April 4, 2014
By Stephanie West
Minneapolis, Minn. — The AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trust (HIT) has financed $33 million for a 259-unit construction project in Minneapolis. Over 260 union construction jobs will be created. The HIT investment at Five 15 on the Park is located in the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood on the edge of downtown Minneapolis.
Half of the units in the new six-story building will be affordable, with the remaining units to be market rate. Plans for ground floor commercial space include a neighborhood community center, child day care center, and healthcare facility.
"Five 15 on the Park is just the kind of development that Minneapolis and this neighborhood have said they need," said HIT Executive Vice President and Chief Investment Officer Stephanie H. Wiggins. "It represents sustainable, quality, affordable housing, well-connected to mass transit so that people have better access to jobs and services and community amenities. We are very pleased to help make this project a reality."
The HIT has invested over $322 million in the Minneapolis and St. Paul metro area over the last 10 years, building or preserving almost 3,600 units of housing in 23 projects and generating over 3,200 jobs for members of the local building and construction trades unions.
"The HIT has been a good friend to the building trades here in Minneapolis through its investment in projects that are built all-union," said Dan McConnell, Business Manager for the Minneapolis Building and Construction Trades Council.
