Letter From the President and Board Chair

Greater Minnesota Housing Fund (GMHF) is proud to share our accomplishments in 2024. We continue to lead with our many strengths: nimbleness, creativity, a strong balance sheet, and our focus on innovation and strategic partnerships.

GMHF and Minnesota Equity Fund (MEF) investment in affordable housing continues to grow. In 2024, GMHF and MEF financed a combined 2,240 affordable housing units through lending and syndication, over a 50% increase from 2023.

GMHF invests in a strong affordable housing ecosystem throughout Minnesota. In 2024, we provided extensive technical assistance to loan applicants and borrowers, rural and Tribal communities, emerging developers, and healthcare organizations seeking to invest in housing. We expanded partner engagement, supporting dozens of new affordable housing projects in rural and Tribal communities, including a new wealth building homeownership model developed by Leech Lake Financial Services in Cass Lake and Deer River.

In 2024, we launched our Green Lending Initiative to drive energy efficiency, independence, and affordability in housing throughout Minnesota. Our Housing and Health Equity (H&HE) Initiative kicked off a new Housing Stability Coalition last year that included participation from nine healthcare systems to create a collective voice from the healthcare sector for housing as a key social determinant of health and identify opportunities for healthcare systems to invest in affordable housing.

We also fully capitalized the second phase of our NOAH Impact Fund, an innovative and nationally recognized model designed to preserve naturally occurring affordable housing (NOAH). Preserving the affordability and quality of this housing is critical to preserving housing stability for thousands of Minnesota residents.

GMHF operates in a housing sector that has experienced significant distress caused by the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, high inflation and interest rates, rising insurance costs, increased supportive service needs, and continued economic stress on low-income residents. GMHF partnered with the Family Housing Fund to help create the Minnesota Housing Stability Coalition to bring the sector back to health, support the housing stability of residents, and ensure continued capacity to meet housing production needs.

We invite you to learn more about our work and impact in this report. In 2025, we look forward to welcoming you to our new office location at the Court International Building in Saint Paul.

Andrea Brennan

President & CEO

Stephanie Cummings

Board Chair

$52.2M

of Loans Closed

2,240

Affordable Housing Units Financed

$663.3M

Total Development Costs*

*Total Development Costs (or capital mobilized) refers to all other loans and investments received for a development, over and above GMHF’s investment.

MINNESOTA INDIAN WOMEN’S RESOURCE CENTER

MINNEAPOLIS, MN

Minnesota Indian Women’s Resource Center (MIWRC) is a 24-unit permanent supportive housing project serving Native women and two-spirit people with incomes at or below 30% AMI, including those experiencing homelessness and people with disabilities. Residents receive services such as chemical dependency treatment, mental health care, family stabilization services; and employment, education, and cultural resilience training.

The building was originally built in 1950 and required substantial rehabilitation to address health and safety concerns, meet current building codes and ADA-accessibility standards, and provide a functional space for residents and clients.

TWIN OAKS DEVELOPMENT

FARIBAULT, MN

Twin Oaks in Faribault includes six new, for-sale homes developed by Rice County Habitat for Humanity (HFH). The project is a collaboration between Rice County HFH, Rice County Housing and Redevelopment Authority (HRA), and Three Rivers Community Action. Homebuyers with incomes at or below 80% of the area median income will purchase these new homes.

SANDY PINES AND BRAHAM MEADOWS

SANDSTONE AND BRAHAM, MN

Sandy Pines Apartments and Braham Meadows, acquired by METIS Development Group, have a total of 84 units. All units are subsidized by a Section 8 rental assistance contract and residents pay no more than 30% of their income toward rent, making these units affordable at all income levels. METIS Development Group is making substantial renovations to these properties to preserve the affordability and quality of this critical housing stock in Greater Minnesota.

Regional Map of Minnesota

CREATING AND PRESERVING AFFORDABLE HOUSING IN MINNESOTA’S 87 COUNTIES

GMHF has invested

$1.2B

in 200+ communities, creating

23,667

homes for families, children, and individuals in low-income, cost-burdened households. Since 1996, GMHF’s lending and investing across all funds has resulted in an estimated

$4.3B

total capital impact from GMHF’s lending and investing across all funds to date.

