Yesterday, the MPHA Board of Commissioners approved Frerichs Construction as the general contractor/consultant for an upcoming construction project at the Glendale Townhomes. This move follows the Board of Commissioners recently approving UrbanWorks as the architect for the project. With these firms in place, MPHA can move forward with additional fact-finding and planning work at Glendale, with the goal of solidifying an approach for the upcoming project in the months ahead. These teams will work with the Glendale resident advisory group and engage with the broader resident community as MPHA works towards a summer announcement detailing the plans for Glendale’s future.

Following a series of large community meetings MPHA began hosting in 2024, MPHA staff established the Glendale resident advisory group in late 2025. The resident advisory group is helping MPHA staff, architects, and construction teams to further explore resident priorities and help inform broader resident engagement activities being planned for this spring. In addition to hosting a series of large community meetings, project architects will spend time with Glendale families in their homes to better understand residents’ lived experience and priorities—an approach MPHA used in the planning for its Family Housing Expansion Project.

Since 2024, MPHA staff have met with Glendale residents to discuss what improvements they would prioritize with any renovation or redevelopment project at the site. The agency has been exploring various options that will both meet residents’ modern-day needs while also addressing the site’s growing capital backlog, currently estimated at more than $22 million. During these meetings, Glendale residents identified 11 priorities for improvements that include livability and accessibility upgrades, adding bedrooms and bathrooms, adding larger and smaller bedroom types to accommodate various family sizes and those aging in place, as well as improving building systems. From this feedback, MPHA staff presented potential project approaches that included large-scale renovation along with more comprehensive redevelopment that would include new units and discussed how each may be able to address resident priorities.

As planning work continues in the coming months, MPHA staff, architects, and construction teams will continue to seek resident feedback on desired improvements and priorities, including invitations for residents to participate in architect home visits and larger community meetings later this spring. Using the feedback gathered this spring, coupled with resident feedback the agency has collected since 2024, MPHA will finalize a plan for Glendale’s future to be announced later this summer. At that time, MPHA staff will begin seeking necessary city, state, and federal approvals to advance a major construction project at Glendale. Tentatively, the agency’s goal is for construction to begin at Glendale in late 2027/early 2028.