Union pension funds build new Twin Cities housing (40 percent affordable to lower income families)

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.workdayminnesota.org/index.php?news_6_4356

By Steve Share 9 February 2010

MINNEAPOLIS - These days, construction cranes are a rare sight above the metro area skyline. But drive west on W. 36th St. towards Lake Calhoun and you can see a giant crane towering above the hills on Calhoun’s western shore.
At the corner of France Ave. So. and Excelsior Blvd., a mixed-use development funded by union pension funds is creating union construction jobs while building new market-rate rental housing and retail space.

The $33.2 million development is the Ellipse on Excelsior, with $26.1 million in financing from the AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trust. The Ellipse will feature 132 market-rate rental housing units and 16,000 square feet of commercial space.


The Ellipse takes shape (above) along Lake Calhoun. A sign (below) showcases the pension support of the project.

Like all development financed by HIT, 100 percent of the construction work at the Ellipse is required to be union labor.

The Twin Cities area has been “a good market for the Housing Investment Trust,” said Ann Kay, HIT communications director.

To date, HIT has provided $642 million in financing for housing developments in Minnesota that have totaled $849 million in development costs, produced 6,700 housing units, and created more than 5,400 union construction jobs. Most of that activity, Kay reported, has taken place since the early 1990s.

Almost 40 percent of the units financed by HIT in Minnesota have been affordable to lower income families. HIT has provided financing for inner city and suburban developments, including senior housing.



FULL story at link.

[aquart]

1. See what happens when a pension fund isn't looted?

[patrice]

2. The tip of a wave to come? Union Hotels? Union Hospitals? Union DayCare? Union Grocery Stores?