September 17, 2026

On September 17, elected and community leaders from Tower and Breitung Township met with staff from Congressman Pete Stauber’s office at Lakeview Manor in Tower, an affordable 40-unit rental property that is home to families, seniors and people with disabilities, to highlight local efforts to preserve these homes and similar properties across northeastern Minnesota.

Lakeview Manor and Mineview Manor, a 12-unit property in nearby Soudan, are both owned and managed by the Vermilion Housing Corporation. DW Jones is the developer working with Vermilion Housing Corp. to transfer these properties, secure funding for capital improvements and renovations, and preserve them as affordable homes for community members.

Including Lakeview and Mineview Manor, there are 91 rental properties in Minnesota’s 8th Congressional District financed by the USDA Section 515 program, providing a total of 2,066 affordable rental homes. Across Minnesota, USDA financed rental properties provide 8,804 affordable homes in rural communities. Just six years ago, that number was over 9,500 – a loss of 715 affordable rental homes due to maturing mortgages and program exits.

MHP partners with rural communities to expand housing opportunities and preserve homes like Lakeview and Mineview. A long-term preservation plan for these homes, and a partnership with DW Jones, emerged from Tower’s participation in MHP’s Housing Institute for Iron Range communities in recent years. In addition, MHP provides technical assistance through a USDA grant to help preserve rural rental homes with U.S.D.A Section 515 financing. MHP is currently working to preserve affordability at 24 USDA Section 515 properties totaling more than 500 rental homes.

The effort comes as implementation begins on the bipartisan 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, enacted in July. The law includes reforms intended to strengthen and preserve rural rental housing, including USDA Section 515 properties like Lakeview and Mineview Manor.