City Of Golden Valley Begins Housing Initiative Engagement

Press release from the City of Golden Valley:

August 12, 2020

Given Golden Valley’s desirable location, one of the major challenges for housing affordability is the value of the land itself. In response, the City Council directed staff to use City-owned vacant land for single-family or multi-family affordable housing development. One of the first steps in this project is community engagement.

To help with the process, the City received a Capacity Building Grant from the Minnesota Housing Finance Agency to fund the hiring of a community engagement specialist. Moxie Urban Consulting will lead an initiative to:

• provide guidance to the City on types of housing that can be developed in several identified parcels
• develop innovative tools and approaches for engaging neighbors and the entire community in conversations about housing in the City that be re-used in future projects

The Sites

For this housing project, the City prioritized three publicly-owned parcels based on their development potential and ability to accommodate residential uses. Because of their lot size or location, the following sites offer a wide range of potential for different housing styles and densities:

• 300 Turner’s Crossroad N
• 2415 Douglas Dr N
• 504 Lilac Dr N

The Engagement Process

Because of COVID-19, Moxie developed an online engagement plan to meet City, State, and Federal safety standards. If the health risk of in-person activities goes down, Moxie may shift to hosting some events on the housing sites and design them to maintain social distancing, mask-wearing, and other safety procedures.

To learn more about the project and the three sites, go to www.gvmnhousing.org. This website will include updates on the project, timelines, and sign-up information for upcoming events, as well as general information on how Golden Valley is addressing affordable housing.

To receive email updates on the City’s affordable housing initiatives, sign up for GV DirectConnect here.

This press release was produced by the City of Golden Valley. The views expressed here are the author’s own.