OPERA HOUSE

LONG PRAIRIE, MN

Developer Luis Hidalgo purchased this former Opera House on Long Prairie’s main street in 2021. His company, Hidalgo Investments, aims to provide proper housing and commercial spaces for the local Latino and immigrant residents and entrepreneurs in the Long Prairie and Todd County areas. After renovating three commercial spaces on the first floor of the Opera House, the project needed predevelopment support for the design and construction of 8 units of rental housing on the upper floors. Mr. Hidalgo was connected to GMHF’s Emerging Developers Program through partners at the Initiative Foundation and was able to receive a predevelopment grant to move the project forward.

BLUU COOPERATIVE HOUSING

NORTH MINNEAPOLIS, MN

Black Lives of Unitarian Universalism (BLUU) partnered with Urban Homeworks to develop 3 side-by-side townhomes that will be sold to eligible homebuyers with incomes at or below 60% AMI. The homes will be part of a land trust and feature 4 bedrooms and 3.5 bathrooms. They are the first of a total of 24 units to be developed and formed into a cooperative.

This is an inaugural project for BLUU. They are a Black-led organization committed to justice-making and liberation through faith. BLUU’s vision for cooperative housing stems from their vision of helping stabilize Black and Indigenous families through truly affordable housing. Their values center around honoring the inherent worth and dignity of every family.

WEALTH CREATIONS HOMES

DEER RIVER AND CASS LAKE, MN

Leech Lake Financial Services (LLFS), a nonprofit corporation, has a mission to promote the economic well-being of individuals and families by providing financial products and education grounded in trust, ethical practices, and Anishinaabe values. LLFS provides services to prospective homebuyers, including credit coaching, financial training, education, downpayment assistance, closing cost assistance, and homebuyer counseling. Unfortunately, many of their program participants struggle to find affordable homes to purchase. This project will create 15 single-family homes affordable to families earning 80% AMI in the communities of Deer River and Cass Lake, promoting equitable access to homeownership, increasing the supply of affordable housing, and creating opportunities for building family wealth.

LITTLE EARTH

MINNEAPOLIS, MN

Little Earth has 212 units of project-based Section 8 where residents pay no more than 30% of their income towards rent and it is therefore affordable to households below 30% AMI. Twenty-two units are set aside for High-Priority Homeless households, and 22 units are set aside for people with disabilities.

Little Earth is the only Indigenous-preference project-based Section 8 community in the United States. It has been continuously operated by a 100% Native resident governing body and an executive team that is 75% Native. Resident services include education, workforce development, health and wellness, and life skills, all presented in a holistic and culturally relevant manner.

PERSPECTIVES

ST. LOUIS PARK, MN

Perspectives Apartments, 56 units being acquired and rehabilitated by Trellis, includes 22 units supported by a project-based Section 8 contract that are income-restricted at 30% of AMI, and the remaining 34 units are restricted at or below 50% AMI. All of the units will include rental assistance through either the Section 8 contract that will be transferred, or through site-based housing support provided by Missions, Inc. as the service provider. The previous owner declared bankruptcy and the supportive housing it provided was at risk of loss without a new owner. With GMHF’s help, the project will continue to offer supportive services to mothers at risk of homelessness and struggling with chemical dependency. GMHF’s ability to step in as the primary lender and work quickly to help transfer ownership of this property to Trellis has been key to preventing the loss of this critically needed supportive housing.

These supportive units serve indigenous people and mothers who are at risk of homelessness.

MARSHALL AVENUE FLATS APARTMENTS

ST. PAUL, MN

Marshall Avenue Flats is a six-story, 98-unit new construction housing development from developers Richard Pakonen and Clinton Blaiser. The building is near the intersection of Snelling Avenue and Marshall Avenue in St. Paul in a neighborhood that has recently experienced considerable urban renewal. The building is in a Qualified Census Tract but near several market rate properties with some of the highest rents in St. Paul, thus creating a valuable affordable housing option in the area. The development has 44 one-, 49 two-, and 5 three-bedroom units that are restricted to the 30%, 50%, and 60% AMI levels, providing affordable workforce housing for individuals, couples, and families with children.

MAPLE HILL APARTMENTS

RED WING, MN

Maple Hills Apartments, located in Red Wing, consists of 6 two-story walk-up buildings with 72 one-, 16 two-, and 8 three-bedroom units. CommonBond Communities will extensively rehabilitate the 53-year-old property, which benefits from a project-based Section 8 HAP contract. The federal rental assistance was considered at risk of loss due to the deteriorating physical condition of the aging buildings. Completion of the capital improvements will ensure that the property continues to serve its extremely low-income residents who, on average, have an annual household income of less than $15,000, which is below the 15% AMI level for Goodhue County.

These apartments offer unit options with one, two, or three bedrooms to help serve a variety of family sizes.