Part 1: (Un)affordable housing in Eden Prairie

Coalition forms to address getting priced out of the market

Editor’s note: This is the first in a two-part series on affordable housing in Eden Prairie.

Asad Aliweyd has lived in Eden Prairie for more than 15 years. Over the last decade, he has addressed affordable housing in the community through his work with the nonprofit New American Development Center.

Aliweyd, who is of Somali descent, said he’s noticed in recent years that many others from the Somali community have moved out of Eden Prairie because they can’t find affordable housing. No family-sized affordable units have been constructed in the city since he early 2000s, he said.

“I see a lot of families and youth I was working with are moving to Shakopee and Chaska and Chanhassen,” he said.

He hopes New American Development Center’s (formerly known as New American Academy) collaboration with other organizations and individuals in the new Eden Prairie Community Housing Coalition will help address some of the affordable housing issues in Eden Prairie.

“We believe that this is a long-term group, but we truly hope that our housing challenges can be addressed in the short and mid-term so that the collaborations we are forming can transition to focus on other needs and community priorities,” Aliweyd said.

“We hope that we can forge strong bonds with local service and advocacy organizations, the business community and city, county, regional and state officials.”

BROAD CONNECTIONS

According to Aliweyd, the coalition began meeting in late 2016 after several years of community meetings hosted by the New American Development Center to explore health care, housing, community and jobs and other East African community priorities in Eden Prairie.

The New American Development Center realized that its efforts could have a greater reach if it partnered with other organizations and began contacting other groups.

“The city’s East African community is well-organized thanks to the community leaders and elders from NADC, but we have been looking for a way to connect to more local partners and the broader community in Eden Prairie to build deeper understanding about our housing challenges and develop authentic, trusting relationships,” he said.

The partnerships developed in the housing coalition has brought more organizing strategy, technical assistance and regional relationships to the work that the New American Development Center was already doing, Aliweyd said.

The coalition is made up of about 20 people representing several organizations including the New American Development Center, The Alliance, Home Line, Pax Christi Catholic Community, Housing Justice Center, Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid, Community Action Partnership of Hennepin County an and Jewish Community Action.

The group has been meeting a few times a month at Pax Christi, said Joan Howe-Pullis, Eden Prairie resident and Pax Christi social justice ministries coordinator, and David Saltzman, Eden Prairie resident and Jewish Community Action volunteer.

“It’s a regionwide issue, but each of the cities has its part it could play. We started meeting to say, ‘What could we do?'” Howe-Pullis said.

When the term affordable housing comes up in conversation, Eden Prairie is not the first place people may think of as a place of need. Because the city has a higher median income and higher median rental rates, it becomes difficult for low-income individuals to maintain residence in Eden Prairie, Saltzman said.

“Median incomes have not kept pace with the improvement in the overall economy. Economic disparity has grown incredibly,” he said.

EFFORTS

Howe-Pullis said the group has three areas of focus to address affordable housing – protecting affordable housing, preserving affordable housing and production of new affordable housing whenever possible.

The coalition has engaged in different activities this year as part of those efforts.

Aliweyd said in April, members of the coalition helped host a community housing forum at Eden Prairie High School that explored affordable housing trends in Eden Prairie and Hennepin County; how those needs were being addressed locally; challenges for tenants and community members in accessing affordable housing and what people could do to preserve affordable housing.

In July, members of the coalition introduced themselves to the Eden Prairie City Council and presented a list of items that the coalition asked the council and city staff to consider related to affordable housing. Aliweyd, Howe-Pullis and Saltzman also spoke in favor of the proposed Elevate @ Southwest Station development during a public hearing at the Aug. 8 City Council meeting.

According to the July document, the coalition asked:

• The city to have a work session with the coalition to “dive deeper” into affordable housing strategies and policies.
• The city, Hennepin County and Metropolitan Council officials to help protect renters in the city “from abusive treatment at the hands of some apartment managers.”
• The city to pass an inclusionary housing ordinance similar to those adopted by the cities of Edina and St. Louis Park. The coalition said it would like the city to consider a policy where 20 percent of units would be required to be included in a development.
• The coalition would like to continue the community development investment with the city to explore ways to place affordable housing in the Town Center light rail station area.
• The city to pass a Section 8 anti-discrimination ordinance to “allow prospective tenants the basic right to apply to live in an apartment in Eden Prairie.”
• All government agencies and officials to support and adopt the affordable housing strategies that were identified.

City Manager Rick Getschow in a written response to the coalition that the City Council held workshops on Oct. 4, 2016, and Nov. 11, 2016, about affordable housing policies and strategies.

Staff from the city’s Housing and Community Services Department, Fire Inspector Jeff Carrrane and Zoning Administrator Jim Schedin all work to address tenant issues and problems between landlords and tenants as the city is made aware of them. This work includes interpreting leases and disputes when language is an issue and explaining cultural differences that may be misunderstood.

“Our goal is to always prevent homelessness and address quality of life issues that may impact residents, particularly young children,” Getschow wrote.

Getschow said the city works with every developer that brings a project in to include affordable units, citing the Elevate project and the approved Prairie Bluffs Senior Living development as examples.

To preserve affordable housing in the community, the city has extended tax increment financing for developments with the condition that a certain percentage of the units be affordable. The city has also required a certain percentage for affordable housing when developments have used conduit financing with the city to refinance housing bonds, said Molly Koivumaki, Housing and Community Services manager.

Koivumaki said Eden Prairie is working with St. Louis Park, Edina, Bloomington and Edina on an inclusionary housing program guide so the cities have a consistent approach to the issue. Getschow noted in his response that Eden Prairie’s internal practice is to use 10 percent of affordable units as a starting point. If tax-increment financing is used, state statute requires 20 percent to be set aside as affordable.

WHAT’S NEXT?

Saltzman said the group’s next steps will include having additional contact with city staff and the City Council about incorporating the coalition’s ideas into policy. He also believes that the coalition will consider broadening the membership in the group to include tenants, other organizations, developers, interested residents and current affordable housing unit owners.

The coalition would like to host one or more housing work sessions in future months to dive deeper into some of the policies and practices being considered by neighboring cities. The coalition members have been studying and attending multiple meetings in other cities to learn how they respond to affordable housing, Aliweyd said.

“We think Eden Prairie is a great community and the staff and local officials are just as smart and creative as these other cities – together, we can make great progress on these issues,” he said.