Housing

In an apparent compromise between developer Clark Gassen and the Marcy-Holmes Neighborhood Association (MHNA), the historic Florence Court apartments could be renovated as part of the project to build a new six-story, 84-unit apartment building at the site, where a BP gas station now stands at the corner of University Avenue on the north end of the 10th Avenue bridge. MORE »

Many Minnesota homeowners are a bit befuddled these days. Why, if the value of my house is declining, are my property taxes going up? MORE »

Diana Thompson’s eyes filled with tears as she described how she came to spend Christmas at a shelter this year. She had been the only tenant in a building fallen into complete disrepair. The building was foreclosed, and then condemned, and Thompson was ordered to leave on December 1. The mother of a two children, one of whom is disabled, she gathered all the belongings she could carry and stayed in a motel for 12 days, and then moved into a shelter. Her landlord never returned her phone calls, and she has lost most of her possessions, including toys for her children, furniture, and clothes, due to the rushed move. “I hope something is done in the future,” Thompson said, “because I don’t want to ever do this again.” MORE »

Bulldoze the house and make it a parking lot or designate it as a historic landmark and restore it as livable space — that’s the choice, and dilemma, for neighbors of the Fjelde House at 3009 Park Avenue in Minneapolis and James and Kristen Schoffman, who bought the building, planning to tear it down. MORE »

“It’s gonna be a cold one.” We hear it every year.

The difference this year, however, is that winter heating costs are predicted to be 20 percent higher than last year, said Bill Walsh, communications director for the Minnesota Department of Commerce. MORE »

Although winter is not yet officially here, with snow on the ground and temperatures dipping into the teens, Minnesotans face another season of high heating bills. MORE »

Teams of volunteers hit the streets of North Minneapolis Monday evening, knocking on doors to offer help in avoiding the nightmare of foreclosure. The Northside Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC) and several partners and allies began working on their plan months ago. The first step was identifying at-risk homes. Volunteers spent several months combing through mortgage records to identify homes with adjustable rate mortgages. Now they were ready to contact those homeowners directly, offering help in dealing with banks and lenders as their mortgage payments were about to re-set. MORE »

It’s nearly impossible to travel through Minneapolis and not witness the remains of the foreclosure crisis. Entire streets are left empty and dark. Historic homes have been turned into picked-apart skeletons. And as one foreclosure unfolds, its seeds take root in neighboring homes and streets, causing home prices to plummet and the mortgage mess to accelerate. The problem is especially visible on the city’s North side, where more than 800 homes are on the city’s vacant properties list. MORE »