William Morris//January 22, 2020
Source: https://finance-commerce.com/2020/01/beacon-aims-new-project-at-native-americans/
The 2018 homeless encampment at Hiawatha and Franklin avenues has long since been emptied, but affordable housing advocates hope a new project downtown will help ensure Minneapolis does not see its like again.
Beacon Interfaith Housing Collaborative is taking steps toward a new supportive housing development focused on Native American residents at 16 Fourth St. N., in the L.A. Rockler Fur Co. building. The project was conceived in response to the 2018 homeless encampment, which was made up primarily of Native Americans and known to residents as the Wall of Forgotten Natives.
The project, known as Bimosedaa after an Ojibwe word meaning “let’s walk together,” was announced in May 2019, and has taken several strides forward in recent weeks. Beacon closed on the property on Dec. 18, according to a certificate of real estate value made public in early January, paying $1.95 million to previous owner Fur Mart Inc. And on Tuesday, the Hennepin County Board approved a $500,000 allocation for the project from the county’s supportive housing program.
Beacon could not be reached for comment, but in its May press release, it estimated renovations could begin in summer of 2020.
“The Wall of Forgotten Natives was a stark reminder for many that this is a time that demands bold action,” Beacon’s Executive Director Lee Blons said at the time. “As people of faith, we can’t pass the mantle to someone else — we needed to be among those listening to and saying ‘yes’ to our neighbors whose only shelter from the elements was a tent.”
The Rockler property, built in 1915, offers 38,300 square feet of space over seven floors, according to CoStar Group. Beacon plans to convert the building into 48 apartments, with 15 reserved for people experiencing chronic homelessness and 33 for people who have had shorter stints of homelessness. CommonBond Communities will manage the property, and Beacon is working with Avivo and the Red Lake Nation to provide services for Native residents.
City Council Member Steve Fletcher, who represents the area, said there’s a need not just for affordable housing, but also for programing that addresses specific challenges facing Native American residents.
“We are learning a lot and getting a lot better about finding out where the gaps are in our housing,” Fletcher said in an interview. “We know that we need supportive housing for people who are transitioning out of homelessness. We know we need culturally specific supports. This was one of the forms of housing that we really identified as a gap that’s going to meet some people’s needs and get them out of the cold.”
The Downtown Minneapolis Neighborhood Association wrote a letter in support of the project, and land use committee Vice Chair Kevin Frazell said Beacon did a good job both at meeting a need for housing and repurposing a building that had long sat largely empty.
“It seemed like a great opportunity to have an adaptive reuse for a building that’s been sitting there awhile,” Frazell said. “It had been seriously underutilized for a long time, and of course we don’t like to see buildings downtown sitting vacant.”
Bimosedaa’s location puts it close to transit, retail and services and makes it a prominent part of downtown’s redevelopment, Fletcher said.
“I really want downtown to be for everyone, and I think it’s really emblematic of that that we are simultaneously building deeply affordable supportive housing and a Four Seasons hotel within a block of each other,” he said. “I think that’s exactly the right way for us to be approaching downtown.”