Latest news with #CommonBondCommunities
Yahoo
14-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
DOGE cancels nearly $4 million in federal funds meant to rehab affordable apartments
Senator Tina Smith speaks at a press conference at Vista Village, an affordable housing complex in St. Paul, Monday, April 14, 2025. The complex was set to receive a $3.8 million federal grant for maintenance and repairs, but the funding was permanently frozen. (Photo by Nicole Neri/Minnesota Reformer) At Vista Village apartments in St. Paul, residents of the affordable complex reported faulty furnaces and ice building up inside of their windows on cold days. Parts of the floor were water-damaged, and after more than 50 years of housing low-income residents, wear and tear on the building was becoming impossible to ignore. In October, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban development gave the building's nonprofit owner a $3.8 million grant to pay for needed repairs and upgrades, including a new heating system and windows. But the money never came through because the Trump administration has 'permanently frozen' the funds, CommonBond Communities president and CEO Deidre Schmidt said Monday. The grant money came from HUD's Green and Resilient Retrofit Program, which provided grants and loans to finance energy efficiency upgrades at affordable housing developments nationwide. Vista Village was the only Minnesota-based project to receive an award through the competitive program. Congress authorized $1 billion for the Green and Resilient Retrofit Program in 2022 as part of the Inflation Reduction Act. In March, the Associated Press reported that the program was being 'terminated' at the direction of DOGE. Communication about the 'permanent freeze' has been confusing and contradictory, said Sen. Tina Smith, who joined Schmidt and St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter for a press conference at Vista Village Monday. Elon Musk, the world's richest man and a close advisor to President Donald Trump, has directed federal agencies to cancel funding related to climate change mitigation. 'What's going on here is actually a massive power grab, and a big money grab, because their plan is to scoop up all of this money and then use it so that they can pay for the tax cuts that they have planned for really wealthy individuals and big corporations,' Smith said. Vista Village resident Lisa Bennett, a nurse who has lived at the building for nearly seven years, said the repairs to the complex are needed. 'We're not asking for no hardwood floors. We don't want no stainless steel appliances. We don't want no recessed lighting — just for that grant to come through so that we can get our building together,' Bennett said.
Yahoo
12-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
St. Paul: PAK Properties to buy historic Commerce Building
In downtown St. Paul, PAK Properties and the Halverson and Blaiser Group plan to purchase the historic Commerce Building at 4th and Wabasha streets from an affordable housing provider, in a deal that relies on the city forgiving more than $1.22 million in unpaid municipal loans. As a result, rents will likely increase, though they'll remain within the technical definition of affordable housing. 'I'm strongly in support of this project,' said St. Paul City Council President Rebecca Noecker, during a recent public hearing on the project. 'It's a little bit of a bitter pill to swallow when we're not getting completely repaid for a loan that we made,' said Noecker, who represents downtown. 'The alternative here is to lose the affordability on this completely. The option that we have here is a local developer with a proven record of not just affordable housing and maintaining historic buildings downtown but also filling commercial spaces.' The Commerce Building, a former 1912 office building located at 10 Fourth St. E., is a 100-unit, 12-story affordable housing development owned by CommonBond Communities. All of the units are currently geared toward residents earning 60% of area median income or less, with 11 units targeted to long-term homeless residents and others backed by HOME loans, Community Development Block Grants or the federal Section 811 program, which supports residents with disabilities. CommonBond Communities — which converted the building from an office structure to housing from 2007 to 2011 — determined that it could no longer 'sustainably own or manage the project' and pay back multiple private and public sector loans, including loans to the city's Housing and Redevelopment Authority, according to a city staff report. The nonprofit contemplated bank foreclosure. Instead, PAK Properties offered to buy the structure for $3.2 million, in partnership with the Halverson and Blaiser Group as part-owner and property manager. The sale keeps all 100 tax credit-backed units affordable through 2037 and 2041, respectively, though rents that have been kept below the maximum allowed under tax credit restrictions will gradually increase. As a result of the sale, the St. Paul Housing and Redevelopment Authority is poised this year to receive only partial repayment of $2.9 million in HRA loans issued to the project between 2007 and 2011, but years before the loan maturity dates of 2037 and 2041. The city would be able to put the funds toward additional affordable