Aeon completes $23M affordable housing deal
A nonprofit developer and manager of affordable homes Friday finalized plans to renovate nearly 600 apartment units in Minneapolis.
The $23.1 million project covers 10 Aeon properties in the Elliot Park and the Loring Park neighborhoods, a few miles east and west of the Minneapolis Convention Center.
"We are preserving these very affordable apartment homes because the community needs them," Aeon president and CEO Alan Arthur said. "To lose these 582 affordable homes in the community would be a disaster."
Renovations on the 29-year-old buildings focus on energy efficiency, security and upgrading heating systems.
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In the 1960s, Arthur says more than 4,500 affordable housing units were torn down in downtown Minneapolis as the city developed. An additional 350 were lost in 1986 to make way for the Minneapolis Convention Center.
Households at or below 60 percent the median income qualify for Aeon properties. Rent starts at $300 or 30 percent of a resident's income.
According to city of Minneapolis data, 556 affordable housing units were built in 2009. The majority of them serve renters at 50 percent and below the median income. According to data on the Minneapolis Foundation website, the city had 20,267 affordable rental units in 2010.
Funding partners for the Aeon renovation project include the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Minnesota Housing, the City of Minneapolis, Hennepin County, the MacArthur Foundation, RBC, Enterprise Community Partners and Dougherty Mortgage.