Jul. 26—GRAND FORKS — The Red River Regional Council and Dakota Commercial are partnering for a 165-unit, income-restricted housing development on 39th Avenue South.
The development is working its way through the Grand Forks City Council and the Grand Forks Planning and Zoning Commission. The City Council has approved the pre-application for a property tax incentive for the complex
and has given preliminary approval to its rezoning application.
When fully built out, the apartments will cluster on the north and south sides of 39th Avenue South, next to Furniture Row.
The project is planned to be funded by Dakota Commercial, MAK Capital/Construction, the general contractor for the project, and the RRRC by assisting with applications for funds from the North Dakota Housing and Finance Agency and Federal Low Income Housing Tax Credits.
With around half of renters considered cost-burdened based on estimates from the RRRC, this project fits right into the larger portfolio of initiatives that the RRRC and the Red River Community Housing Development Organization, said CHDO Executive Director Lisa Rotvold.
“When we learned of this project, (people) were hoping to keep young graduates from UND in the community (and) create a place for them where they can afford to stay. That’s what we need,” Rotvold said. “Our mission is to serve and grow opportunities for low-income and moderate-income people, and (this project) fits right in with what our mission is.”
Rotvold added that the agency’s experiences working on smaller projects in communities in the region have helped bring the needed experience for applying for the funds from state and federal agencies.
“This is probably one of the first times we have partnered with a private developer,” Rotvold said. “We’ve been doing single-family development and we’ve been partnering with rural communities to do that at a much smaller scale.”
The details of any local tax incentive will be determined in the upcoming months following review from the city’s financial advisers at the firm Baker Tilly.
The current proposal will have all the units in the complex restricted to moderate income and rent levels to assist with workforce housing in Grand Forks. The apartments will be restricted to incomes between 40% to 70% of Grand Forks’ median income, with apartments below market rate rents, according to Dakota Commercial Developer Curtis Regan.
“It’s 100% affordable housing, all the units, which I think is pretty unique and we haven’t seen in town in a while, if ever, at least at this scale,” Regan said. “(The partnership) is pretty specific to this low-income housing tax credit that we’re going after, and (the RRRC has) a lot of experience.”
The final rents are yet to be determined as the application process for federal and state funds is still ongoing. One-bedroom apartment rents will likely fall between $580 and $1,300 a month based on current federal low-income housing tax credit criteria. Currently, average rents are closer to $940 a month for one-bedroom apartments, according to Regan.
There are subsequent phases planned for the project. In the master plan for the project, an additional 130 to 140 units are planned south of the 165-unit building.