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GENERAL-OCCUPANCY/FAMILY UNITS General-occupancy/family units have comprised 54% of all new affordable rental production so far this decade, with all parts of the Twin Cities seeing projects of this type. Eighty-seven general-occupancy projects delivered nearly 4,800 units from 2010 through 2018, roughly 530 units average per year. Developers built affordable general-occupancy units in 31 cities, representing all types of development settings. While developers typically built new general-occupancy units in the two central cities (62% of new supply), they also found redevelopment sites in first-ring suburbs, on typical suburban sites in newer suburbs, and even in such distant communities as Dayton, Farmington, Carver, Newport and Forest Lake. Ramsey, nearly 30 miles northwest of Downtown Minneapolis, has become an affordable rental development hot spot, with three new projects built within walking distance of the City’s Northstar Commuter Rail station. AGE-RESTRICTED (SENIOR) UNITS Affordable rental units for seniors have comprised 35% of all new affordable units (3,153) in this decade, across all seven submarkets. However, the distribution is greatly skewed toward the suburbs for two main reasons. First, the bulk of the Twin Cities senior population lives in the suburbs, providing a large captive audience. Second, affordable senior projects gain approval more easily in the suburbs than do projects for general-occupancy or targeted populations. Housing for targeted populations, in particular, is rarely found in the suburbs and proposals for new projects often face intense opposition. Not surprisingly, the first-ring suburbs have led the way with 912 new affordable senior rental units. The first-ring suburbs have many older homeowners who have been in their communities for 40 or more years. New rental units in their home community enable older residents to move to safer housing and keep their vital social networks and established patterns of daily living. The southeast suburbs have been a leader in affordable senior housing in the outer suburbs. Two developers, Dakota County Community Development Agency and Dominium, have produced 736 new senior units in eight southeast developments. The northeast and northwest suburbs have each seen between 350 and 450 new senior units since 2010, while Minneapolis, St. Paul and the southwest suburbs have had production of 200 to 280 new senior affordable units. UNITS FOR TARGETED POPULATIONS Affordable rental housing sites for targeted populations are more difficult to secure for a variety of reasons, but proximity to transit and supportive services are key factors. Central-city and first-ring suburban locations provide the best access to both. In the current decade, twenty projects with 976 permanent units (excluding shelter, temporary and transitional units or beds) have been built thus far in the Twin Cities. Roughly 56% of new units for targeted populations are in Minneapolis (549) and 28% are in the first-ring suburbs (278). With the exception of the northwest suburbs (100 units), there are virtually no units in the outer suburbs for targeted populations. 3 |MARKET UPDATE: AFFORDABLE RENTAL HOUSING IN THE TWIN CITIES POPULATIONS SERVED IN NEW AFFORDABLE RENTAL UNITS 2,500 2,000 1,500 1,000 500 0 New Affordable Rental Housing by Submarket and Population Served Twin Cities 2010 – 2018 General Total Occupancy/ Targeted New Units Family Senior Populations Minneapolis 2,649 1,820 280 549 St. Paul 1,399 1,144 211 44 First-Ring Suburbs 1,395 205 912 278 Southeast Suburbs 1,157 426 731 0 Northwest Suburbs 1,059 608 351 100 Southwest Suburbs 651 427 224 0 Northeast Suburbs 616 167 444 5 Total 8,926 4,797 3,153 976 100% 54% 35% 11%Number of UnitsMinneapolisSt. PaulFirst-Ring SuburbsSoutheast SuburbsNorthwest SuburbsSouthwest SuburbsNortheast SuburbsTargeted Populations Senior General Occupancy/Family