Renewing the Elliot Twins

UPDATE - March-April 2021:

All existing apartments at the 1212 building have now been rehabbed, and the three new disability-accessible units on the first floor will be ready on March 26th. The exterior panels at that first building are nearly complete. Delivery of the connecting “community link” has been slightly delayed, but we expect it will be ready on April 5th. Window replacement at the second tower has started and apartment work is underway in the first two stacks of apartments. The project remains on-track for completion in the fall.

Project Overview

The Elliot Twin Towers are some of MPHA’s oldest highrises, built in 1961. They face a substantial need for updates and repairs, while offering outstanding potential to make major upgrades for residents, new community amenities, and advancements in energy-efficiency.

We are excited, for the first time in Minnesota, to use new sources of funding and HUD programs to preserve and improve these essential homes for the people who live there. Construction began in June 2020, with target completion in the fall of 2021. All residents may remain on-site throughout the project if they wish, and continue to live there when complete. The $25 million renovation is more than three-times larger than any public housing renovation ever undertaken by MPHA, thanks to contributions from MPHA, the City of Minneapolis, and the first-time use of Low-Income Housing Tax Credits to preserve public housing in Minnesota.

All units remain federally subsidized with project-based vouchers (PBVs). PBVs follow HUD voucher rules that include rent set at 30% of adjusted income (the same as under traditional public housing) and deep affordability (PBVs must serve only those below 50% of Area Median Income, with 75% of units reserved for those below 30% of AMI). MPHA continues to control and property-manage the Elliots, including full ownership of the land they sit on–which is preserved for long-term affordability under a 99-year ground lease, an almost unheard-of affordable-housing guarantee.

Read on or download the project cut-sheet for more on this unprecedented modernization of public housing in Minneapolis. You may also read our news release launching the project on June 15, 2020.

**Media Questions about the Elliots? Email media@mplspha.org or call 612-201-0390**

Architectural Gallery

Project Cut-Sheet (Download PDF)

Elliot Twins Cut Sheet Page 1

Useful Documents and Links

RAD Application Documents