CLPHA Press Room

From the Minneapolis Housing Authority's press release:

Today, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Great Lakes Regional Administrator, Diane Shelley, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, and Hennepin County Board Chair Irene Fernando joined MPHA staff, residents, and partners to celebrate the grand opening of the first of 84 new deeply affordable family homes across Minneapolis.

“Today is a historic day for the agency, welcoming home the first of 84 families to their beautiful new homes,” said Abdi Warsame, Executive Director/CEO of the Minneapolis Public Housing Authority. “This innovative modular project demonstrates the power of partnership among local governments to address our region’s affordable housing crisis. This successful project creates a blueprint for MPHA and housing authorities across the country to deliver quality, cost-effective, deeply affordable family housing.”

“Every American, regardless of their life experience, deserves a place to call home,” said Diane M. Shelley, HUD’s Great Lakes Regional Administrator. “I am excited to witness how HUD’s investment in these new homes, in partnership with other agencies and businesses, will help families level their opportunity to succeed and thrive in a beautiful new community.”

“The grand opening today is another step forward in our efforts to provide all Minneapolis residents with safe, stable, and permanent housing,” said Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey. “Today isn’t just about new public housing – it’s about constructing bridges to brighter futures and providing foundations for families to thrive in this city. I am incredibly grateful to MPHA, and our federal and county housing partners, who continue to partner with us on this important work.”

“The Family Housing Expansion Project meets so many of Hennepin’s priorities,” said Hennepin County Board Chair Irene Fernando. “In partnership with MPHA, we are changing what’s possible for some of our most vulnerable friends, family members, and neighbors.”

The Family Housing Expansion Project (FHEP) will bring 26 two- and 58 three-bedroom units in fourplexes and sixplexes to 16 sites across Minneapolis. These new buildings will be a part of MPHA’s deeply affordable scattered site family housing portfolio. Sixteen of the units will be disability accessible, with another 17 being high-priority homeless units with services funded through Hennepin County’s Coordinated Entry program. The agency estimates these 84 new homes will be able to serve approximately 420 families over the next 30 years. This project is the agency’s largest new-unit development in more than two decades.

Projected to be fully completed within 13 months after its financial closing (and less than a year since its groundbreaking), FHEP includes several innovations that make it different from a typical housing development. Building 84 units on 16 sites is a highly unusual approach that provides families with housing options they can afford in many different neighborhoods. Using a modular construction approach has resulted in less noise and fewer neighborhood disruptions at each site while delivering the project 30 percent faster than a conventional construction approach. The first families are moving home in September, with the agency estimating the final units being available to families in December.

The agency maintains more than 700 deeply affordable family homes scattered across Minneapolis through its wholly owned and controlled nonprofit, Community Housing Resources (CHR). These homes account for more than 80 percent of the MPHA housing available for families with children. The agency maintains a family housing waitlist that has recently been as many as 7,500 people, with more than 80 percent of those on the agency’s waitlist being households of color. This new project aims to address the significant unmet demand for this kind of housing.

These scattered site homes are a critical piece of city infrastructure, as they are a proven tool to provide families with a solid foundation for upward mobility. Of the nearly 3,100 residents currently living in CHR homes, 87 percent are Black/African American, 55 percent are ages 17 or younger, 85 percent of households are female-led, and two-thirds of the households have five or more family members living there—families with young children.

Of the current heads of household, 19 percent were employed when entering their new home. On average, these residents earned $20,722 a year in income. Today, 67 percent of these residents are employed, earning an average of $34,225 a year, with more than 60 percent of these residents’ earned income increasing while in these homes. Better yet, between 2020 and 2022, 17 percent of all families leaving CHR homes went on to purchase their own homes.

From FHEP’s inception, MPHA residents have been involved in every step of the process. Before the agency conducted any external engagement, agency staff sat with residents to understand what should be prioritized in any new-unit developments. The agency created a resident design panel, connecting residents with project architects to provide guidance on everything from layout designs to finishings used on surfaces throughout the new units. The unique resident-led approach afforded project architects invaluable insights, including an emphasis on maximizing storage space throughout the units not previously considered.

