Archive for the ‘Affordable Housing’ Category
Friday, May 3rd, 2013
Micro-aparments are an increasingly popular trend in large cities with high housing costs, such as San Francisco, D.C., and Seattle. At just 300 square feet or less (some in Seattle are as small as 140 sf), micro-apartments are very small, but offer more affordable rent. A typical micro-apartment minimizes space through features such as fold-down beds and tables. Some have small kitchens, while others have kitchens and common areas which are shared among several apartments. By accepting less living space, residents are able to live more cheaply in high-demand areas.
A concept plan for three micro-apartments by R2L Architects (photo credit: Urban Turf)
The trend is not without controversy, however. In Seattle, where as many as 10 micro-apartment projects are currently proposed, neighboring single-family home residents have complained about the effect of added population density on street-parking, transit, and public space. Some have also complained that existing zoning regulations which regulate density through the number of kitchens in a building rather than the number of separate living units create an unfair loophole. Developers are able to build as many as six to eight separate micro-units sharing the same kitchen; from the perspective of the Seattle zoning code, these are considered just one residential unit despite being separate dwellings. Critics argue that this gets around the intent, if not the letter, of existing zoning regulations.
San Francisco is considering changing its building code to reduce the minimum required apartment size from 290 sf to 220 so as to allow smaller micro-units. Planning officials expect (more…)
Tags: building code, micro-apartments, rent, San Francisco, Seattle, zoning
Posted in Affordable Housing, Real Estate Trends, Residential Real Estate | No Comments »
Monday, February 18th, 2013
In the Seward neighborhood of Minneapolis, Redesign, Inc. is close to finishing construction on the first building in a multi-phase transit-oriented development called Seward Commons. The project is happening on light industrial property to the southeast of the Franklin Avenue light rail station on the Hiawatha Line. Phase I of the project is a $10 million, 4-story, 60-unit supportive housing project developed in partnership with Project for Pride in Living. Seward Commons will ultimately encompass 4 acres and include a mix of 300 multifamily units and approximately 20,000 SF of commercial space developed in six phases.
An aerial view of the Seward Commons site (Source: Redesign)
Redesign worked closely with the local neighborhood group and business association to develop a shared vision for the site, which includes transit-oriented design principles and a focus on sustainable stormwater management methods. As a non-profit, Redesign has a mission-based approach to development. While they do use traditional market fundamentals to analyze the feasibility of a project, their real estate decisions are based on their mission to build healthy neighborhoods and engage community members.
Redesign was drawn to the Seward Commons site in part because of the opportunity to better connect residential areas of the Seward neighborhood to the nearby Hiawatha Light Rail station. In order to accomplish that, they worked closely with the City of Minneapolis to improve the transportation infrastructure in and around the site, including adding a street connection to Cedar Avenue and bicycle access from 24th Street to the Hiawatha trail which runs parallel to the Hiawatha Light Rail line adjacent to the site. These improvements where consistent with transit-oriented principles of improving street grid connectivity and walkability. They also added value to the Seward Commons site by making it more accessible, which may improve the feasibility of retail development in future phases.
Seward Commons site map, showing planned development phases and infrastructure improvements to 22nd and 24th Streets (Source: Redesign)
The project has not been without its challenges. According to Eddie Landenberger, Senior Project Manager at Redesign, the biggest hurdle thus far was securing the acquisition finance package, which included a mix of private loans and public funding from Hennepin County and the City of Minneapolis. Eddie also noted the complications associated with managing short-term industrial tenants in the properties on the site which are planned for redevelopment in future phases. Those short-term tenants provide cash flow which is vital to defray operating costs during the long-term redevelopment process, but lease agreements must be carefully structured to allow flexibility when the time comes for the next phase of redevelopment.
Redesign is now working on closing on Phase II of the project, which will be a HUD 202 senior housing project co-developed by Common Bond. Phase III is currently in the planning stage and will likely involve market-rate apartments. The final phases will be developed according to market conditions at the time, but will likely involve some amount of retail space.
