to develop affordable housing. CDC's can provide expertise, act as a bridge between local communities and governmental bodies and help communities best leverage their resources.

  • Streetscape, open space, lighting and traffic management improvements can add to the revitalization of neighborhood properties. Read more about coordinating all the elements of a streetscape improvements to create a pedestrian friendly environment in the book, Planning to Stay, by William R. Morrish and Catherine R. Brown -- published by the Design Center for the Urban American Landscape at the University of Minnesota.

  • Common design themes can add to a sense of neighborhood identy. Many neighborhood groups are using common design themes in the design of new structures, lighting, fencing and signage to develop a unifying, welcoming image for their neighborhood.

  • Creating "defensible space" helps neighbors feel safer. Building, landscaping and streetscape design can add to creating "defensible space," smaller private areas in your neighborhood that encourage residents to feel ownership of an area, develop stronger relationships and prevent crime. Ask your community crime prevention staff to lend you the book, Defensible Space, by Oscar Newman, (1972), New York, NY: The Macmillan Co.

  • Creating "community space" helps neighbors enjoy on another. Community gardens, coffee shops, pocket parks, front porch swings and boulevard gardens are all physical amenities which neighborhood residents create and maintain that put a friendly space on their neighborhood. The Seward Neighborhood Group does a "friendly spaces" inventory of their neighborhood every two years.

  • Preserve historic buildings. Minneapolis and St. Paul are reducing the rate of demolition of historic buildings, in part because of the need to preserve affordable housing. The ReUse Center in Minneapolis is providing an alternative to demolition, through its home deconstruction crews who collect historic building materials and fixtures for re-use. Historic building and homes in your neighborhood can be registered to help with their preservation. Some state and federal funds are available to supplement city programs to restore and maintain historic buildings. The Stevens Square neighborhood recently published a flyer for a self-guided historic building tour of the neighborhood. Milwaukee Avenue in the Seward neighborhood is a nationally recognized preserved housing district.

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    Annotated WebLinks

  • Architects
    AIA Minnesota- American Institute of Architects   06/15/04
    Provides referrals to architects

  • City housing contacts- Minneapolis
    City of Minneapolis   06/15/04
    Successful development requires coordination with a variety of City departments - one first step is to contact the City's Planning Department

  • Housing Intermediary
    Family Housing Fund   04/22/01
    Educational Materials- printed materials and group presentations are available on the problem of and solutions f

  • Housing Intermediary
    Greater Metropolitan Housing Corporation   03/27/03
    lists activities and services, link to Housing Resource Centers

  • Housing Intermediary
    Local Initiatives Support Corporation Twin Cities   04/22/01
    lists activities and services

  • City Housing Contacts- Minneapolis
    Minneapolis Community Development Agency   04/22/01
    lists the housing and rental grant loan and down payment assistance programs of the MCDA.

  • Community Development Corportations
    Minneapolis Consortium of Community Developers   04/22/01
    comprehensive links to Minneapolis and area wide CDCs

  • Housing Intermediary
    Minnesota Housing Finance Agency   04/22/01

  • Home Rehab Loan Administration
    The Center for Energy and Environment (CEE)   04/22/01
    adminsters neighborhood home rehab grant and loan programs

  • Housing Intermediary
    US Housing and Urban Development- (HUD)   04/22/01

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    Library

    Architects

    Lofts and other spaces   05/29/01
    This is a document that describes how to create liveable loft spaces.

    Development Corporations
    Testing Topic Library   05/28/01
    This is a test of the function while under development. At the right time, delete this reference.

    Housing Resource Centers
    Another Test Document   05/28/01
    This is another test. Right now, for this listing, we are not showing under subtopics; in the actual library, these references will be displayed under subtopics and topics.

    (Note to Ward: May have to create array to show under subtopics; might just list subtopic.)

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    Vendors by Sub-Topic

    Architects  
        American Institute of Architects (AIA Minnesota)
        Bradley & Associates
        John Rohrman Architects
        RLK-Kuusisto Limited


    Community Development Intermediaries & Funders  
        Family Housing Fund
        Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis
        Greater Metropolitan Housing Corporation
        Local Initiatives Support Corporation, Twin Cities
        Minneapolis Consortium of Community Developers
        Minnesota Housing Finance Agency
        National Equity Fund (NEF)
        Northcountry Cooperative Development Fund
        US Housing and Urban Development (HUD)


    Development Corporations  
        Brighton Development Corporation
        CommonBond Communities
        Sherman Associates, Inc.


    Home Rehab Loan Administration  
        Center for Energy and Environment (CEE)
        Project for Pride in Living


    Housing Development Consultants  
        George Garnett Community Development Consultant
        Mary Grace Flannery Consulting
        Schatzlein Associates
        Vohs Consulting & Management Services


    Housing Resource Centers  
        Greater Metropolitan Housing Corporation


    Metro-Wide Community Development Corporations (CDCs)  
        Artspace Projects, Inc.
        Development Corporation for Children
        Exodus Community Development Company
        Habitat for Humanity of the Twin Cities
        Project for Pride in Living
        Riverton Community Housing Association, Inc.


    Minneapolis City Departments  
        City of Minneapolis Coordinator's Office
        City of Minneapolis Housing Inspections
        Minneapolis Community Development Agency
        Minneapolis Planning Department
        Minneapolis Police Dept. CCP/SAFE
        Minneapolis Public Housing Authority (MPHA)


    Minneapolis Community Development Corporations (CDCs)  
        American Indian Housing Corporation (AIHC)
        Central Community Housing Trust
        Green Institute (The)
        Hope Community, Inc.
        Lyndale Neighborhood Development Corporation
        Northside Neighborhood Housing Services
        Northside Residents Redevelopment Council
        Powderhorn Residents Group (PRG)
        Project for Pride in Living
        Seward Redesign
        Southside Neighborhood Housing Services
        West Bank CDC
        Whittier Community Development Corporation


    Neighborhood Housing Services  
        Center for Energy and Environment (CEE)
        Dayton's Bluff Neighborhood Housing Services
        Northside Neighborhood Housing Services
        Southside Neighborhood Housing Services
        Twin Cities Neighborhood Housing Services
        West Side St. Paul -- Community Neighborhood Housing Service


    Rental Property Owners Groups/Property Management  
        Building Owners and Managers Association
        Dispute Resolution Center (St. Paul)
        Lyndale/Kingfield Rental Property Owner's Group
        Minneapolis Mediation Program


    St. Paul City Departments  
        Office of Licensing, Inspections, and Environmental Protection (LIEP)
        St. Paul Housing Information Office
        St. Paul Planning and Economic Development (PED)


    St. Paul Community Development Corporations (CDCs)  
        Dayton's Bluff Neighborhood Housing Services
        East Side Neighborhood Development Company
        Greater Frogtown Community Development Corporation
        Hamline-Midway Area Rehabilitation Corporation
        Lowertown Redevelopment Corporation
        Neighborhood Development Alliance (NeDA)
        North East Neighborhoods Development Corporation
        North End Area Revitalization
        Phalen Corridor Initiative
        Rondo Community Land Trust
        Selby Area Community Development Corporation
        Sparc
        Upper Swede Hollow Neighborhood Association
        West Seventh/Fort Road Federation
        West Side St. Paul -- Community Neighborhood Housing Service


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