Last week, MPHA hosted an in-person site visit as a part of the agency’s Family Housing Expansion Project (FHEP) being considered for the 2024 Urban Land Institute (ULI) Americas Awards for Excellence. As a finalist for the award, two ULI jurors toured three FHEP sites for an on-the-ground evaluation of the project along with meeting staff from MPHA, DJR Architecture, Rise Modular, and Frerichs Construction (all partners in FHEP).
The ULI Awards of Excellence is one of the most prestigious awards programs in the real estate industry, recognizing outstanding projects around the world that exemplify industry excellence across a variety of criteria: marketplace acceptance, a high standard in design and construction, positive impact on the community, innovation, environmental stewardship, and repeatability. MPHA is one of 18 finalists, competing against major corporations and institutions like Microsoft and the St. Regis Chicago. Of the 18 finalists from the Americas, two are from Minneapolis, MPHA’s FHEP and Avivo Village. Winners of the ULI Americas Awards for Excellence will be announced in July and advance to the global competition, running against projects from the Europe and Asia Pacific regions.
The FHEP brings “missing middle” deeply affordable housing through modular construction. The project offers 26 two- and 58 three-bedroom units in fourplexes and sixplexes across 16 sites throughout Minneapolis. All units are available to households at or below 30% of the Area Median Income (AMI). Sixteen of the units are disability accessible, with another 17 being high-priority homeless units with services funded through Hennepin County’s Coordinated Entry program. It is estimated these 84 new homes will be able to serve approximately 420 families over the next 30 years.
Fully completed within 13 months after its financial closing (and less than a year since its groundbreaking), FHEP includes several innovations that make it different from a typical housing development. Building 84 units on 16 sites is a highly unusual approach that provides families with housing options they can afford in many different neighborhoods. Using a modular construction approach resulted in less noise and fewer neighborhood disruptions at each site while delivering the project 30 percent faster than a conventional construction approach.
The project illustrated how MPHA partnered with local governments and organizations to redevelop existing single-family homes into new deeply affordable fourplex and sixplexes across the city because of the City of Minneapolis’ 2040 Plan zoning changes. The FHEP’s success has been celebrated and acclaimed by local, national, and now international leaders and organizations for its innovative approach to tackling the affordable housing crisis.
Earlier this year, the FHEP was named a Top Project by Finance & Commerce, a winner in National Association of Local Housing Finance Agencies (NALHFA) 2024 Award of Excellence, a finalist in the Minnesota Real Estate Journal awards, and a top 25 finalist in Ivory Innovations’ Ivory Prize for Housing Affordability.
