This year’s housing stories arrived in rollercoaster fashion: A historic state budget featuring housing investments. The abrupt downfall of Minneapolis rent control. A Sahan Journal investigation into challenges facing affordable housing in Shakopee.
And the rollercoaster continues. Here’s a list of the top five stories I reported this year:
1. Shakopee officials devised plot to kill affordable housing project, emails reveal.
In June, Shakopee’s planning commission was scheduled to vote on the proposed rezoning of Prairie Pointe, an affordable housing project developed by Beacon Interfaith Housing Collaborative. The rezoning proposal threatened to jeopardize the project. The planning commission voted to postpone the decision for the next meeting.
Shortly afterward, I filed a data practices request to the city of Shakopee. I connected the dots in hundreds of emails that went back to January 2020. I found that Shakopee officials had plotted to kill the affordable housing project by attempting to reverse a June 2020 City Council vote.
In September, the city withdrew the rezoning proposal. Some of Beacon’s supporters who showed up at that meeting applauded when it was announced that the rezoning proposal was being withdrawn. Construction on the project is expected to begin next spring.
2. The ups and downs of rent control in Minneapolis.
I didn’t expect Minneapolis rent control to unravel in the way it did. During the Eid al-Adha holiday in late June, three Muslim council members were absent from a vote that killed work on a proposed rent control ordinance. It was quickly obvious: Minneapolis rent control would not be happening this year.
But the process to get to that point was far from quick. For my first story as a housing reporter, I wrote about housing advocates and renters pleading with city leaders to implement rent control. In April, I covered a city staff presentation recommending against rent control because of its potential risk to housing development and city finances. I’ve continued to follow the rent control fight in Minneapolis. For more than two years, City Council members have been divided about it. But with new faces joining the council next year, we’ll see how this hot-button issue continues to unfold.
3. Historic investment in housing issues and strengthening renters’ rights.
This year, the Legislature passed a $1 billion budget to invest in making housing more affordable, including a state-based voucher program, down-payment assistance and training for first-time home buyers. In addition, several new changes to state laws provided more support for renters. Some of these changes include expanding the list of necessary repairs for landlords and requiring a 14-day notice to tenants before eviction for nonpayment.
Minnesota residents won’t see the effects of most of the changes and investments until they kick in next year.
4. Tenants flooded out of historic Bell Lofts in north Minneapolis fault landlord, plea for help.
When a pipe burst in the Historic Bell Lofts apartments in Minneapolis on December 28, 2022, about 50 people were displaced and forced into temporary housing. I began reporting on it in my first few weeks as a housing reporter. I interviewed residents, tracked down the landlord, and gathered responses from the city. Most of the displaced residents waited months to receive financial help from the city so they could settle into new housing.
Two community organizations worked to help Bell Lofts residents, including raising donations and advocating for accountability from the city and landlord. I also reported on the city’s efforts to allocate funds for relocation assistance. I interviewed Enrique Velazquez, then director of Minneapolis’ Inspections Services Division, about the property’s landlord, maintenance, and the aftermath of the flooding.
I learned a lot from covering this story, and it propelled me to write more stories highlighting the challenges facing renters who experience housing insecurity.
5. East Village apartment flood left exposed floors, damaged walls, and seniors stranded without elevator service.
I came across this story when Andrew Hazzard, another Sahan reporter, told me about problems resurfacing at the East Village apartments in Minneapolis’ Elliot Park neighborhood, operated by the Aeon nonprofit. In June 2021, he had covered a story about East Village residents, who were mostly Somali, struggling with faulty appliances, unresponsive maintenance, and patchy security. I heard that a pipe had burst in the apartment complex, causing water damage to several units. When I reached out to one of the residents, I realized that the issue was much bigger than that.
One of the apartment buildings with 70 units had a broken elevator for about a month, stranding two elders who couldn’t manage stairs in the building. The water damage took about four months to repair, leaving residents with exposed wires, drywall and flooring. Residents were also concerned about security.
Near the end of my reporting, I learned that Aeon would soon begin repairs to the water damage. Residents continued to push Aeon officials to increase security as well as to communicate and make repairs in a timely manner.
