Title
RESOLUTION OF SUPPORT FOR THE REQUEST BY ONE ROOF COMMUNITY HOUSING TO THE STATE OF MINNESOTA FOR QUALIFYING MULTIFAMILY FUNDING AND A CONDITIONAL PRE-COMMITMENT OF $400,000 FISCAL YEAR 2026 FUNDING ALLOCATION TO THE CITY OF DULUTH FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE DECKER II PROJECT
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CITY PROPOSAL:
RESOLVED, that the city council hereby expresses its support for One Roof Community Housing’s request to Minnesota Housing Finance Agency (“MHFA”) for the allocation of low-income housing tax credits and/or other funding provided by MHFA to construct Decker II, a 40- to 50-unit affordable multifamily apartment building (the “Project”).
FURTHER RESOLVED, that the proper city officials hereby approve a pre-commitment of fiscal year 2026 funds to be received by the city as allocated by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (“HUD”) for construction of the Project; the award of $400,000 subject to the receipt thereof from HUD, the developer One Roof Community Housing securing the necessary funding from MHFA and other funding sources and to the approval of a development agreement between the city and developer thereof.
Statement of Purpose
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE: This resolution expresses the city council’s support of an application to be submitted to MHFA by One Roof Community Housing (“One Roof”), for low-income housing tax credits and other Multifamily Consolidated Request for Proposal funding that may be awarded by MHFA for the construction of the Decker II project. The deadline for submission of the application to MHFA is July 10, 2025. MHFA intends to finalize funding decisions by December 2025. Additionally, this resolution provides for a pre-commitment of a portion of the City’s Fiscal Year 2026 HUD allocation for the construction of the Decker II project. The Community Development Committee considered the request by One Roof Community Housing for pre-commitment funds at their April 15, 2025 meeting. The Committee voted to recommend City Council approval of the proposed resolution.
The proposed Decker II project is located on Decker Road, adjacent to Decker Dwellings near Miller Hill Mall. The project consists of the construction of an affordable apartment building with between 40 and 50 units. Decker II will primarily target families and larger households by offering one-, two-, and three-bedroom units, with most units being two-bedroom. All units will have rent and income restrictions below 60% AMI, with the majority of units being further restricted to households earning below 50% AMI and 30% AMI. Together with services support from Families Rise Together, the project will reserve four (4) units as permanent supporting housing units for homeless individuals and five (5) units for households with disabilities. In addition, 20 Bring It Home vouchers through the Duluth Housing and Redevelopment Authority will serve a portion of the two- and three-bedroom units.
MHFA requires applicants to submit a City Council resolution of support to demonstrate local support and show that the project meets locally identified housing needs. A 2019 Maxfield Research Inc. housing analysis reported that Duluth could absorb roughly 3,500 additional units of affordable housing by 2024. Within that same time frame, only approximately 330 affordable units were constructed in Duluth, thus, the need remains high. The demand for this type of housing has been further substantiated through early findings from the Duluth Comprehensive Housing Study that is currently underway.