This grant will be used to hire a consultant to prepare design guidelines for the locally designated Washburn-Fair Oaks Historic district and to obtain neighborhood input on the guidelines. The guidelines will provide important updates that will impact the rehabilitation and stewardship of existing historic resources and design requirements for future projects built in this district.

John Smoley and Rattana Sengsoulichanh, Madel Mouta

The historic district is located in south Minneapolis in the Whittier neighborhood. The geographic scope is defined by East Franklin Avenue on the north, Interstate 35W on the east, East 26th Street on the south, and the alley between Nicollet Avenue and Frist Avenue south on the west.

According to the 2015 – 2019 ACS 5-year estimates, the racial demographics of the Whitter neighborhood is 18.5% Black, 3.8% Asian, 16.0% Hispanic or Latino, 4.9% Two or more races, and 56.1% white.

The Washburn-Fair Oaks Historic District contains a significant concentration of residences built by prominent Minneapolis developers with popular architecture styles that existed in the late 19th and early 20th century. The district includes a range of housing types including single-family, duplexes, and multifamily apartment buildings that serve households with a median household income of $38,000, compared to the median household income citywide at $62,500. 

Residents of the Washburn-Fair Oaks Historic District are primarily renters. Approximately 81.2% of the Whittier neighborhood households are renters, compared to households citywide which are 49.7% renters.  Renters are more likely to be low-income than homeowners and households of color are more likely to rent than white households. The neighborhood represents a significant proportion of households that are renters, with modest incomes, and require property owners to continue to invest in and maintain these building to ensure tenants can have access to safe and healthy homes.  

Updating the district’s forty-six year old design guidelines will not require any properties be altered. Knowing the median household income of BIPOC renters in the district and how much rents are before and after improvements to residential buildings could be helpful in determining if extra measures need to be taken to in order to not displace renters, but staff has not found evidence of displacement of renters or BIPOC communities thus far in the district’s forty-six-year history.  Indeed, the higher-than-average presence of BIPOC communities and renters in this district indicates that the Washburn-Fair Oaks Historic District supports conditions favorable for both renters and persons of color.  Updating design guidelines to reflect and address twenty-first century practices and needs should improve the quality of both preservation and housing in this area.

Engaging with property owners, renters, and the public will help inform the Washburn-Fair Oaks Historic District guidelines. The guidelines will provide important updates that will impact the rehabilitation and stewardship of existing historic resources and design requirements for future projects built in this district. . The district includes buildings and structures across 214 different parcels. The buildings in this district are primarily residential with a few buildings dedicated to institutional uses. While the exterior of these buildings contributes to the identity and character of the district, these buildings continue to serve as homes for residents of Minneapolis, and places for community members to congregate and conduct business.

Updating the historic district’s forty-six year old design guidelines will not eliminate the responsibility for property owners to make sure alterations coincide with any district design standards, but basic preservation standards require historic building materials and features be preserved, then repaired, then replaced, in that order. This approach ensures conservation of resources, and discourages replacement of serviceable features, thereby keeping costs down for both owners and renters alike. When funds are spent, they tend to be spent locally, since repairs are difficult to outsource. This approach creates and maintains local jobs, in addition to reducing our carbon footprint in a community of color, while maintaining the historic character that attracted existing renters and owners alike to the Washburn-Fair Oaks Historic District. The accurate inventory of contributing resources also unlocks the ability of property owners to access federal rehabilitation tax credits to support the stewardship of these buildings. The accuracy of this inventory will provide updated information of potential building alterations and streamline applications when property owners seek resources to maintain their buildings.

The goal of this work is to update the guidelines for the Washburn-Fair Oaks Historic District. Owners, renters, and the public will be engaged to help inform the guidelines. These guidelines will be used to support the stewardship and rehabilitation of buildings that are historic and cultural significance to Minneapolis and will help guide design of new buildings in the district. The success indicator is to provide safe and healthy homes for residents as well as to preserve the character and identity in the historic district.

The final deliverable by the consultant will include a document with the finalized guidelines. The owners and public will be able to access the document online.