Source: Eddie Landenberger, Senior Project Manager, Redesign
Tags: Eddie Landenberger, Hiawatha Light Rail, minneapolis, Project for Pride in Living, Redesign, Seward, transit-oriented development
Posted in Affordable Housing, Development, Multifamily | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, September 4th, 2012
This post was written by Dan Jackson, a 2012 UST MBA graduate. Dan completed many of his electives in real estate including participation in the spring 2012 REAL 714 International Real Estate Development course in the Cayman Islands.
Photo credit: IKEA
The Big Blue Box… furniture products that are easy to assemble… cheap and affordable, yet chic items… Swedish meatballs and cheap meals are all items that remind people of the retail giant IKEA. But the retailer now wants to get you to think outside of the big blue box.
The popular Swedish home furniture products company IKEA has its sights set on expanding its well-known footprint. The next endeavor for the company, which already has a large international presence, revolves around building entire communities where people will be able to live, work, stay and play. According to the Globe and Mail IKEA is “launching a bold push into the business of designing, building and operating entire urban neighbourhoods.” The Globe continues to state that while this is a new and bold endeavor for the furniture icon they still want these new neighborhoods to have an emphasis on the traditional affordability concept that IKEA is well-known for with its furniture products model. One of IKEA’s current slogans is “Affordable solutions for living better,” and this is the type of slogan that the property development division anticipates as they move forward into the first phase of development of these new communities. The property development team wants to create communities that are beautiful, well-maintained and allow for a maximum lifestyle benefit, but yet still affordable for families and individuals. (more…)
Tags: Camana Bay, Dart Company, European development, IKEA, IKEA corporation, IKEA Europe, IKEA hotel
Posted in Affordable Housing, Commercial Real Estate, Development, International Real Estate, Multifamily, Real Estate Trends, Retail Real Estate, Think Outside The Box, Urban Planning | No Comments »
Tuesday, August 14th, 2012
Several urban job centers have committed to building tiny, affordable housing units.
There is a new multi-family housing trend beginning to appear in some of the higher priced housing markets around the country. Ultra small “mirco-apartments” are one answer that can make apartments affordable to young renters in these high priced areas. Will this trend find it’s way to the Minneapolis / St. Paul Market? This article by John Caulfield recently appeared in BUILDER
From: BUILDER 2012
An 11,775-square-foot building with 23 micro apartments is being wedged onto a 3,750-square-foot lot between two other buildings in San Francisco’s SoMa district.
Construction has begun on an infill project at 38 Harriet Street in San Francisco that its developer, builder, and module supplier believe could determine whether micro apartments remain a highly publicized curiosity or are seen as legitimate housing alternatives for young urban professionals seeking cheaper, greener, and walkable living spaces.
“There are a lot of eyes on this project, a lot of interest,” says Naomi Porat, president and co-founder of Zeta Communities, whose factory in Sacramento, Calif., is close to completing the 12- by 65-foot modules that will be used to construct an 11,775-square-foot four-story wood-framed building squeezed onto a 3,750-square-foot lot in this city’s South of Market Street (SoMa) district. That building will contain 23 micro apartments measuring around 300 square feet each, with nine-foot ceilings, kitchens and baths, washers and dryers, and multipurpose built-ins for storage and workspaces that can convert to sleeping areas.
These apartments reflect a “Smart Space” concept that the project’s developer, Panoramic Interests, created with a team of architects and designers to address the needs of millenials poring into urban job centers where affordable housing is perennially in short supply.
“In San Francisco, 8,000 new tech workers have been hired this year alone,” says Patrick Kennedy, the owner of Panoramic Interests, to illustrate the potential demand for micro apartments. His firm test-drove its Smart Space design with a 160-square-foot prototype it built in a warehouse in Berkeley, Calif., and housed an MIT grad student for three weeks who provided feedback about what he thought did and didn’t work.
Kennedy told the San Francisco Chronicle that prospective residents of micro apartments are looking for a “launching space as they get established.” In an interview with Builder, he described micro apartments as “a return to more collaborative communal living.” He observed that millenials view apartments in the context of a lifestyle that is more socially and technologically defined. “They’ll trade 100 square feet of space for 100 more megabytes of Internet,” he quips.