housing in the near future. The city council met as the HRA on Wednesday and approved forgiving up to $1.23 million in combined principal and interest on the three HRA loans, including a Community Development Block Grant loan, a Metropolitan Council loan and a HOME loan. As a result of the repayment, six residences will no longer be targeted for long-term homeless residents, though not all are currently occupied. CommonBond Communities is expected to provide transition services to different buildings for those residents though a plan approved by the Minnesota Housing Finance Agency. Ramsey County is providing funding to PAK properties to maintain the remaining five units geared toward the long-term homeless, with services provided by Simpson Housing. Four existing Section 811 units, which provide supportive housing for people with disabilities, will remain enrolled in that program. Residents will be offered one-year lease extensions and the opportunity to be placed on CommonBond Communities' priority wait list for rent-assisted units in the nonprofit's other structures. CommonBond Communities will cover moving expenses for six months after the sale. The building will continue to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places after the sale, which is expected to close at the end of March. PAK Properties also hopes to fill the ground-floor retail space, which is currently vacant. Local News | Minnesota Opera's 2025-2026 season features two classics, a world premiere and a rare concert presentation of Puccini Local News | Catherine Russell and Emmet Cohen Trio to headline free Twin Cities Jazz Festival Local News | St. Paul: Alliance Bank Center's commercial tenants given less than 48 hours to vacate Local News | Country star Keith Urban to return to Xcel Energy Center in September Local News | Downtown St. Paul Lunds & Byerlys closes permanently on March 26
Yahoo
12-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
St. Paul: PAK Properties to buy historic Commerce Building
In downtown St. Paul, PAK Properties and the Halverson and Blaiser Group plan to purchase the historic Commerce Building from an affordable housing provider, in a deal that relies on the city forgiving more than $1.22 million in unpaid municipal loans. The Commerce Building, a former 1912 office building located at 10 Fourth St. E., is a 100-unit, 12-story affordable housing development owned by CommonBond Communities. All of the units are currently geared toward residents earning 60% of area median income or less, with 11 units targeted to long-term homeless residents and others backed by HOME loans, Community Development Block Grants or the federal Section 811 program, which supports residents with disabilities. CommonBond Communities — which converted the building from an office structure to housing from 2007 to 2011 — determined that it could no longer 'sustainably own or manage the project' and pay back multiple private and public sector loans, including loans to the city's Housing and Redevelopment Authority, according to a city staff report. The nonprofit contemplated bank foreclosure. Instead, PAK Properties offered to buy the structure for $3.2 million, in partnership with the Halverson and Blaiser Group as part-owner and property manager. The sale keeps a number of tax credit-backed units affordable through 2037 and 2041, respectively, though other units will gradually be converted to higher rents. As a result of the sale, the St. Paul Housing and Redevelopment Authority is poised to receive only partial repayment of $2.9 million in HRA loans issued to the project between 2007 and 2011. The city council met as the HRA on Wednesday and approved forgiving up to $1.23 million in combined principal and interest on the three HRA loans, including a Community Development Block Grant loan, a Metropolitan Council loan and a HOME loan. As a result of the repayment, six residences will no longer be targeted for long-term homeless residents. CommonBond Communities is expected to provide transition services to different buildings for those residents though a plan approved by the Minnesota Housing Finance Agency. Ramsey County is providing funding to PAK properties to maintain the remaining five units geared toward the long-term homeless, with services provided by Simpson Housing. Existing Section 811 units, which provide supportive housing for people with disabilities, will remain enrolled in that program. Residents will be offered one-year lease extensions and the opportunity to be placed on CommonBond Communities' priority wait list for rent-assisted units in the nonprofit's other structures. CommonBond Communities will cover moving expenses for six months after the sale. The building will continue to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places after the sale, which is expected to close at the end of March. Local News | Minnesota Opera's 2025-2026 season features two classics, a world premiere and a rare concert presentation of Puccini Local News | Catherine Russell and Emmet Cohen Trio to headline free Twin Cities Jazz Festival Local News | St. Paul: Alliance Bank Center's commercial tenants given less than 48 hours to vacate Local News | Country star Keith Urban to return to Xcel Energy Center in September Local News | Downtown St. Paul Lunds & Byerlys closes permanently on March 26
