MINNEAPOLIS — In an unprecedented move, Mayor Jacob Frey and the City Council have agreed to commit $5 million per year to the Minneapolis Public Housing Authority for the expansion and preservation of affordable housing.
It will be a five-fold increase in the City's support for the housing authority, which has been an independent agency since 1991. At a press conference at a construction site on the city's south side, Mayor Frey highlighted the significance of this newly enhanced partnership.
"I’ll be the first to tell you that this partnership, this agreement we have with Minneapolis Public Housing Authority is unprecedented in our city and is indeed historic."
Frey said city leaders felt compelled to step up because of decades of declining investments in public housing by the federal government.
"When you’re not investing properly in public housing, you’re doing everybody a disservice, not just the people who live here, but over time these buildings will deteriorate. If you don’t take care of them, they get even worse and it’s more costly than to upkeep."
The MPHA serves more than 11,000 families in a variety of settings, including highrise buildings, townhomes, scattered site rental units and through rental assistance vouchers. But thousands more are on the housing authority's waiting lists.
Abdi Warsame, the MPHA's executive director, said there's a backlog of $229 million worth of deferred maintenance and upgrades on the agency's existing supply of affordable units. He said Uncle Sam provided $20 million recently which was about one-tenth of what's needed to catch up with that work.
"Each year the agency is forced to choose band aide options to triage leaky roofs, replace old drafty windows, or improve decades-old electrical and plumbing systems," Warsame explained.
City Council President Andrea Jenkins said city funding will help with overdue improvements at places like the Horn Towers highrise complex in the Lake Street corridor.
"This is going to help renovate that space and bring it up to code and those neighbors there have been really advocating strongly for support from the city," Jenkins told reporters.
Mary McGovern, who heads the Minneapolis Highrise Resident Council, thanked Frey and other city leaders for committing to the housing authority. She said many of those who rely on public housing are older adults and/or persons with disabilities.
"This will help with plumbing, electrical systems, air conditioning," McGovern said.
"Many residents are suffering greatly in the summer heat and experience serious health complications from that. It will only get worse as the climate continues to change."
Jenkins and Frey were able to make the announcement months before the City Council passes its final 2024 budget because a majority of council members are on board with the idea.
In a statement to media, City Council Member Robin Wonsley credited the hard work of public housing residents who advocated for a higher level of financial support from City Hall.
"Six months ago, there was a lot of lip service for public housing but just a handful of elected officials were willing to make the commitment to funding," Wonsley wrote.
"Resident organizing and bold advocacy for a fully funded public housing levy is what made this happen. This is a good start, and we need to keep organizing and advocating for full funding."
Inflation control
The setting for Thursday's media event was a construction site where the MPHA is building two six-unit apartment buildings. They're replacing two duplexes, so the lots that once held four units will hold 12 when the project's done.
That increased density is a function of zoning changes the city implemented a few years ago as well as a focus on subsidized in-fill housing developments in that landlocked city.
"We’ve had a very comprehensive effort over the last several years to increase supply broadly in the city," Frey explained.
"We’ve increased both market rate and affordable housing supply, and what the data shows very clearly is that is the best way to keep rents down."
Both Frey and Jenkins mentioned positive press the Minneapolis area has received for slowing the growth of housing costs compared to other major cities. Bloomberg and Forbes both called attention to the Twin Cities annual inflation rate dropping below two percent.
"Yesterday, I was reading a Forbes article that places Minneapolis at the top of the list for holding down rental increases to one percent," Jenkins remarked, adding that housing production is a major part of the picture.
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