MHP’s Housing Institute has been bringing communities and housing partners together since 2010. This, the ninth round, is MHP’s broadest Institute to-date, supporting 14 communities in Northeast Minnesota. Local elected and government representatives, small businesspeople, faith-based leaders, nonprofits, regional housing organizations, and more come together at MHP’s peer-to-peer workshops to drive creative housing solutions across the Iron Range and in neighboring communities. The curriculum represents the housing landscape in the Northeast and encourages a data-driven and equitable, inclusive approach.

Over the course of 18-months, teams put together housing initiatives and, with MHP’s support, create action steps to achieve their housing and community development goals. The teams’ projects are now taking shape! In Grand Rapids in July, MHP facilitated a deep dive into the housing development process. Teams explored applicable development strategies and how to identify and overcome barriers in the pre-development phase; including being proactive in land use and zoning and identifying environmental and surveying requirements. Skilled builders and developers provided valuable feedback in real time on the projects. 

The workshops identify the true cost of construction, call out the need for subsidy, and showcase successful strategies that have yielded real results within the region. Teams are now teed up to explore the financial components of their projects in October – crucial to a project’s feasibility and maximizing competitiveness for future funding rounds at the state and regional levels. 

MHP would like to thank Bob Barth of WSB Engineering, Breanne Rothstein at Thrive LLC, Ben Olsen and the Lagom Modular Team, Dave Bergland at Northland Cooperative Foundation, Brian Wessels and everyone at Intent Built, and Brooke Tapp at One Roof Community Housing for their generous contributions of time and effort that made this workshop so successful. 

Support generously provided by: