St. Paul HRA to reserve about $10.05 million for six affordable housing projects ahead of state RFP

St. Paul Housing and Redevelopment Authority staff presented a proposal to reserve a combined $10,050,000 to help six local housing developments apply for funding through the Minnesota Housing Finance Agency's annual consolidated request for proposals. The HRA will consider a formal resolution to confirm the reservations at its next meeting; no vote was taken on the item.

The reservations are intended to improve each project's competitive score in Minnesota Housing's RFP and are not binding commitments to lend or sell property, staff said. "I want to emphasize that this is a reservation of funding only," said Sarah Zorn, multifamily housing finance manager in the city's Planning and Economic Development (PED) office.

The reservation amounts and related project details presented to commissioners were: - Hams East End Apartments (developer: JB Vang) ' reservation $4,000,000; HRA-owned land purchase price shown as $300,000; new construction of 110 affordable units; total development cost estimated at about $48,000,000; tentative developer status first awarded June 2023 and administratively extended through 2025. The developer has secured some Met Council and Ramsey County grants and is completing design, environmental…