The City of Golden Valley is working to address the need for affordable housing in the city.

This project, funded by a Minnesota Housing Finance Agency (MHFA) Capacity Grant, has two main goals:

1. Provide guidance to the City on types of housing that can be developed on several identified parcels
2. Develop innovative tools and approaches for engaging neighbors and the entire community in conversations about housing in the City

An important (and unforeseen) component of the project is that it started right at the time that COVID-19 was reaching our community and making in-person meetings and other in-person engagement activities not possible. Thinking through and developing innovative online and social distance-compliant tools for genuine engagement is a key goal for the project.

The sites
The City has identified eight publicly owned sites in the city that it is considering for use as affordable housing at some point in the future. These parcels are mostly remnants from the construction of highways and are now vacant. There are no existing plans or developer proposals for these sites.

City staff have prioritized three of these sites based upon their development potential and their ability to accommodate a residential use. The sites are:

• 2415 Douglas Drive N
• 300 Turner’s Crossroad North
• 504 Lilac Drive N

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The sites were also selected because they are different from one another, thus allowing the city and community to consider a variety of housing options. These properties are identified as Phase 1 Priority Sites.

The second group of sites (a total of five parcels) is identified as Phase 2 Sites. There are currently no plans to investigate future options for these sites.

The map provided identifies the street address and general location of all eight sites.

Activities and timeline
Activities for the project include:

• Survey and general questions about the sites and housing (late July to September 6), the findings for which will be posted in mid-September.
• Virtual Design Workshops for each site (September 21, 24 and 29). More information here >
• Virtual “Open House” to share your thoughts on a range of questions for each site (September 12 - October 1). More information here >