Metropolitan Council Awards $8.8 million in Livable Communities Grants

Dollars from the program’s Demonstration Account fund projects that help cities promote mixed use, livability

ST. PAUL--Dec. 15, 2006—The Metropolitan Council has approved $8.8 million in Livable Communities grants to ten projects in seven cities, including Columbia Heights, Long Lake, Maplewood, Minneapolis, St. Louis Park, St. Paul and Norwood Young America. The grants help fund projects that promote mixed-use development and demonstrate land uses that connect housing, jobs and services, including transit.

The Council received 30 applications for funding totaling $34.8 million, several times the amount available this year. The projects are reviewed and evaluated by the Livable Communities Advisory Committee, which recommends projects for funding to the full Metropolitan Council.

“There continues to be intense competition for, and interest in, these dollars as a way to help communities get their projects off the ground,” said Council Chair Peter Bell. “This gives the Council an opportunity to help cities in a very meaningful way, advancing local as well as regional objectives. We’re also trying to focus more on projects that truly demonstrate innovation and I think we’ve accomplished that in this funding round.”

Projects recommended for funding:

Grand Central Lofts, Columbia Heights--$974,369 to help with reconstruction of a public parking ramp and serve as a catalyst to redevelopment on the 15-acre site of a vacant Kmart store. The site will be developed as an urban neighborhood, with a variety of housing and commercial development, amenities and green spaces that will be integrated into the surrounding older neighborhood. The project demonstrates redevelopment of an aging corridor, maximizing commercial development in a small community and connecting commercial uses with housing.

Downtown Master Plan and Stormwater Management Project, Long Lake--$575,000 to help make stormwater improvements that will allow the city to move ahead with development in the downtown area. Redevelopment will include commercial, retail and office space and housing. The project will provide needed stormwater infrastructure to the city’s downtown and demonstrate how this can be achieved on an area-wide level, rather than site by site.

Gladstone Neighborhood Redevelopment, Maplewood--$1,800,000 to help the city make street and sidewalk improvements, as well as storm drainage improvements in order to proceed with redevelopment of the St. Paul Tourist Cabin site. An element that is particularly innovative about this project is the stormwater management component, which serves as a model and goes well beyond required standards.

Van Cleve Court, Minneapolis--$1,334,523 to help with improvements on a three-plus acre parcel near the University of Minnesota that will be used for mixed-income housing. The development will include townhomes and condominiums, Habitat for Humanity homes and other affordable housing, including supportive housing for single adults. The project demonstrates how a variety of housing types, serving different incomes and populations, can be integrated through design. The integration of on-site social and job services is also a strength of the project.

Longfellow Station Project, Minneapolis--$934,523 to help remove deteriorated grain elevators that are barriers to development near the station. Removal of the grain elevators will allow the city to proceed with the first phase of a mixed-use, transit-oriented development that includes nearly 300 units of housing, commercial space, structured parking and pedestrian connections. The project is an example of a high-density neighborhood connected to transit and integrated with the existing neighborhood.

Currie Park Lofts and Station Place, Minneapolis--$341,341 to help make improvements to streets connecting the Cedar-Riverside LRT Station with Currie Park and Cedar Avenue, supporting the first phase of a mixed-income housing and retail development. The project will demonstrate how a neighborhood can be invigorated as it moves into another transportation era and maximizes the use of, and access to, the Cedar-Riverside LRT Station.

Oak Grove Dairy Redevelopment Project, Norwood Young America--$350,000 to help the city acquire the four-acre site of a former dairy operation, demolish some buildings and ready the site for future construction of a mixed-use development or town centre project. The funding is an important catalyst to establishing a new development pattern in the community, helping the city to “get ahead” of future development and serving as an example to other communities.

Hoigaard Village, St. Louis Park--$1,505,184 to help with construction of a stormwater pond and other infrastructure improvements as part of the development, which will include nearly 400 units of housing and retail space. The project includes a creative stormwater solution that serves the needs of a broader geographic area. The area-wide stormwater pond will be incorporated into the development with an “urban edge” to allow more density.

Fillmore Street/West Side Flats, St. Paul--$750,000 to help re-establish Fillmore Street between Wabasha and Robert streets through the planned West Side Flats Urban Village. The project will provide the first east-west connection in the area. It will serve as a catalyst to development and help implement the community-supported West Side Flats plan.

Temperance Street/North Quadrant, St. Paul--$235,060 to help reconstruct an abandoned segment of Temperance Street, between 9th and 10th streets, in an area currently known as “Wacouta Commons.” The street will extend and complete Wacouta Commons, a model project that has created a new neighborhood in this part of downtown St. Paul.

More than 100 metro-area communities participate in the Livable Communities program and are eligible to compete for the Livable Communities Demonstration Account grants, which are awarded once a year.

The Livable Communities program also allocates funding for affordable housing and brownfield clean up for redevelopment. Since the program was established in 1995, the Council has awarded more than $157 million to participating communities, from all three accounts, leveraging several billion dollars in private and other public investment.

The Metropolitan Council is the regional planning organization for the seven-county Twin Cities area. The Council runs the regional bus and light rail system, collects and treats wastewater, coordinates regional water resources, plans regional parks and administers funds that provide housing opportunities for low- and moderate-income individuals and families. The Council board is appointed by and serves at the pleasure of the Minnesota Governor.

-30-

Return to News Releases