urbanMSP

‘Extremely affordable’ housing project planned at 45th and Hiawatha

The five-story, 53,950 square-foot building will sit on one acre. It will include 80 efficiency units that range from 418 to 518 square feet. A parking lot will have 40 spaces, or about a half space per unit, and there will be inside storage for bicycles. One-third of the property will be green space along what planners hope will soon be the Min Hi Line linear park.

‘Extremely affordable’ housing project planned at 45th and Hiawatha

The five-story, 53,950 square-foot building will sit on one acre. It will include 80 efficiency units that range from 418 to 518 square feet. A parking lot will have 40 spaces, or about a half space per unit, and there will be inside storage for bicycles. One-third of the property will be green space along what planners hope will soon be the Min Hi Line linear park.

First, I'm not knocking this project - $600 for a new build project would be crazy low. Yes they need to secure grants. Still - low.

-The sad part-

For someone making minimum wage, the rent would have to be closer to $400 a month to meet the 30% of paycheck affordability level.

Here's hoping that it all works out though!

There are two additional developments in this same general area that will be presented at the September 4 LCC meeting:



The one that makes me nervous is the Reuter Walton project on the restaurant site (most recently 'SomTaste'). I don't love the idea of that site being redeveloped independently of the long-ass strip mall to the north. My concern is that developing this site now may limit future roadway changes (i.e. re-configuring the nameless frontage road along Hiawatha). Check out the property lines in the area: https://gis.hennepin.us/property/map/de ... 2823120082 The strip mall owns a narrow strip behind the SomTaste building...what's gonna happen with that?

If I owned the strip mall and all of the houses along Minnehaha Ave, and had the power to totally remake this area, I would:
-Build mixed-use buildings along Minnehaha Ave with lots of ground floor retail space
-Build additional apartment buildings where the strip mall sits (without retail)
-further extend Snelling Ave through the site down to Nawadaha (somehow), as well as the MiHi Line linear park
-convert the frontage road along Hiawatha to private surface parking and/or access lane behind said apartments replacing strip mall
(frontage road appears to be MNDOT ROW)

By the time this finishes, the Minneapolis minimum will likely be $15/hr. At that wage, assuming 40 hours a week for 4 weeks a month, 30% of that persons income is $720. Were you assuming state minimum wage?

Meeting recap: http://www.longfellownokomismessenger.c ... ha-handle/

Concerns about traffic and parking. The back of my head is featured in the photo at the beginning of the article

While I like seeing this greenway concept in all of the drawings, how to greenway planners see this crossing busy streets such as 46th St? The Oppidan project (Cub) includes a new stoplight at Snelling, right? Therefore I can't imagine Hennepin County having an appetite for a signalized crosswalk at the greenway.