Case Study |
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Van Cleve Development
Minneapolis, Minnesota
VAN CLEVE COMMONS
Situation
In the Southeast Como neighborhood near the University of Minnesota, a grain elevator known as the Bunge tower and its grain storage towers stood vacant for three years. While Bunge is on the national register of historic places, it had become a nuisance property. Urban explorers engulfed the space in graffiti, and one woman fell to her death in January of 2006. The neighborhood wanted to see the Bunge tower remain so it could continue as an icon of their neighborhood and the Minneapolis grain industry history.
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There is also a big need for housing in the area, particularly affordable, non-student housing. Meanwhile there is an initiative to increase permanent supportive housing to 1,800 units in Hennepin County by 2009. Permanent supportive housing is a solution for adults who may be facing chemical dependency and/or mental illness and who generally have low incomes; housing is paired with services to help individuals lead successful lives. As a building block of this initiative, Cabrini Partnership, a nonprofit that works with long-term homeless individuals, committed to tripling the number of permanent supportive housing units they offer.
Cabrini Partnership collaborated with Project for Pride in Living to acquire the Bunge site in the summer of 2005. Thus Van Cleve Commons was born, and it was clear that collaboration was key to its success.
Goals
The goal for Van Cleve Commons was to create a mixed income housing community that preserves the Bunge tower. This goal fits into the neighborhood’s larger goal and vision of ending homelessness in Hennepin County while also providing a range of housing options through the availability of:
- affordable rental
- market rate rental
- affordable ownership
- market rate ownership
Cabrini Partnership and Project for Pride in Living understood the importance of involving the Southeast Como neighborhood and ensuring this project fit their goals and desires. They want the community to see revitalization without gentrification. This is about creating a range of housing opportunities—a diverse community setting—that enrich the quality of life.
Other important goals include:
- Preserve historic landmark
- Create a stabilizing force in the community
- Introduce more families in a student-dominated area
Solution
The partners knew it would be critical to get input and buy in from the neighborhood. Meetings were held to get their feedback and ideas. Como Neighborhood Improvement Council, Project for Pride in Living, Habitat for Humanity and Cabrini Partnership worked together to design a development to meet a range of housing needs.
This five-phase, $60 million project includes:
- 236 units, of which:
- 85 are affordable rental
- 139 are condominiums
- 12 are townhomes built by Habitat for Humanity
- 50 units will go to people who earn 50 percent or less of the area’s median income
It was important to include family-friendly units and grounds while also to provide community-building areas for tenants and owners.
“One of the biggest successes [of the project] is we’re creating something the neighborhood really likes and we’re answering a need.”
–Bart Nelson, principal of UrbanWorks Architecture. |
Progress
- So far the Van Cleve East and Van Cleve West have been completed. The other buildings are in the planning phases.
- These two buildings have each received an award from the Minneapolis-St. Paul Business Journal on Best in Multi-Family Development for preserving the historic landmark while providing a real need for housing.
- There are one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments. The three-bedroom apartments work well for families with children. The floor plan separates children’s areas and bedrooms from those of adults. The three-bedroom units overlook a playground for the kids.
- The development includes the Employment and Consumer Resources Center which is useful to the tenants and has been used for community building.
- The development so far has been well-received by the neighborhood. All of the buildings facing single family homes are limited to two stories. Thoughtful landscaping improves the pedestrian’s experience.
- Extensive environmental remediation was completed on the site (as a result of industry that took place there).
- Environmental considerations included in the building: Energy Star appliances, motion-censor lighting, low-E window glazing, water-conserving fixtures, passive solar heating techniques and others. Buildings are 35 percent more efficient than average buildings as a result.
- This project was one of only eight that received funding from the Minnesota Green Communities in one of its funding cycles.
“It is exciting that the redevelopment partners have been willing to work with the community… we were really happy that there was a willingness to work in sympathy with the historic nature of the property and change the project around developing balanced housing options. Most developers wouldn’t have taken the time or made these significant changes.” –Wendy Menken, President, Southeast Como Improvement Association
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