‘One Roof’ To Flip East Hillside Building Into New Affordable Housing

DULUTH, Minn. — One Roof Community Housing has announced some big plans to combat the housing crisis plaguing Duluth, along with the issues that do happen in some affordable housing complexes.

The focus is on a vacant and boarded up apartment building on the 600-block of E. 4th Street that started on fire Nov. 20.  One Roof has chosen to renovate those units and turn them into 16 units of affordable housing.

The sale of the building is expected to close by around the New Year, and the public can expect to see changes to the area soon.

“We know that we are fighting an uphill battle when it comes to creation and preservation of affordable housing because it’s worse now than it was 25 or 30 years ago,” One Roof Housing Executive Director Jeff Corey said.

Additionally, One Roof plans to build a nearly $20 million apartment complex next to those apartments called the Brewery Creek Apartments, which is the former home of Last Chance Liquor and a Mobil auto center.

The 52-unit complex will be dedicated to homeless youth, with the remaining apartments for people with disabilities and households earning 60 percent or less of the median income.

One Roof will also be providing services to residents, including mental health care, job training, and furthering education.

“We’re dedicating more of the projects we have on our drawing board toward incomes of people that are 50 percent and below-median income and 30 percent and below-median income because that’s exactly the folks that can’t afford an 850 dollar studio apartment,” Corey said.

The cause of the fire at the 4th Street apartments was electrical.

The Brewery Creek Apartments are expected to break ground in April with the completion date of June 2023.