The Family Housing Expansion Project was made possible through financing across various partners. This included $19.9 million in equity from Low-Income Housing Tax Credits (US Bankcorp Impact Finance), a $12.5 million contribution from MPHA, a $8.9 million permanent loan to cover project costs (Citi Community Capital), $4.6 million in federal ARPA dollars awarded from the City of Minneapolis, a $1.4 million Local Housing Incentives Account (LHIA) award from the Metropolitan Council, a $1.2 million award from the City of Minneapolis’ Affordable Housing Trust Fund (AHTF), and a $500,000 award of Hennepin County’s Affordable Housing Development Accelerator fund. US Bankcorp Impact Finance provided a $25 million construction loan via Housing Revenue Bonds issued by Minneapolis’ Community Planning and Economic Development department. The project also benefitted from more than $500,000 in equity through solar tax credits, which nearly doubled because of the recent federal Inflation Reduction Act. The project’s solar system (361.6 kW) is projected annually to cover nearly 30 percent of all electrical consumption in the new homes.

From The Columbian:

While residents experiencing homelessness and housing leaders recognize the issues preventing the unhoused from accessing health care, some have taken matters into their own hands and made care more accessible.

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The Apple Health and Homes program launched in Washington last year, and provides housing and other health care necessities to people with physical and mental health challenges. The program uses Medicaid dollars to pay for housing assistance and tenant resources.

“This is a novel approach that the state of Washington is doing … providing housing for some of the most needy people,” said Dr. Richard Kubiniec, medical director at Sea Mar. “I think what will follow is a model that is going to be adopted elsewhere.”

PeaceHealth partners with Vancouver Housing Authority to provide medical care at permanent supportive housing locations and Share of Vancouver provides medical respite shelter beds.

Read The Columbian's article "Bringing health care to the streets of Clark County," featuring the Vancouver Housing Authority.

From Opportunity Home San Antonio's press release:

The San Antonio City Council voted today to support Opportunity Home San Antonio through an Accessibility and Modernization fund as part of the FY 2024 Annual Operating and Capital Budget. The purpose of the fund is to address the pressing capital needs including repairing, rehabilitating and modernizing housing units operated by Opportunity Home, particularly those occupied in family and elderly communities.

With the support of District 5 Councilperson Teri Castillo, who formally submitted the Accessibility and Modernization fund proposal to City Council, Opportunity Home introduced the proposal in an effort to establish a funding stream to aid in the critical work of the organization for San Antonio residents. 

The $1 million budget allocation will help address capital needs at some of the more than 70 housing communities across the city affecting more than 60,000 families. 

“The city’s vote to provide annual local funding to Opportunity Home will make actual, sustainable inroads in providing quality local housing for San Antonio residents that they can access and afford,” said Ed Hinojosa, Jr., president and CEO of Opportunity Home. “These critical funds will help us to maintain and modernize our existing affordable-housing stock to improve the quality of life of those we serve.”

Specific funding goals are to improve housing infrastructure conditions, enhance accessibility, increase the resiliency of housing units to natural disaster and other emergencies, heighten safety in Opportunity Home communities, and impact the local economy by generating employment opportunities with the creation of construction and maintenance jobs. 

“We are grateful for the support of Mayor Nirenberg and the City of San Antonio. It truly underscores our collective effort to address the housing crisis and potential cuts in federal funding,” said Gabe Lopez, Opportunity Home Board of Commissioners chair.   

Opportunity Home will continue to work with local, state and congressional partners to explore all available financial avenues to address public housing infrastructure.

Since 1937, Opportunity Home San Antonio has built and maintained affordable housing for the residents of San Antonio, which is primarily funded by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Opportunity Home San Antonio’s aging public housing infrastructure, some of which was built in the late 1930s, is deteriorating. More than 6,000 families live at these properties. Federal funding is currently limited and there are potential cuts in funding for 2024. HUD allocates approximately $13 million a year for capital improvements despite the nearly half a billion in infrastructure needs for the aging housing portfolio.  To adequately address maintenance concerns and upgrades, local funding is essential to closing this financial gap.

Currently, the organization provides housing assistance to more than 62,500 children, adults and seniors through its Public Housing, Housing Choice Voucher and Mixed-Income housing programs. Opportunity Home manages more than 70 public housing communities, 27 mixed-income apartment complexes and administers over 13,000 rental vouchers throughout San Antonio.

From ABC 7 Denver:

Denver housing authority leaders celebrated Friday the completion of their pilot program's first accessory dwelling unit, aimed at providing more affordable housing in the west part of town.

An accessory dwelling unit, or ADU, is a self-contained living space that is an extension of a pre-existing property. In 2021, the Denver Housing Authority and West Denver Renaissance Collaborative (WDRC) launched an ADU Pilot Program.

