The Metropolitan Council has awarded Liveable Community grants of $5.4 million for transit-oriented development and affordable housing.
The grants will go for projects in Minneapolis, St. Paul, Eagan, Hopkins, Minnetonka, Richfield and Robbinsdale.
The transit-oriented grants, officials say, go to “projects that help promote economic development, housing and jobs along transit corridors, where there is, or will be, transit infrastructure and high-frequency transit service.”
Grants set for present or future light rail transit lines are:
4th Street Infrastructure, Minneapolis — $1 million toward reconstruction of a section of Fourth Street Southeast that will support new development near the 29th Avenue Station on the Green Line.
Anishinabe Bii Gii Wiin, Minneapolis — $1,045,000 for stormwater management improvements, streetscape and sidewalk enhancements that improve connections to the Blue Line, and a transit plaza for buses along Franklin Avenue.
Central Exchange, St. Paul — $77,000 for stormwater management features (permeable pavers, underground detention center, green roof) at the site of new development that will replace vacant and underused lots near Victoria Station on the Green Line.
Oxford Green, Hopkins — $1,600,000 to help create a pedestrian walkway that connects residents at Oxford Green and the neighborhood to Cottageville Park and the Blake Road station area.
BROWNstone, St. Paul — $160,000 for sidewalk reconstruction, relocation of utility lines, grading, and design and engineering for the BROWNstone redevelopment near the Victoria Street LRT Station on the Green Line.
And affordable housing grants go to:
Lakeshore Family Townhomes, Eagan — $200,000 toward construction of a 50-unit townhome development, targeted primarily to families with children, with nearby green space.
The Cameron, Minneapolis — $200,000 toward rehabilitation and conversion of a former warehouse facility to apartments in the North Loop neighborhood. The existing building is currently vacant, with an historical designation pending.
Project for Pride in Living DECC Recapitalization Project, Minneapolis — $200,000 toward renovation of 51 housing units in nine buildings in South Minneapolis, located primarily in the Central and Ventura Village neighborhoods.
Lyndale Gardens, Richfield—$200,000 toward construction of new, mixed-income housing as part of a larger redevelopment that transforms a vacant, blighted site into a community Town Center overlooking Richfield Lake Park.
Clare Terrace, Robbinsdale — $200,000 toward construction of a 36-unit supportive housing development. At least seven of the units will serve people experiencing long-term homelessness.
Hamline Station Family Housing — $200,000 toward construction of a new 4-story building with 108 units of housing over first-floor commercial space. The new construction is on the site of a former car dealership next to the Hamline Station on the Green Line and is part of a larger strategy to remove blighted conditions in the Midway neighborhood.
Neighborhood Investment Fund, St. Paul — $200,000 to support the city’s Housing and Redevelopment Authority’s effort to acquire, rehabilitate and resell 13 units and build eight new units in the Dayton’s Bluff, Frogtown and Payne-Phalen neighborhoods, all hit hard by foreclosure and disinvestment.
Homes Within Reach, Minnetonka — $100,000 to support the West Hennepin Affordable Housing Land Trust plans to acquire, rehabilitate and resell seven single-family homes in western suburbs. The land trust helps to provide access to affordable home ownership, and maintain the long-term affordability of homes within the Trust.
