The City and developers full speed ahead on stalled housing projects to increase affordability and density
On Tuesday, Mayor Jacob Frey, Council Member Aurin Chowdhury, State legislators, labor leaders, developers, housing and environmental advocates applauded legislation passed during the 2024 legislative session allowing the City of Minneapolis to resume housing development under the Minneapolis 2040 Comprehensive Plan. After being stuck in a years-long court battle, state lawmakers passed a bill that resolved the legal challenge under the 2040 Plan that gave rise to the lawsuit. The legislation allows the City of Minneapolis to move forward with permitting long-stalled multi-unit housing projects.
“Minneapolis’ nation-leading affordable housing work has been made possible in large part due to the 2040 Plan – and thanks to our state lawmakers, we get to keep that historic work going,” said Mayor Frey. “The 2040 Plan has always been about more than development; it’s a testament to our City’s commitment to having diverse housing options in every neighborhood, equitable growth, and the dismantling of generations of intentional segregation. Our partners at the legislature found a fix to protect this plan – and every neighborhood in Minneapolis will benefit because of it.”
“The Minneapolis 2040 Plan is a landmark accomplishment that set an example for the rest of the country,” said State Senator Omar Fateh. “By legalizing triplexes and allowing more Transit Oriented Development, Minneapolis has led the way on housing affordability, climate action, and reversing the racist legacy of exclusionary zoning. We should not allow our state's environmental laws to be abused to halt progress like that, so I was proud to be the lead Senate author on the bill to protect our environmental laws from that type of misuse.”
“I was proud to author the comprehensive plan clarification bill to ensure much-needed housing development can move forward, while also ensuring that appropriate environmental review and protections remain in place. Housing density and environmental review can and should exist together to achieve our affordable housing and environmental goals at the same time, and this bill ensures that they do,” said State Representative Sydney Jordan.
“Resolving the Minneapolis 2040 lawsuit once-and-for-all will allow Minneapolis and other cities to move forward with their vision for a future that is both pro-housing and pro-environment. In doing so we will create more affordable homes that are desperately needed, a vital step forward in our state’s work to address our housing crisis. Only through innovation and an all-hands-on-deck approach at all levels of government will we meet this moment,” said State Representative Mike Howard.
The Minneapolis 2040 Comprehensive Plan was passed in 2019 and was the guiding vision for shaping how the city will grow and change for the next 20 years. This includes historic zoning reforms to allow for a diversity of use in all neighborhoods across the city.
“In the four plus years since the Minneapolis 2040 plan has been in place, we are seeing that bold land use policies intended to address our city’s housing shortage are working to produce more housing choices in more neighborhoods. The City is increasing housing supply while growing in a sustainable way that protects the environment through implementation of Minneapolis 2040, along with other comprehensive policy documents like the Climate Equity Action Plan and the Transportation Action Plan,” said City Planning Director Meg McMahan.
In part due to the 2040 Plan, Minneapolis has seen record-breaking levels of affordable rental housing units produced in the past several years, while also keeping rents at some of the lowest rates in the country.
Since 2018, Mayor Frey and the City of Minneapolis have invested more than $360 million into affordable rental housing and homeownership programs.