Today ULI Minnesota released the “Missing Housing for Middle Incomes – Strategies to Reduce Cost and Add Affordability” report, the culmination of a year of work by real estate industry experts on opportunities to increase production and increase affordability for middle income households.

In partnership with Prosperity’s Front Door, ULI Minnesota engaged a panel of key industry experts working on all scales of development and construction to examine barriers to accessible housing. The final report outlines what is getting in the way of success and provides suggested recommendations to break down those barriers in the hopes of increasing production of housing that provide rents and values affordable to those with middle incomes who are a critical population of workers in our region.

The report identified four major drivers increasing the cost of housing: cost of parking, cost of land, regulatory constraints and the lack of tailored zoning for mid-density projects. The panel also made four major recommendations to deliver on a new model of housing that will sustain more of our state’s vibrant work force. Those recommendations were:

• Focus on innovations that lower costs without requiring new approvals, including offsite construction and modern HVAC.
• Increase access to social impact capital and alternative financing.
• Simplify and modernize land use and building codes.
• Advance turnkey, cost-optimized designs for small-scale projects.

Delivering on this goal will require key partnerships among the public and private sector to understand the barriers and make modest but multiple changes to the way we develop housing across the state.

ULI’s new mission commitment to CONNECT, INSPIRE, and LEAD is the foundation of the work to understand the real estate and community challenges of developing housing for middle incomes absent of public financial investments. ULI Minnesota is fortunate to have active, passionate and diverse members who care deeply about the future of the region, its built environment and providing a full range of housing choices that is essential to community economic prosperity.