2304 Snelling Avenue, Minneapolis, MN

Landon Group secured financing & ensured financial closing

HUD 202 Capital Grant; 4% Low Income Housing Tax Credit Equity; Deferred financing from Metropolitan Council, Hennepin County, Federal Home Loan Bank, and MN Dept of Employment and Economic Development

• 60 affordable rental units for seniors
• $14.3 million total development cost
• Watson Forsberg Construction
• LHB Corp

The Cooperage is a collaborative HUD 202 project between Seward Redesign and CommonBond Communities. The site is part of a larger redevelopment occupying several city blocks immediately southeast of the Franklin Avenue Light Rail Transit (LRT) station in Minneapolis – an area historically used for industrial purposes. Dense residential developments like The Cooperage have activated the LRT station and created a more appropriate use for this transit-oriented area.

Along with capital funding, the HUD 202 program includes a 40-year Project Rental Assistance Contract that allows residents to pay only 30% of their income toward rent. Other buildings with similar subsidies maintain long waiting lists. This fact along with the longstanding popularity of the geographically central and amenity rich Seward neighborhood has led to immediate high occupancy.

The site is located within an area of minority concentration, with immediate access to a stop along the Hiawatha LRT as well as being nearby the wide variety of services on Franklin Avenue. The housing stock in Seward has very low vacancy rates for ownership and rental, and all five nearby affordable housing developments have long waiting lists. The neighborhood composition and desirability, along with the affirmative marketing efforts of Seward Redesign and CommonBond promote greater housing opportunities for minority seniors, as well as create units that increase the chance for existing residents of the area to age in place on a walkable, transit-oriented block.