And with monthly rents expected to start at $1,500 (with five of the 23 apartments being offered at a below-market rate of $910 per month), these micro apartments should be available for significantly less than the $2,000-plus per month an under-500-square-foot studio apartment fetches, on average, in San Francisco.
John Caulfield is senior editor for Builder magazine.
The 300-square-foot apartments will feature 9-foot ceilings, kitchens and baths, storage, and flexible built-ins.
Panoramic Interests
These renderings show how renters can manipulate the space inside the apartments to turn a sleeping area into a work or eating space.
Panoramic InterestsLarge windows and high ceilings give these tiny spaces a more capacious feeling.
Tags: Commercial Real Estate, Multifamily, real estate development, Residential Real Estate, trends
Posted in Affordable Housing, Commercial Real Estate, Development, Green Building, Industry News, Multifamily, Real Estate Trends, Residential Real Estate, Think Outside The Box, Urban Planning | No Comments »
Tuesday, July 24th, 2012
Barring serious external shocks to the economy, the second half of 2012
will test the durability of gains found in the Twin Cities housing market.
Minneapolis, Minn. – Arrows on the Twin Cities real estate chart pointed upward for the fifth consecutive month, according to the Residential Real Estate Price Report Index, a monthly analysis of the 13-county Twin Cities area prepared by the Shenehon Center for Real Estate at the University of St. Thomas’ Opus College of Business.
“Twin Cities’ housing data for June continued to show encouraging signs for the fifth month in a row,” observed Herb Tousley, director of real estate programs at the university.
Will the trend will continue? “In 2011 the market was in a similar condition after a spring and early summer run-up, only to be derailed by a lack of confidence created by the federal debt-level-ceiling controversy, the U.S. government credit downgrade, and the emergence of financial problems in Europe,” Tousley said.
“Barring any serious external shocks, the second half of 2012 will test the durability of gains made in the first half of the year,” he said. “Historically, sales volume and median prices have decreased in the second half of the year.
“Will sales volumes and median prices continue to exceed last year’s levels? If the answer is yes, then it would appear the market has established the beginning of a sustained recovery,” he said. (more…)
Tags: Home prices, Home values, Housing Prices, local real estate, Residential Real Estate, Residential real estate trends, Twin Cities residential market
Posted in Affordable Housing, Industry News, Real Estate Trends, Residential Real Estate, Residential Real Estate Index, UST Real Estate in the News | No Comments »
Friday, April 20th, 2012
10,000 Retiring Baby Boomers every day. Every Day, for the next 20 years. Locally and nationally, even globally, this is our new demographic normal – an aging population with fewer and what baby boomers would have you believe, “less talented” workers to replace them.
United States birth rate (births per 1000 population). The red segment from 1946 to 1964 is the postwar baby boom.
Bigger than huge, this is a monumental generational shift that will affect numerous aspects of our lives – opportunities, obligations, and financials. State Economist, Dr. Stinson, recently spoke on the new normal in his Economic Outlook, noting “As a significant portion of our [Minnesota's] population ages, there is not much in the way of labor force growth to replace these individuals.”
(more…)
Tags: aging population, demographics, Dr. Tom Hamilton, Market Analysis, the new normal, Twinsville, Urban Land Economics
Posted in Affordable Housing, Commercial Real Estate, Development, Economics, Government Policy, Green Building, Real Estate Trends, Senior Housing, Student Housing, Urban Planning, UST Class Profile | 1 Comment »
Wednesday, February 15th, 2012
Central Ave NE. Bordering Northeast Minneapolis’ Art District, a neighbor to St. Anthony Main, and home to delicious ethnic restaurants such as Holy Land, Sen Yai Sen Lek, El Taco Riendo, Adelita’s Mexican Restaurant and numerous bakeries and cafes (Diamonds Coffee Shoppee, a personal favorite), Central Ave is capturing more and more investment attention.
