Rising costs to develop affordable housing in the Twin Cities prompt new calls to ‘do better’

The grand opening for Opportunity Crossing in Minneapolis in July was a celebration that featured a who’s who of local, state and community leaders. 

They touted the array of private and government funding partners needed to complete the $66 million affordable housing development at the site of the Wells Fargo that burned during the riots that followed the killing of George Floyd in 2020. 

Apartments in the new building are specifically reserved for people making no more than 50% of the Area Median Income, but the total development cost for each unit came out to $500,000.

5 INVESTIGATES found those high per-unit costs are common at taxpayer-subsidized developments and are a source of controversy and frustration in a decades-long debate about how to resolve an affordable housing crisis in the Twin Cities.

‘We have to be better’

Michael Rainville s...