In St. Paul’s North End, Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity officially broke ground Tuesday on 11 single-family homes bordering a bird and wildlife reserve.

Among city officials past and present, the sighs of relief are audible.

In 2005, plans called for a 32-unit town home project, a vision that was soon halted by the recession and the collapse of the housing market. An urban farm moved in six years later, only to be forced out as development plans moved forward and then stalled again in late 2013.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which had lent funding for site acquisition, was not pleased.

“HUD told us we had to get moving on it or they were going to take back the money,” said St. Paul City Council President Amy Brendmoen, who represents the North End.

Those were just a few of the many twists in the saga of the three-acre parcel of land at Maryland Avenue and Arundel Street.

“This is a project that has been a long time in coming,” said Twin Cities Habitat president and CEO Chris Coleman, during a public ceremony on Tuesday. “This project really represents hope and opportunity for families. There’s a tremendous need in Minnesota, but particularly in the Twin Cities, where one-in-four families are cost burdened. That means they’re spending more than 30 percent of their income on housing.”

Coleman, who served as mayor of St. Paul during the project’s on-again, off-again evolution, said average home costs in the Twin Cities are “quickly approaching almost $275,000,” leaving many residents locked out of the housing market.

Home ownership, among other benefits, opens the door to building generational wealth and neighborhood stability, “not just for the first generation, but the second generation and the third generation that will be on this site,” Coleman said.

62 PERCENT RENTAL RATE

Shena Idoko, a Shoreview mom whose 7-year-old daughter attends a Spanish immersion school in the neighborhood, is one of two families already in the pipeline for properties.

Idoko will put in 100 hours of “sweat equity” service on-site and at other Habitat sites, including the non-profit’s ReStore store, in order to qualify.

“It’ll be some place stable,” said Idoko, who is expecting her second child in October. “We won’t have to be worry about rent increases or our apartment complex being bought out.”

The $1.7 million Habitat project is backed by funding from the city’s Housing and Redevelopment Authority, Ecolab, Thrivent Financial, Ramsey County’s Environmental Response Fund, the U.S. Treasury’s Capital Magnet Fund and other partners. On-site labor is being provided by Twin Cities Habitat, Habitat’s Women Build program, the Americorps construction program and prospective homeowners themselves.

Brendmoen noted that the North End has become the introduction to Minnesota, if not America, for many multi-generational immigrant families and families of color.

In fact, 60 percent of the North End is under age 35, she said, and a third is under age 17. Income-restricted single-family housing will allow seniors, parents and children to live together under one roof.

Back in 2013, when the city issued a fresh request for proposals for the land bordering the Willow Reserve, developers presented concepts for four-story walk-up apartments. That garnered some pus back from members of the neighborhood district council, who noted the heavy amount of rental housing already in the area. It also led to more delays.

“The overall rental rate is 62 percent, which is bigger than the city average,” Brendmoen said. “(Residents) were like, ‘People want bigger homes. They want to live with their grandparents.'” Related Articles St. Paul City Council approves $600,000 charge for downtown improvement district

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Eventually, Twin Cities Habitat began prepping the earth for 11 income-restricted homes — only to put the work on pause as digging uncovered an unexpectedly large amount of construction debris, including asbestos wrapping from old water heaters, said Mike Nelson, director of land development for Twin Cities Habitat.

Some 900 truckloads of brick, mortar, residential siding and other remnants from home construction projects were rolled out, making room for fresh soil.

A high water table, drainage issues and Capitol Region Watershed’s ongoing clean-up of the 23-acre Willow Reserve and its 16 acres of wetlands provided additional challenges.

By November, the first four of 11 homes will be ready for families, and the remaining properties will be built over the next two to two-and-a-half years and sold to low-to-moderate income families at fixed-rate mortgage prices.

“We will make sure they’re paying no more than 30 percent of their income,” Nelson said.