Regional planning agency will issue $7.5 million
A proposed arts center on St. Paul's Cesar Chavez Street, a river bluff walkway from the Minnesota Science Museum to the Union Depot transit hub and the planned redevelopment of the Hudson Manufacturing Building in downtown Hastings received financial boosts this week from the Metropolitan Council.
The seven-county metro area's regional planning agency will issue $7.5 million in grants to eight development projects located near public-transit corridors, as well as three smaller grants in Minneapolis and St. Paul. The goal is to create jobs and affordable housing accessible by transit while removing blight.
The Livable Communities Demonstration Account grants will benefit new development near the Apple Valley Transit Station and in the city of Carver and the Uptown neighborhood of Minneapolis, among other locations.
The grants were recommended by the Livable Communities Advisory Committee, which is chaired by Apple Valley Mayor Mary Hamann-Roland.
On the East Side of St. Paul, the New Phalen Village project will receive $700,000 toward the development of affordable townhomes and apartments, a new mixed-use building and commercial and office space. The funds will help with site acquisition, traffic calming, pedestrian elements and a stormwater management system.
Another mixed-use development project at 72 Cesar Chavez St. in St. Paul will receive $550,000 for soil grading, a stormwater management system and other amenities. The proposed project, which sits in the District del Sol commercial area, includes an arts center, 40 units of affordable housing and 4,500 square feet of commercial space.