Minnesota committee hears push for $30 million boost to manufactured home park redevelopment program

Chair Port opened the Minnesota Senate Committee on Housing and Homelessness Prevention hearing saying the panel would consider a slate of bills about manufactured housing, then yielded to Senator Clare Kunish to present Senate File 1775, a funding proposal for the Manufactured Home Community Redevelopment (MHCR) grant program.

Senator Clare Kunish, sponsor of SF 1775 and a member representing District 39, told the committee the bill would appropriate $30 million across fiscal years 2026–27 for MHCR, raising the program's annual base thereafter. “This Manufactured Home Park redevelopment program [is] for improvements related to the infrastructure, including storm shelters and community facilities, for down payment assistance, up to $10,000 per home or a buyout assistance of up to $4,000 per home,” Kunish said, adding that manufactured homes are the largest source of affordable housing in Minnesota and that many residents live on fixed incomes.

Samuel (Sam) Estes, affordable housing program manager at North Country Cooperative Foundation, testified in support and described the program’s impact and unmet demand. “The MHCR grant program has been a path out of this dilemma, enabling manufactured home parks to make essential infrastructure improvements without shifting the cost to residents,” Estes said. He told the committee that in the program’s first five years cooperative projects in North Country’s network received more than $20 million, facilitating work across 11 communities and preserving more than 800 units at an average cost of about $25,000 per lot. Estes said the program has been “hugely oversubscribed” — roughly $85 million applied for versus about $44 million awarded to date — and recommended increasing the base appropriation to $15 million per year (total $30 million for the next biennium).

Bev Adrienne, president of the board at Woodlawn Terrace Cooperative in Richfield, described a completed MHCR project in her five-acre, roughly 50-lot community. Adrienne said the cooperative received a $1.7 million grant (part of a $2.1 million project) to connect to city water, improve sewer lines, build/repair a storm shelter and roads, and replace unsafe housing. She recounted practical effects residents noticed after improvements — “my laundry isn't yellow anymore” — and said the upgrades have fostered greater community cohesion. She told lawmakers many residents are on Social Security or low wages and that the improvements preserved affordable homeownership in her park.

Additional witnesses included Mark Bruner of the Manufactured Modular Home Association, who said association members support continued MHCR funding and praised Minnesota Housing’s program administration, and Shana Jimenez, an attorney with the Housing Justice Center, who emphasized that manufactured homeowners own their homes but usually rent the lots, making infrastructure grants vital to preserve their affordability.

Committee chair Port said SF 1775 would be laid over for possible inclusion in the omnibus bill, noting the program’s demonstrated demand and the committee’s interest in increasing support.

Why it matters: Manufactured home communities provide thousands of affordable homeownership opportunities across Minnesota, often for older adults and residents on fixed incomes. Witnesses described failing water and sewer systems, unsafe storm shelters, and oversubscription to existing grants; supporters told the committee a larger recurring appropriation could preserve units and prevent cost burdens from being shifted to residents.

Next steps: The committee laid SF 1775 over for possible inclusion in an upcoming omnibus bill.