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Denali Borough partners with Minnesota Housing Partnership for housing needs assessment; EDA-backed economic strategy planned
Summary
Community Development Director Stephanie said Minnesota Housing Partnership will provide largely free technical assistance for a housing needs assessment and action plan; the borough also secured a short-term Economic Development Administration grant to write a five-year Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (SEDS).
Denali Borough’s Community Development Director, Stephanie, told the planning commission on Nov. 19 that the borough is pursuing technical assistance from the Minnesota Housing Partnership (MHP) to complete a housing needs assessment and an action plan intended to produce implementable projects.
Stephanie said MHP’s assistance typically includes stakeholder engagement, data validation, an action plan and support for identifying funding sources; the partnership can also provide implementation support such as grant-writing help. "These resources are generally free," she said, adding that staff time and existing borough contracts would be leveraged to maximize the support.
Stephanie provided a tentative timeline: staff and MHP discovery and data validation through winter and summer 2026, a likely spring/early‑summer 2026 site visit, action-plan refinement in fall 2026, and a final report and implementation launch by fall 2026. She also said the borough expects to bring a draft comprehensive economic development strategy (SEDS) forward: contractor onboarding in February 2026, a draft by October 2026, Planning Commission review in January 2027 and Assembly review in February 2027.
The SEDS project is funded by a short-term grant from the Economic Development Administration and is intended to be a locally driven five-year economic development plan that includes a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) analysis, strategic action plan and an evaluation framework. Stephanie said the SEDS and the MHP housing work could help the borough better quantify local housing needs by community—Cantwell, McKinley Village, Healy and others—and identify funding paths.
Commissioners asked whether the MHP work will address housing types and affordability targets; Stephanie said the partnership will present a suite of options and help the borough quantify demand by type. No formal vote or appropriation was taken; staff will continue public engagement and integrate findings into subdivision and capital planning discussions.
