Ask anybody who runs a business in a small Minnesota town what's holding them back, and housing usually comes up before the coffee gets cold. The state is putting a little more money behind that problem.
According to Minnesota Housing's Oct. 1 announcement, the agency is investing $4.5 million through its Workforce Housing Development Program to help build 77 new rental homes in six Greater Minnesota communities: Bemidji, Elbow Lake, Fosston, Montevideo, Silver Bay and Winthrop. Four of those towns have fewer than 2,000 residents. Together, the six developments add up to more than $18.8 million in housing investment.
"Housing is an important part of keeping communities strong and helping local economies grow, whether a community has 1,000 residents or 100,000," said Minnesota Housing Commissioner Jennifer Ho. "These investments help Greater Minnesota communities create the homes they need for people who work at local businesses, schools, health care facilities and other employers."
Where the money is going
These aren't big-city apartment towers. They're small jobs, the kind local builders can actually win. Here's how the state split it up:
- Elbow Lake: $1,636,000 for 10 homes
- Montevideo: $1,189,000 for 24 homes
- Silver Bay: $750,000 for 25 homes
- Bemidji: $425,000 for six homes
- Fosston: $250,000 for four homes
- Winthrop: $240,000 for eight homes
That works out to just under $4.5 million in state money, and at least one project lands in five of the six Greater Minnesota regions: Northeast, Northwest, Southeast, Southwest and West Central.
The biggest single project by unit count is up on the North Shore. Silverpointe II Apartments in Silver Bay will add 25 market-rate apartments next to the existing Silverpointe Apartments, which the Lake County Housing and Redevelopment Authority owns. The HRA lists 2027 as the project year on its website.
"Lake County has been working with the City of Silver Bay and the Iron Range Resources & Rehabilitation Board over the last four years to build workforce housing along Minnesota's North Shore," said Matthew Johnson, the Lake County HRA's director. "The Minnesota Workforce Housing Grant has closed the funding gap to make Silverpointe II Apartments become a reality." He said the 25 market-rate units "will bring much needed housing relief to employers large and small throughout the region."
In Bemidji, the money is going to the Mountain View Meadows project, which also got funding in 2024 for six units, KAXE reported. Fosston separately received a small cities housing grant in April.
None of the announcements name a builder for any of the six projects.
How the program works
The Workforce Housing Development Program is built for exactly these places: small and midsized Greater Minnesota towns with job growth, tight rental markets and employers who can't find places for workers to live. The money comes as deferred loans, which help fill the gap where rents alone won't cover the cost of new construction.
There are strings. A community has to show a rental vacancy rate of 5% or less for at least the previous two years. Local partners must put up at least $1 in matching money for every $2 the state provides, and applicants have to show support from area employers. The homes are market-rate, not income-restricted, which makes this different from most state housing money.
The next round of the program opened Oct. 15, so other towns can start lining up projects now.
Why it matters for Contractors
For small and midsized builders outside the metro, this is the kind of program that turns into real work. A four-unit job in Fosston or an eight-unit building in Winthrop is right-sized for a local general builder and the subs who already work that area, whether that's excavation, foundations, framing, roofing, mechanical or finishes. Bigger projects like Montevideo's 24 units and Silver Bay's 25 are good, steady jobs for regional firms.
The required local match and employer support mean these projects usually have a city, an HRA or a big local employer behind them. Those are the folks to get to know. If you build in Greater Minnesota, it's worth calling your city administrator or economic development director now to ask whether they're applying in the round that just opened, and to make sure they know you're available to price the work.