Ground Broken On Mixed-Income Housing Development In Duluth

The development is on the corner of 6th Avenue East and 4th Street

DULUTH, Minn. – Fifty-two new mixed-income apartment units are officially underway in Duluth’s East Hillside neighborhood with a partial focus on serving young adults with a history of homelessness.

The property is located on the corner of 6th Avenue East and 4th Street.

One Roof Housing and Three Rivers Community Action are developing the property. It used to be a gas station site, which was heavily contaminated, making the prime real-estate difficult to develop.

But after One Roof purchased the land in 2018, multiple agencies came together to help with funding, like the Fond du Lac Band, Essentia Health and an anonymous donor, among others.

“The soil that you are standing on a month ago was really reeking of fuel. This was contaminated, all of that soil was remove — one of the examples about what’s hard about projects like this,” explained Jeff Corey, executive director of One Roof.

Ten of the apartments will be available to Fond du Lac Band members. 32 units will be focused on young adults with a history of homelessness.

Organizers said the new building will contribute to the revitalization of the Hillside neighborhood and Medical District.

“Now the big idea is under construction and relatively short order all of that work, everything that was brought together, becomes something much more, and becomes 52 new homes. That’s huge. 52 new homes in the community and that will make Brewery Creek here a community asset for decades to come,” said James Lehnhoff, assistant commissioner for Minnesota Housing.

Essentia Health has committed $1.4 million toward the project.

The building will be five stories and is expected to be completed in May of 2024.