South Quarter IV, a housing development in Minneapolis, has been selected by the ULI Terwilliger Center for Housing as the winner of the 2016 Jack Kemp Excellence in Affordable and Workforce Housing Award. The annual award, which honors developments that ensure housing affordability for people with a range of incomes, is provided to developments in which all or a portion of the units are affordable to households earning up to 120 percent of the area median income (AMI).
South Quarter IV, which was honored during a ceremony at the 2016 ULI Fall Meeting in Dallas, is the fourth and final phase of the redevelopment of an intersection in the Ventura Village neighborhood of Minneapolis. The development includes the Rose, a 90-unit mixed-income building inspired by the Living Building Challenge, and the preservation of Pine Cliff, an adjacent 30-unit apartment building. Twelve units are reserved as supportive housing for homeless individuals and families. In addition, 68 units of affordable housing serve a range of income groups. The remaining 43 units are market-rate rentals.
The development’s financing includes equity from low-income housing tax credits, debt, a private capital campaign, state and local sources, and energy rebates. The developers packaged the financing of Pine Cliff’s preservation and construction of the Rose to reduce redundancies. Because of the diverse funding sources, affordability restrictions vary. The restrictions end as early as 2020 for some units, but last as far into the future as 2054 for other units.
“This project is on the leading edge of workforce housing development and preservation,” said J. Ronald Terwilliger, chairman of Terwilliger Pappas Multifamily Partners in Atlanta. “It has it all—mixed-income housing, environmental sustainability, long-term affordability, and long-term financing. South Quarter is truly a model for affordable and workforce housing.”
South Quarter IV was selected from a group of finalist developments, including Anthem on 12th in Seattle; Celadon at 9th & Broadway in San Diego; Columbia Parc at the Bayou District in New Orleans; Market Street Village in Wilmington, Delaware; and Olney Springs in Olney, Maryland.
“The efforts of Aeon and Hope Community, with their many public and private sector partners, prove that previously disinvested communities can point the way forward for mixed-income, environmentally sustainable redevelopment in our cities,” said Stockton Williams, executive director of the ULI Terwilliger Center.
ULI established the Jack Kemp Excellence in Affordable and Workforce Housing Award in 2008, naming the award in memory of Jack Kemp, former secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and ULI Terwilliger Center national advisory board member. The award is given annually to affordable and workforce housing developments that represent outstanding achievements in several areas, including affordability, innovative financing and building technologies, proximity to employment centers and transportation hubs, quality of design, involvement of public/private partnerships, and replicability of the development, among other criteria.
One of the goals when founding the Terwilliger Center was to “show the critical role that housing plays in achieving economic prosperity and a high quality of life—both for individuals and communities,” said Terwilliger. “If a family is constantly worried about housing, then being healthy, getting educated, and staying employed is never much of an option. A family with a stable housing situation is a family with a chance. Housing is the foundation from which everything else takes root.”
The finalists were selected by a jury of nationally renowned housing experts who judged submissions according to each project’s ability to meet affordable and workforce housing needs in its community. This year’s Jack Kemp Award jury members were Beverly Bates, senior vice president of development, the Community Builders Inc.; Dara Kovel, vice president of multifamily housing, Connecticut Housing Finance Authority; Linda Mandolini, president, Eden Housing Inc.; Pamela Hughes Patenaude, president, J. Ronald Terwilliger Foundation for Housing America’s Families; Mike Pitchford, president and chief executive officer, Community Preservation and Development Corp.; and Joe Reilly, president and chief executive officer, the Community Development Trust.