“We're happy to say that we've gotten to a place where we've impacted 30 households. That's 15 ADUs and we have just as many in the pipeline preparing themselves for construction next year,” Renee Martinez-Stone, Denver Housing Authority director of planning and data, said Friday. “Accessory dwelling units are so helpful for a family. They provide stability for homeowners, they provide affordable rent.”

Martinez-Stone said the program helps homeowners build ADUs by connecting them with resources.

“So what's critical in that is, we have partners — including the Habitat for Humanity — and lenders who are working in all the different levels to deliver affordability. So we're lowering the cost of construction, we are providing a unit that doesn't have to draw very high rent to pay for the construction of the unit,” Martinez-Stone said. “ADUs have an average rent of $800 a month.”

Read ABC 7 Denver's article "West Denver housing policy leaders celebrate pilot program's first accessory dwelling unit," featuring the Denver Housing Authority.

From the Columbus Metropolitan Housing Authority's press release:

Leaders with the Columbus Metropolitan Housing Authority (CMHA) and The NRP Group, a vertically integrated, best-in-class developer, builder and manager of multifamily housing, joined Tuesday with Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther, state Sen. Hearcel Craig, D-Columbus, and local dignitaries in a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the grand opening of The Sinclair Apartment Homes (“The Sinclair”), a new, $40 million, 180-unit fully affordable apartment community in Columbus. 

Situated on 5075 Sinclair Avenue, The Sinclair provides well-crafted, affordable housing options for Columbus-area residents whose incomes range from 30 percent to 80 percent of the Area Median Income (AMI). The former site of the live music venue Alrosa Villa, which closed permanently in early 2020, has been transformed into a community of three four-story apartment buildings consisting of one-, two-, three- and four-bedroom units.

"In a city that's growing and evolving, we must ensure that the heartbeat of Columbus remains strong,” said Mayor Ginther. 

“Since Alrosa Villa closed its doors three years ago, the site has gone from an abandoned property on a main transit corridor to a vital housing community,” Ginther said. “This is a remarkable example of Columbus' commitment to addressing the pressing housing crisis and providing affordable housing solutions where families and individuals can thrive."

In addition to offering high-quality rental options that meet the rising demand for more affordable housing in Columbus, The Sinclair has also revitalized the Sinclair Avenue streetscape into a prospering community hub. CMHA played a lead role in helping to fund the development by issuing $27.7 million in tax-exempt and taxable bonds.

“Developments like The Sinclair and collaborating with like-minded organizations that are committed to providing more affordable housing options to our region’s families is more critical now than ever,” said CMHA Commissioner Frederick L. Ransier. 

“With a large percentage of households in Franklin County spending nearly half of their income on housing, Sinclair Apartments will provide them with relief while simultaneously allowing for the community to grow and flourish,” Ransier said.

Located near I-71 and I-270, with immediate proximity to Central Ohio Transit Authority, The Sinclair connects residents to work, shopping and local Columbus attractions. The property provides access to an active bus line linking residents to restaurants and retail options, including Target, Kroger and Saraga International Grocery. 

“The grand opening of the new Sinclair Apartments development is fully supported by local neighborhood association leaders because it will provide high-quality homes that will raise the bar for what an affordable home should look and feel like in this thriving neighborhood,” said state Sen. Hearcel Craig, D-District 15.

“The Sinclair Apartments are a testament to what Columbus does best – collaboration,” Craig said. “Partners have leveraged their resources to build housing our residents can afford, something our growing city desperately needs.”

Less than two miles from the rapidly growing Clintonville neighborhood and only seven miles north of downtown Columbus, residents will experience a swift commute to thousands of job opportunities. Additional on-site amenities include a fitness center, private clubhouse, playground and outdoor gathering space.

"Our valued partnership with The Columbus Metropolitan Housing Authority has been instrumental in establishing a housing community that not only grants easy public transit connectivity but also fosters pathways for residents to access employment opportunities," said J. David Heller, Principal, President and Chief Executive Officer at The NRP Group. “This collaborative effort embodies our commitment to creating not just homes, but a supportive environment where residents can thrive."

The transit-oriented project was developed with tax-credit funding support from the Ohio Housing Finance Agency and Huntington National Bank.

"Huntington is dedicated to strengthening the communities we serve, and this project helps us further that goal in Columbus,” said Sue Zazon, Central Ohio Regional President for Huntington National Bank. “Stable, affordable housing has unfortunately become too scarce, and we can’t have a strong community without it. We are proud to work so closely with the City of Columbus, the Columbus Metropolitan Housing Authority, the Ohio Housing Finance Agency, and The NRP Group to assist with this vital need.”