Advocacy Updates - March 2025

East Metro News

Saint Paul's rent control is under review again as the City Council proposes a new construction exemption to the policy.
Saint Paul will appoint a new interim councilmember at today's City Council meeting.
Saint Paul asked the state for a $400M infusion into Xcel Energy Center improvements (subscription).
Saint Paul's Rondo Land Bridge encountered opposition after the state's budget was announced.
Saint Paul's downtown $130M development near the Green Line light rail is advancing.
The East Metro is seeing more development due to the new Gold Line bus rapid transit line.

Inver Grove Heights may soon see 119 townhomes in the City (subscription).
Cottage Grove could see 183 new housing units on a "difficult-to-develop" site (subscription).

Blaine hopes to be a "destination city" with a $750M investment into the downtown (subscription).
Brooklyn Park is at odds with Champlin and Maple Grove over high-density housing development plans.
Pine County's Windemere Township okay'd a controversial lakefront property ordinance that increases the minimum lot sizes to protect water quality (subscription).
Ramsey County voters have elected Garrison McMurtrey, the first Black male county commissioner, to join the Ramsey County Board of Commissioners.
Brooklyn Center and Brooklyn Park residents worry that they'll lose their homes and businesses to the redevelopment of Hwy 252.

Minneapolis shared plans to reopen Nicollet Avenue after years of vacancy.
A Minneapolis developer would like to redevelop the Nokomis Mill while some neighbors want to save it (subscription).
The number of Minneapolis residents living in homeless encampments has dropped by two-thirds.

For the Twin Cities, the best time to sell your home is in May, although affordability remains an issue throughout the region.
The price for Twin Cities' newly built homes just hit $522,000 in the last quarter of 2024.
Minnesota's “Yes to Homes” bills would require cities to allow more density. Local opposition defeated similar "Missing Middle" legislation last year.
As Minnesotans become more cost-burdened when it comes to housing, a bipartisan group of lawmakers move to make housing more affordable, even though it may not be what Minnesota Cities want to see.
Minnesota lawmakers introduced a "bill of rights" for manufactured home park residents. Homeowners' Associations are also under the microscope during this legislative session.
Greater Minnesota could see a population increase as in-state migration becomes more popular (subscription).

According to the National Association of Realtors® (NAR), "home values are hitting new highs while market distress near record lows".
United States real estate could be majorly affected by climate risks--to the tune of trillions of dollars.
Nationwide, more homes were put up for sale and mortgage rates eased in February.
Nationally, the demographics of homebuyers are changing.