EXCERPT: “Affordable housing was one of those issues that was expected to get some attention during the 2018 session of the Minnesota Legislature. It had been a prime issue in city elections in St. Paul and Minneapolis, not to mention something likely to come up during elections this fall. So housing advocates came to the Capitol with a record-high bonding request: $140 million. Meanwhile, a bill to create an affordable housing tax credit on state income taxes, like North Dakota, had bipartisan support. But with the number of days in the legislative session approaching single digits, what’s actually been accomplished?” FULLSTORY: http://bit.ly/2IfgItf

EXCERPT: “In St. Paul, an industrial area near the city’s University Avenue border with Minneapolis is about to get a makeover. Developers plan two new public parks and three new streets south of the Green Line’s Westgate Station. Affordable-housing apartments for seniors and for working families is proposed for the site, too . . . The two affordable-housing developments in the works would serve different markets. At 700 Emerald St., Dominium plans to construct a 121-unit, four-story “workforce” apartment building at the former site of a Weyerhaeuser Lumber distribution facility, which closed in 2016. The apartments would serve workers and small families earning no more than 60 percent of area median income. Meanwhile, the Legends at Berry Senior Apartments, a four-story, 242-unit senior apartment building, will sit across a future new street.” FULLSTORY: http://bit.ly/2JQ0cxk

EXCERPT: “Minneapolis City Council President Lisa Bender got her start in politics in 2009, lobbying the city for more bike lanes. Now, she’s leading the city’s effort to make over the zoning laws that dictate its entire built form…Her vision: Denser, more walkable neighborhoods with fewer single-family homes and fewer cars. She wants to see businesses mixed in with homes, more apartments — and smaller apartments — along major transit corridors, and more affordable housing everywhere in the city…Minneapolis is currently finalizing its comprehensive plan, a hulking document the city creates once a decade that spells out how it wants to develop over the next 20 years. Once the city passes this plan, it will turn its attention to overhauling its zoning code next year. That will likely be the biggest change in land use policy since the city created its very first zoning map in 1960, which set aside large swaths of the city exclusively for single-family homes. That’s been a boon for bungalows, but Bender and housing advocates say it’s no longer sustainable. ‘If we don’t build the housing we need to accommodate our population growth, we’re just going to see rising rents,’ Bender said.” FULLSTORY: http://bit.ly/2r98isY

EXCERPT: “Investors looking for a repeat performance from homebuilders in 2018 were quickly brought down to the earth after a wave of volatility sunk the market. Now well off its all-time highs, the sector faces a slew of challenges ahead in rising mortgage rates and surging home prices. That’s a troublesome sign for the economy if real estate takes another leg lower. After all, housing contributes 15% to 18% of GDP across residential investments and consumption spending on housing services, according to the National Association of Home Builders. A pullback here could be the first shot at an otherwise healthy economy and job market . . .The trouble is a potential trade war with China could upend material costs and threaten the profitability of homebuilders. Prices on lumber, copper and other materials needed in a building have already started to climb in response to the rhetoric. Some of those increases are being passed on to buyers.” FULLSTORY: http://bit.ly/2JwTWds

EXCERPT: “Along St. Paul’s Snelling Avenue a new six-story building with 118 apartments, ground-floor retail and underground parking may soon replace the one-story building where Sweeney’s Cleaners and Rosemark Bakery now stand. Both businesses have closed in preparation for demolition. Developer Jim LaValle and TJL Development of St. Paul are proposing the new mixed-use development — at 246-258 Snelling — that would tie into Metro Transit’s A Line Bus corridor. The project at the southeast corner of Snelling and St. Clair avenues is smaller than one proposed for the site a year ago by a different developer.” FULLSTORY: http://bit.ly/2JrFV0Q

EXCERPT: “The Estelle was going to be like nothing Edina had seen before, a $250 million project with two towers—26 stories and 22 stories, respectively—at 69th and France, across the street from the Galleria, the region’s most upscale shopping mall. The city’s first condo project in a decade, it offered 170 units and had a waiting list of about 150 “very interested” potential owners, according to its developer, Luigi Bernardi, president of Edina-based Arcadia LLC . . . If such a project had been floated in downtown Minneapolis, it likely would have been heartily embraced by city leaders as another strong sign of the area’s strength and vitality. But in Edina, it quickly ran into a buzz saw of strong objections from neighbors in the single-family residential neighborhood just west of the proposed towers. Homeowners banded together to speak out against it, and petitions circulated citing concerns about the buildings’ height and density, and a potential increase in traffic.” FULLSTORY: http://bit.ly/2FgpodH

EXCERPT: “Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey says he hopes a new pilot program aimed at increasing affordable housing opportunities can continue to grow. Frey unveiled his new plan called 4d earlier this month. If property owners are willing to keep rent for 20 percent of their units at what is considered an affordable housing rate for that area, the city will give landlords a 20 percent break on their property taxes.” FULLSTORY: http://bit.ly/2F8DIol

EXCERPT: “As Prospect Park approves new large-scale housing projects, some residents are concerned about a lack of consideration by the neighborhood association. Prospect Park Association has approved new housing projects like Prospect Park Properties’ Green on Fourth, Vermilion Development’s Arts and Architecture Building and Aeon’s new affordable housing unit in past years. The neighborhood has received some backlash from residents, who believe the rapid development could have unintended consequences. Prospect Park resident Trina Porte said she’s skeptical of new developments advertised as affordable housing. She said the units are often occupied by students rather than families in need.” FULLSTORY: http://bit.ly/2F1lSne

EXCERPT: “A study of state tax regimes reveals that new homebuyers are disadvantaged in many US states. The research found that in Los Angeles for example, a new owner of a median-valued home pays around $7,000 per year in property taxes, while someone who’s owned an identical home for 14 years pays just $4,000 per year. The annual 50-State Property Tax Comparison Study by the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy and the Minnesota Center for Fiscal Excellence, found that of the ten American cities with the greatest discrepancy in taxes paid by new homeowners and longtime homeowners, six are in California and two are in Florida. That’s due to state laws limiting reassessment.” FULLSTORY: http://bit.ly/2J6irhn

REPORT: http://bit.ly/2HcXNLW

EXCERPT: “Minneapolis City Council Member Jeremy Schroeder says the constituents he hears from are split about 50/50 on a proposal that could open their neighborhoods up to new, denser development . . .A draft version of the plan unveiled in March would rezone large swaths of the city, roughly those north of Lowry Avenue and south of 38th Street, to allow construction of duplex, triplex or fourplex housing. It’s one of many proposals intended to address the accelerating cost of housing in Minneapolis and to increase access to transit and employment for residents.Increasing density in this way could indeed make housing more affordable, but homebuilders say it could have unintended consequences for those currently living in these neighborhoods.” FULLSTORY: http://bit.ly/2EPYKIn