An eclectic gathering of Northfield dignitaries, advocates, and curious members of the community turned out en force on Tuesday afternoon to celebrate the joyful grand opening of the Hillcrest Village housing development.
The project, which combines emergency shelter, transitional housing, and affordable housing in a six-building complex, is thought to be the first Net Zero Energy emergency shelter and supportive housing project in the nation. A varied group of organizations, led by Community Action Center, including Johnson Reiland Builders and Remodelers, Schmidt Homes, NCC Builders, the City of Northfield, Merchants Bank, the University of Minnesota Extension and many others came together to see the ambitious project become a reality.
The housing project has garnered attention around the country for showing that the intersection of affordable housing and climate responsibility can be resolved in a fiscally responsible manner.
Brent Nystrom, the chair of the Northfield Housing and Redevelopment Authority, said this was a project that brought everybody in the community together, because everybody believed in it, and he thinks it is a project that should be copied across the nation.
Representative Kristi Pursell said the project is an example of what could be.
“What I hear in St. Paul is ‘It would be nice to have climate friendly affordable housing, but we need housing now,’” she said. “Well, this shows what is possible.”
Jane Bartho, the President of the Northfield Chamber of Commerce, praised the leadership of Community Action Center Executive Director Scott Wopata, and credited him for being able to bring so many people together and keep the project moving forward.
For his part, Wopata was clearly proud of the project for both what it offers the community and for the example that it can set moving forward.
“There’s a question mark in everybody’s head whether it can all be done. And I don’t think this completely resolves that question mark, but it certainly resolves a lot of it. Everybody feels that intangible feeling when they’re here. That the buildings around them are real. You can touch them; you can feel them. And as a community, we prioritized every single member of our community to have access to dignified housing. That resolves a lot of question marks in our heads.”
The ribbon cutting, while festive and ceremonial, does not mean that the development is finished. CAC Project Coordinator Lisa Percy said a solar garden will be built on the grounds later this summer, followed by a playground for the children who live there. However, Percy said Hillcrest has actually had residents since last August, and now that the final touches have been put on each of the buildings, it is operating at full capacity.
South Railway Street could be site of new Dundas industrial park
Prior to the Dundas City Council meeting on Monday night, the board convened as the Dundas Economic Development Authority to discuss the feasibility study of a proposed industrial park.
The City of Dundas has been looking at creating a small industrial area for some time now, and according to the report, an 11-acre site on South Railway Street is the preferred location.
Commercial industrial growth has been a stated goal of both the cities of Dundas and Northfield. The idea behind the park would be to help developing businesses in Dundas to grow.
Dundas City Administrator Jenelle Teppen said the original idea had been to create a business incubator, however, she said the city is lacking in some resources to create a formal business development program of that nature. The city staff, she said, is not large enough to devote time to help develop business plans or help to find funding sources for developing businesses.
Rather, she said, the park would be a place for a business to locate when they have outgrown their original inception stage.
“It could accommodate some smaller start up places. Somebody who’s moving out of their garage. Perhaps you know they’ve got a a landscaping service that they run out of their house somewhere out of their garage, and maybe this site could serve that as a next step for somebody.”
The feasibility study, prepared by Northwest Associated Consultants in the Twin Cities, looks at economic trends, competitive environment, land use issues, developmental concepts and other criteria in evaluating the project. It finds the Dundas/Northfield area is “well positioned to both drive and support economic growth,” due to the young and well-educated population that is predicted to grow over the next ten years, and the relatively low wages in Rice County compared to the Twin Cities metro area. However, there are challenges as well, including the strong competition statewide for the industrial real estate market where a `city like Faribault would have an advantage. Overall, the recommendation to the city is for an “incremental and targeted approach,” focusing on areas where city services and roads are already in place.
Teppen said the plan is for the city to focus on first acquiring the parcel of land, and then deciding on how to proceed.
Jeff Johnson’s full conversation with Dundas City Administrator Jenelle Teppen can be heard here
Open house will look at new concepts, traffic study for Lincoln Parkway
The City of Northfield will host an open house next month to discuss the traffic flow in and around Greenvale Park Elementary School on Lincoln Parkway.
Earlier this month at a city Council meeting, Northfield Public Works Director and City Engineer Dave Bennett made a presentation outlining the city’s concerns about the area, particularly at the school’s pickup and drop-off times. Those problems will only be exacerbated when the Kraewood housing development is up and running sometime in 2024 or 2025. The city is now in the initial stages of evaluating the area and the traffic flow at different times during the day to identify both existing and future problem areas, and identifying what can be done to make the area as safe as possible.
Bennet said during the meeting a formal traffic study will be conducted this fall that will more closely identify the issues, and the city and school district will work together to make drop-off and pick-up times safer.
Northfield City Administrator Ben Martig said the Open House will be held to introduce concepts including bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure that could be put in place to make the area safer.
The Open House will begin at 5:30 on July 19th, at City Hall.
Rich Larson is the KYMN News Director. Contact him at rich@kymnradio.net