Most metro residents and RE professionals are aware, once a working-class neighborhood “Nordeast” has recently seen an influx of young professionals and artists. The demographic shift combined with revitalization efforts, has resulted in a resurgence of both commercial space and a thriving artistic community.
In considering commercial development on Central, traffic counts are attractive ranging between 18,000-20,000 vehicles per day. The City recently renovated the local library, and is currently rehabbing Central Avenue’s median. Several Northeast agencies are also combining forces to install artwork along this important corridor.
700 Central Ave Mixed Use Development, photo source: Java Properties
Following these and other like initiatives and perhaps following the influx of new blood in the Northeast community, there are some very exciting new development projects including the redevelopment of blighted buildings and luxury-slash-low income artist live work spaces. From for-profit neighborhood cooperatives, to commercial developers, to non-profits, investors are working on an array of projects ultimately enhancing and maybe even redefining the corridor.
One such active investment group includes the Northeast Investment Cooperative (NEIC), a for-profit coop working to convert vacant spaces into neighborhood businesses. The cooperative, made up of neighboring residents, aims to collectively buy, rehab and manage commercial space along Central. Its members are also considering working to serve an “incubator for small businesses” to help small business along the corridor succeed. (more…)
Tags: affordable housing, Minneapolis development, mixed use projects minneapolis, northeast minneapolis
Posted in Affordable Housing, Commercial Real Estate, Development | No Comments »
Wednesday, January 18th, 2012
This article was written by Catherine Davies-Nelson, a student in the UST MS degree in Real Estate.
Over 20 million awarded to Homeless Programs in Minnesota for 2012
Minnesota homeless programs were awarded nearly 21.5 million dollars by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to renew funding across the 163 homeless programs operating in Minnesota. Secretary Shaun Donovan, said the grants awarded “will literally keep the doors of our shelters open and will help those on the front lines of ending homelessness do what they do best. It’s incredible that as we work to recover from the greatest economic decline since the Great Depression, the total number of homeless Americans is declining, in large part because of these funds.”
Ending homelessness has been set as a top priority both nationally and locally. The Obama Administration’s plan Opening Doors: Federal Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness, set the goal of ending chronic homelessness and homelessness among veterans by 2015, and ending homelessness among families, youth, and children by 2020. (more…)
Tags: Ending homelessness, HUD grants, Intersections 2025, Minneapolis Downtown Council, Opening Doors: Federal Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness
Posted in Affordable Housing, Government Policy, Urban Planning | No Comments »
Friday, December 9th, 2011
The historic Pillsbury A-Mill site, as seen from the Stone Arch Bridge in Minneapolis
After 40 years of successful affordable housing development, Dominium’s growth is stronger than ever. With 15,000 units owned in 21 states, the Plymouth-based company is not only committed to affordable housing, but it is also raising the bar for transformational historic projects in the Twin Cities and beyond.
Mark Moorhouse, Senior Vice President and Project Partner, revealed Dominium’s elaborate plans for its upcoming projects at the Buzza building in Uptown Minneapolis, the iconic Pillsbury A-Mill site on the riverfront in downtown Minneapolis, and the Schmidt Brewery in St. Paul.
Pillsbury A-Mill
Schaefer Richardson worked on a redevelopment plan for the site for nearly a decade but ultimately the project wasn’t feasible, especially for the proposed use of 1500 units, mostly condos. Dominium is taking a more conservative approach by developing less units initially (250) and designating them as affordable artist lofts. Moorhouse explains that neighborhood groups are more receptive to affordable artist housing than typical affordable housing, since artists are a special asset to the community.
(more…)
Tags: A Mill redevelopment, affordable artist housing, affordable housing projects, artist housing, artist lofts minneapolis, artist lofts st paul, Buzza building, Dominium, historic rehab, Landmark Building, mn historic tax credits, multifamily redevelopment, Pillsbury A Mill, Schmidt Brewery
Posted in Affordable Housing, Development, Executive Insight Series, Green Building, Historic Tax Credits, Multifamily, Real Estate Trends | No Comments »
