The Heights housing project in St. Paul needs $73M in state aid, developer says

[Originally published by Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal, written by Mark Reilly: View Source]

A rendering of what The Heights could look like once complete. Housing uses are pictured in the foreground, while industrial buildings are located in the background. Image: LHB VIA ST. PAUL PORT AUTHORITY)

A plan to build more than 1,000 affording housing units at the former Hillcrest Golf Course will need $73 million in state assistance to move forward, development leaders say.

Finance & Commerce has a report on plans by Minneapolis-based Sherman Associates, Brooklyn Park-based JO Cos. and Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity to seek funding from the Minnesota Legislature, which JO Cos. CEO Johnny Opara called "absolutely critical" to move the project forward.

The three organizations have been working for the past year on the housing component of The Heights, which will include hundreds of multifamily units and as many as 150 affordable twin homes, triplexes and fourplexes from Habitat for Humanity. The nonprofit hopes to begin work on its portion of the project this summer.

The developers hope to tap an existing funding source to complete the project: Minnesota in 2023 approved $1 billion to help build affordable housing in the state.

The Heights is also getting public assistance in the form of a tax increment financing district from St. Paul (approved by the city in January) as well as Ramsey County, the Metropolitan Council and the federal government.

The $400 million Heights project also includes an Xcel Energy Co. service and training center, trails and a 5-acre city park, the development's website says. In 2024, the buildout of roads and utilities will start, said Andrea Novak, a spokesperson for the St. Paul Port Authority.