EXCERPT: “Not too long ago, the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC) released its 2018 “Out of Reach Report” in which it notes more than 11 million American households have incomes that are insufficient to meet their rents. In the latest report, the NLIHC ranks Minnesota as the 22nd most expensive out of all 50 states (plus Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia) in terms of its housing costs. It’s no secret that the lack of affordable housing in Minnesota, and in particular in the Twin Cities, has remained one of our biggest issues in the 21st century. This year does not represent a significant change over recent years, as Minnesota has fluctuated between the 21st and 24th most expensive state for housing since 2012. And, as has been the case for several years running, Minnesota remains the second most costly state (behind Illinois) in the Midwest region.” FULLSTORY: http://bit.ly/2SmvErR

EXCERPT: “After an overnight stay in the hospital, Don Larsen arrived home to the sound of drills and saws. On both sides of his rural Douglas County home, a small crew was making improvements intended to help Larsen, 87, stay in his home longer. They were putting in a platform and wheelchair ramp by his front door while in back, they were rebuilding the sagging deck where Larsen feeds birds. ‘I’ve been here alone after my wife passed away,’ said Larsen, who lives on a part of the farm where he grew up between Nelson and Osakis. He still walks, but stairs have become a challenge for him, he admits. ‘I’m not so limber as I used to be.’ In 2017, Habitat for Humanity of Douglas County launched a program to help seniors like Larsen live in their own homes instead of landing in nursing homes or assisted living centers. Called Aging in Place, it installs railings, non-slip stair treads and ramps and even widens doorways, among other improvements.” FULLSTORY: http://bit.ly/2yW8gsr

EXCERPT: “There will be 50,000 more people living in southeastern Minnesota in the next 25 years. There will be 44,000 more jobs. And there will need to be 14,000 more housing units. That’s according to an economic forecast study released Tuesday by the Southeastern Minnesota League of Municipalities, a municipal organization of 65 communities in Dodge, Fillmore, Goodhue, Houston, Mower, Olmsted, Wabasha and Winona counties. SEMLM also proposed major policy shifts to accommodate population and employment growth over the next 25 years, including zoning changes to support greater housing production, expanded transportation networks, a regional tourism strategy, immigrant support resources and programs to increase access to child care.” FULLSTORY: http://bit.ly/2EeDwJa

EXCERPT: “Affordable housing is making its way to Cloquet with a new apartment building. The groundbreaking ceremony for the project took place on Tuesday. A housing study in 2014 indicated a need for 80 new affordable housing units in the Cloquet area. The Cloquet Housing & Redevelopment Authority(HRA) took on the initiative to provide affordable housing. The $6.8 million project will provide 35 new units with one, two, and three bedroom options.” FULLSTORY: http://bit.ly/2EcvMr5

EXCERPT: “A new home is now open in Maplewood to help women veterans get back on their feet. It’s the culmination of five months of hard work by the Minnesota Assistance Council for Veterans, BATC-Housing First Minnesota Foundation and Lennar and their building partners. The home sets the foundation to help a group of five women veterans take the first step towards housing stability.” FULLSTORY: http://bit.ly/2E6lzw5

EXCERPT: “The Willmar City Council heard Monday from a developer hoping to build a $28 million housing project on the northwest side of the city. ‘It is a pleasure to have a project come before the council,’ Mayor Marv Calvin said during the council work session. ‘Businesses tell me on a regular basis they can’t expand because there isn’t enough housing. Samuel Herzog, of JH LLC, is requesting tax increment financing assistance for a multi-family housing development on a 15-acre site along Kandiyohi County Road 5. Over four years, the project could bring 288 new apartments to Willmar’s tight housing market.” FULLSTORY: http://bit.ly/2Oxo2DO

EXCERPT: “Cooler weather brought mixed results for residential construction activity in the Twin Cities as permits skyrocketed in September for new multifamily units but tumbled for single-family homes. During September, cities in the 13-county metropolitan area issued 482 permits for 1,277 new housing units, according to the Keystone Report. Total permits were down 15 percent and planned units were up 69 percent from September 2017. That includes permits for 444 new single-family houses, down 19 percent, and 833 new multifamily units, up 300 percent.” FULLSTORY: http://bit.ly/2OoHi6w

EXCERPT: “The most fractious, acrimonious, and emotional political fight in Minneapolis this year comes down to a single F-word: fourplex. The city is overhauling its comprehensive plan, with 97 different policies on a wide range of topics: skyways, tree canopy and urban forest, the creative sector economy, air quality, storm-water management, social connectedness, and aging. For the most part, they have not generated large-scale public reaction. But the draft version of the Minneapolis 2040 plan, which will continue to be revised and discussed until it goes to the Metropolitan Council at the end of the year, also floated the idea of allowing duplexes, triplexes, and fourplexes on ‘traditional-size city lots.’ That proposal kicked up a hornet’s nest of protest from angry residents—many in the city’s affluent Linden Hills, Lynnhurst, Fulton, and Kenwood neighborhoods—who say that the plan will lead to developers buying up sites, razing homes, putting multi-unit buildings everywhere, and ruining the character of the city’s single-family-home neighborhoods.” FULLSTORY: http://bit.ly/2Om8xi6

EXCERPT: “A joint venture between Timberline Real Estate Ventures and Heitman LLC has acquired Radius @ 15^th, a 200-unit student housing community in Minneapolis. The partnership purchased the asset on behalf of a Heitman affiliate, from University Student Living and North Bay Cos. TSB Realty secured the sale. Pinnacle Campus Living will manage the property.” FULLSTORY: http://bit.ly/2In7yZC

EXCERPT: “The temporary closure of one of the large apartment properties in Marshall, Minnesota is creating a housing emergency. Last Thursday, the Sunrise Court Apartments was purchased by the company Suite Liv’n. The new owners immediately notified all of the tenants with a letter stating they would have to move out by October 19th due to a failing heating system in all three buildings.” FULLSTORY: http://bit.ly/2IkKeeK