Greenway Heights Family Housing

2845 Bloomington Ave
Minneapolis, MN, 55407

Project Components:

• 42 affordable family housing units in a 4-story mid-rise on the Midtown Greenway (Bloomington Avenue intersection) in the East Philips neighborhood of Minneapolis, MN.

• Unit mix of 2-, 3- and 4-bedroom units (unheard of in the Minneapolis-St. Paul Metro).

• The only affordable housing project on the Greenway.

• Greenway Heights received funding from eleven sources.

• Total project cost was $9,120,000.

Partner Organizations & Funding Sources

• The City of Minneapolis – Tax Increment Financing/Housing Revenue tax exempt bonds

• City Real Estate Advisors – Equity Provider

• Dougherty & Company LLC – Arranged for tax exempt bonds

• East Phillips Improvement Coalition (EPIC) – Neighborhood organization

• Family Housing Fund – Soft loan

• Hennepin County – Soft loan

• Greater Metropolitan Housing Corporation (GMHC) – Predevelopment Loan

• The Metropolitan Council – Soft loan

• Minnesota Housing Finance Agency (MHFA) – Soft loan

• US Bank – Trustee for tax exempt bonds

• PRG Inc. – Non-Profit Partner

After developing East Phillips Commons in 2004, the East Philips Improvement Coalition (EPIC) reached out to Phoenix Development Company again in 2010 to ask about the possibility of building another multifamily project within their neighborhood. This time the target property was near the Midtown Greenway, the linear park in Midtown Minneapolis.

Carol Pass with EPIC contacted Loren Brueggemann, who was currently working on his 198- unit Track 29 project further west on the Greenway and asked him to attend a neighborhood meeting in order to see if he was again willing to help with some of the many potential redevelopment challenges they faced.

After several meetings with the Midtown Phillips Neighborhood Association and EPIC over many months, a vacant group of lots on the north side of the Greenway adjacent to Bloomington Avenue was selected. This was determined to be another key target location which, once redeveloped, would cause the most positive impact on the entire neighborhood.

Together with the help of the Neighborhood Associations, Powderhorn Residents Group (PRG), and the City of Minneapolis, the properties were acquired, making way for the new construction of Greenway Heights, a 42-unit, affordable rental property consisting primarily of 3- and 4-bedroom units. This project not only cleaned up a blighted vacant property, but also provided much needed safe, affordable housing for many multicultural families of the East Phillips Neighborhood. Greenway Heights was the first opportunity for residents to have affordable housing on the Midtown Greenway.

This project was a true collaboration between the concerned residents of the East Phillips Neighborhood and the hard-working team lead by Loren Brueggemann, in partnership with PRG. It exemplifies what a difference neighborhood outreach, along with affordable development, can make on a community.