Racial Equity Impact Analysis (REIA)

Reuter-Walton Development has submitted a comprehensive plan amendment for Minneapolis 2040 to allow for the development of a 5-story multifamily residential building called the Greenway Apartments.

The applicant is seeking to amend the future land use guidance in Minneapolis 2040 for 2839 11th Ave S from Production Mixed Use to Urban Neighborhood, and to amend the built form guidance from Interior 3 to Corridor 6 for the properties located at 2837, 2839, and 2843 11th Ave S, and 2834, 2836, and 2840 12th Ave S. The approval of the comprehensive plan amendment would allow passage for greater building heights and denser land uses that will result in more housing and housing options near a network of high-quality public transportation and regional trail amenities.

Shanna Sether and Rattana Sengsoulichanh

The project site is located in the Midtown Phillips neighborhood. According to the 2015 – 2019 American Community Survey 5-year Estimates, the racial demographics of the Midtown Phillips neighborhood is 30.8% Black, 4.3% Asian, and 35.7% Hispanic or Latino, and 26.1% white. Data on the American Indian population is not readily available at this geographic level.

This is compared to the racial demographics citywide level which is 18.9% Black, 1.1% American Indian, 5.9 Asian, 9.6% Hispanic or Latino, 4.2% Two or more races alone, and 63.6% white. 

In terms of demographics of residents in the surrounding neighborhood of the project area, the Midtown Phillips neighborhood has a greater percentage of Black and Hispanic or Latino residents compared to citywide by 12 and 26 percentage points, respectively.

In regard to housing, in Minneapolis BIPOC households are more likely to be renters compared to white households. According to the 2012 – 2016 ACS 5-Year Estimates, in Minneapolis about 20 percent of Black and American Indian, 25 percent of Latino, and 34 percent of Asian households owned their home, whereas 58% of white households owned the home they occupied. 

Housing affordability also continues to be a growing issue that Minneapolis residents face. Housing costs have risen relative to incomes for renters in Minneapolis, but not for homeowners. The rising cost of rental housing is disproportionately impacting households of color who are paying a large percentage of their income on housing costs. According to the 2015 – 2019 ACS 5-Year Estimates Public Use Microdata Sample, at least 50 percent of Black and American Indian households, 45 percent of Hispanic or Latino households, and 38 percent of Asian households are housing cost burdened, whereas only 28 percent of white households are housing cost burdened.  

Racially disaggregated data on income, housing, and housing tenure for Minneapolis is generally available. Demographic data of the American Indian community is not readily available at the neighborhood level but is accessible at the community level. According to the 2015 – 2019 ACS 5-year estimates for the Phillips community, 3.9% of residents are American Indian.

This comprehensive plan amendment advances racial equity by allowing for more housing, and the densification of the site will allow for more residents to live in proximity to trails, retail and services, and high-quality public transportation. This analysis will explore how the comprehensive plan amendment advances the policy goals of Housing and the Built Environment & Transportation.

The production and preservation of affordable rental housing advances racial equity. While it is challenging to evaluate this comprehensive plan amendment without considering the proposed development, which includes affordable units for households incomes at 30%, 50%, and 60% of area median income and units for people experiencing homelessness, the existing built form guidance would limit the scale of development to three stories and in result in fewer housing units that can be built on the site than proposed. While amending the built form guidance to Corridor 6 would provide policy support for a larger scale building, the developer must produce affordable housing units that can serve households at the lowest incomes levels which include at or below 30% of area median income. The developer may consider other public funding sources to support the delivery of the proposed affordable housing mix and ensure that the units remain affordable to serve future households for the life of the building.

The geographic location of the project site would allow for future resident’s access and proximity to high-quality transit and park amenities in the area including the Midtown Greenway. According to City of Minneapolis Office of Sustainability, in 2015 on-road transportation accounted for 26% of the city’s greenhouse gas emissions. These vehicle emissions have a cumulative adverse effect on human health that can lead to serious health problems such as heart attacks, asthma, and lung conditions. The site is in proximity to two future BRT routes, the D Line on Chicago Avenue and B Line on Lake Street, which will be able to serve the future residents of the development. By increasing the scale of development in proximity to these transit investments, residents and workers will have access to a car-free transportation options, and will especially provide great benefit to zero-car households and remove the burden of the cost of maintaining and owning a car.

City staff will continue to track comprehensive plan amendments for Minneapolis 2040. Comprehensive plan amendments are typically followed by a proposed development project that would now be supported by land use and built form policy guidance. Staff will continue to track permitting data of development projects.

CPED continuously strives to identify more consistent and accessible ways of tracking the state of housing in Minneapolis as well as outcomes for residents disaggregated by race and other important factors. This includes a partnership with the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis to develop a dashboard on housing indicators in Minneapolis with a goal of having this information available online for residents, staff, and policy makers to access.  

The applicant will be responsible for continuing to engage with community stakeholders after the approval of the comprehensive plan amendment, and the subsequent engagement to seek land use approvals which may include notification of adjacent property owners if a rezoning is required.