Advocacy Updates – November 2024

East Metro News

Saint Paul's Downtown Alliance states that 10 office buildings in the City are ready for office-to-residential conversion.
Saint Paul is in the process of gathering community input for the 2025-2029 Consolidated Plan.
Saint Paul's high taxes, business loss, and slow growth are cited as major concerns in a report penned by a coalition of former city officials (subscription).
Saint Paul plans to purchase a Marshall Avenue rooming house to serve as an emergency homeless shelter (subscription).
Stillwater's Lakeview Hospital may soon see a $400 million campus expansion.
Washington County plans to build an emergency homeless shelter in Stillwater with 30 private rooms and additional resources for support.

A proposed development in Rosemount could see a 192-unit apartment complex in the City.
Eagan continues to consider the proposed redevelopment of the Thomson Reuters site in the City (subscription).
Apple Valley is advising residents to prepare their homes for the impending winter.

Becker will see a new data center project with Amazon's purchase of 350 acres in the City (subscription ).
Arden Hills and Ramsey County will continue ballot recounts in two close local races.
Little Canada has been chosen as the location for a $54 million affordable housing project that will bring 160 units into the City.

The Minneapolis City Council was not able to override Mayor Jacob Frey's veto of a plan to give certain organizations first right of refusal of affordable rental housing (subscription).
Minneapolis could see "single-room occupancy" rental units in former office buildings to help alleviate the housing inventory shortage (subscription).
In Edina, a local developer has plans to convert an old hotel into a 133-unit affordable housing project (subscription).

The Minnesota Homeless Study done by the Wilder Foundation found that 10,522 Minnesotans experienced homelessness in 2023.
Minnesota homeowners may see a hefty property tax increase due to the decline of office building values in 2025.
A Minnesota program that allows for tax credits for housing projects is off to a "good start".

After the 2024 National Election, what do President-Elect Trump's plans mean for housing affordability?
According to the National Association of Realtors® (NAR), mortgage rates may drop in the last weeks of 2024.
NAR had some major wins in the 2024 Election and will continue to work towards relationship building with new elected officials.
In 2024, a record number of Americans used an inheritance to help finance a down payment for their first home.
Nationally, there are ways that real estate professionals can help local municipalities cut down on red tape when exploring inventory solutions.