MINNEAPOLIS — A block from George Floyd Square, an affordable housing complex has blossomed on the campus of the historic Calvary Lutheran Church.
In a sign of how much demand there is for such housing, all 41 units of the Belfry Apartments were leased in the first 16 days after construction wrapped. The developer, Trellis Management, leveraged funding from Minneapolis, Hennepin County, the State of Minnesota, and the Minneapolis Public Housing Authority, to turn the concept into reality.
"One of the things we heard over and over from folks is this project should be of the community, it should be for the community," Dan Walsh, the vice president of housing development for Trellis, told KARE.
"So, one of the goals that came out of that was deep, real deep affordability."
The term "deeply affordable" refers to housing for those households that earn 30 percent or less of the area median income, or AMI. That 30 percent mark varies based on the size of the family. For example, it's $26,000 for a single person and $37,000 for a family of four.
The MPHA has dedicated site-specific Section 8 funding to the units, so the tenants will pay only one-third of their monthly income for rent.
Calvary Lutheran has stood at the corner of 39th Street and Chicago Avenue South in Minneapolis since 1930, seven years after the church was formed. But the congregation steadily lost numbers in the past 50 years and could no longer afford the upkeep on the campus.
Trellis agreed to lease the sanctuary back to the church members, so they can still hold services in the renovated space.
"The congregation made the decision in May of 2021 to sell the building completely to Trellis to build affordable housing here in our neighborhood," Sarah Shepherd, Calvary's president, explained.
"When we sold the building to Trellis, at that moment we didn’t know where we were going to go physically. And it just worked out that Trellis, through our conversations, invited us back here to lease the space back. We feel truly blessed."
Trellis added a new 20-unit building behind the church and converted the church's education wing into a 21-unit building. That required a complete overhaul of the building's HVAC and plumbing, and the results are impressive.
"The bones of the building laid out really well. The bedrooms in the units have a lot of light to them, but they’re really also really cool spaces," Walsh said.
The developer reconfigured the sanctuary into flexible meeting spaces while maintaining the historic integrity of the building.
"Our goal was to strike a balance between sacredness and homey comfort. These are common amenity spaces for the residents, and its spaces for large and small groups," Walsh said. "Having a partner in Calvary Church that also had that vision I think was really, really important."
At a ribbon-cutting ceremony Thursday evening, Hennepin County Commissioner Angela Conley said she's excited about how the project came together and the quality of the units.
"It's not just that we need more affordable housing. The housing must be dignified, it must be affordable, it must be welcoming and beautiful and an extension of community. And that’s what these units are! I just cannot! Contain! I can't contain myself."
The fact that the English Gothic Revival church building is on the National Register of Historic Places limited what changes could be made to its appearance. For instance, the stained-glass windows couldn't be replaced with more energy-efficient ones.
But Calvary's historic status also enabled Trellis to tap into special grants tailored to projects that preserve such structures.
"We’re thrilled with the space! It’s absolutely beautiful!" Shepherd said. "It’s a great mix of the old sanctuary and the new space. We’ve also had some inquiries from other churches thinking about their futures and their building's spaces."
The church's exterior now displays a banner of a mural of George Floyd, created by Ella Endo, a Calvary Lutheran member who was in high school when Floyd was murdered.
"Her painting was her way of processing the trauma of what happened here. Our race equity committee got together and said we really need to put this on a banner and put it on the church."
WATCH MORE ON KARE 11+
Download the free KARE 11+ app for Roku, Fire TV, Apple TV and other smart TV platforms to watch more from KARE 11 anytime! The KARE 11+ app includes live streams of all of KARE 11's newscasts. You'll also find on-demand replays of newscasts; the latest from KARE 11 Investigates, Breaking the News and the Land of 10,000 Stories; exclusive programs like Verify and HeartThreads; and Minnesota sports talk from our partners at Locked On Minnesota.
- Add KARE 11+ on Roku here or by searching for KARE 11 in the Roku Channel Store.
- Add KARE 11+ on Fire TV here or by searching for KARE 11 in the Amazon App Store.
- Learn more about the KARE 11+ app for Apple TV in the Apple App Store.
- Learn more about KARE 11+ here.
Watch more local news:
Watch the latest local news from the Twin Cities and across Minnesota in our YouTube playlist: