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Free Land in Duluth If You've Got a Good Plan for Affordable Housing
Next CityEmily Larson, the mayor of Duluth, Minnesota, gave her fourth State of the City address in April, right in the middle of what she called, per the transcript, “THE WORST POTHOLE SEASON IN HISTORY.” After acknowledging the Native inhabitants of the land around the city, which is two hours north of Minneapolis on the far western edge of Lake Superior, she touted progress that the city had made on fixing streets and reducing its own carbon emissions. And then she acknowledged that Duluth residents — particularly renters, more than half of whom are cost-burdened — are still struggling under a housing shortage. The problem wasn’t uniquely Duluthian, she said. The barriers to establishing more low-cost housing are present everywhere. Larson didn’t expect the city to figure out the grand solution, but it still had to push in the right direction.
So she announced that Duluth was going to hold a “contest,” in which it would give away small parcels of public property for free to whomever could put forward a “good, achievable idea that can provide affordable housing on the land.” The city announced the details of the program — called Rebuild Duluth — earlier this month. It’s starting with 13 sites and soliciting applications, requiring construction timelines and budgets. The city is hoping that the program will produce new homes, but also, according to the program guidelines, “expanded collective knowledge of how creativity and innovation can be used to design homes in a way that is affordable and fits well within existing neighborhoods.”
“Hopefully a byproduct of this is that we see some interesting designs in numbers that work, to have it be replicable,” says Jason Hale, who works as senior housing developer in a combined role for the City of Duluth and the Duluth Housing Redevelopment Authority. “What we’re trying to do with this program is prove that infill development is possible and help lower the barriers to do that.”
Notably, the city is only seeking ideas for lower-cost housing development, and not imposing any affordability requirements or income restrictions on the homes after they’re built. Hale says the city is hoping that recent zoning changes to allow smaller residential setbacks and narrower homes, combined with free land, will let builders find new ways of lowering the cost of housing. The applications will be reviewed by the city and the Duluth Economic Development Authority. The program is seeking serious proposals — a shipping container on cinder blocks wouldn’t make the cut, Hale says — but the solicitation is open-ended.
So she announced that Duluth was going to hold a “contest,” in which it would give away small parcels of public property for free to whomever could put forward a “good, achievable idea that can provide affordable housing on the land.” The city announced the details of the program — called Rebuild Duluth — earlier this month. It’s starting with 13 sites and soliciting applications, requiring construction timelines and budgets. The city is hoping that the program will produce new homes, but also, according to the program guidelines, “expanded collective knowledge of how creativity and innovation can be used to design homes in a way that is affordable and fits well within existing neighborhoods.”
“Hopefully a byproduct of this is that we see some interesting designs in numbers that work, to have it be replicable,” says Jason Hale, who works as senior housing developer in a combined role for the City of Duluth and the Duluth Housing Redevelopment Authority. “What we’re trying to do with this program is prove that infill development is possible and help lower the barriers to do that.”
Notably, the city is only seeking ideas for lower-cost housing development, and not imposing any affordability requirements or income restrictions on the homes after they’re built. Hale says the city is hoping that recent zoning changes to allow smaller residential setbacks and narrower homes, combined with free land, will let builders find new ways of lowering the cost of housing. The applications will be reviewed by the city and the Duluth Economic Development Authority. The program is seeking serious proposals — a shipping container on cinder blocks wouldn’t make the cut, Hale says — but the solicitation is open-ended.
