Red Lake Band's Mino-bimaadiziwin awarded $2,718,591 from City of Minneapolis,

The Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians' Mino-bimaadiziwin was awarded $2,718,591 from the City of Minneapolis on Friday, June 16, 2017, one of the largest Affordable Housing Trust awards ever approved.

The Red Lake Band are proposing to develop a 109-unit mixed use development adjacent to the Franklin Avenue Metro Blue line LRT station at 2105 Cedar Avenue South, the former Amble Warehouse site. Mino-bimaadiziwin (an Ojibwe phrase meaning "the good life",) will offer efficiences, one, two and three bedroom units in a six story building with ample green space, shared underground parking, and a complete amenity package. The Red Lake Band will co-locate their Wellness Center and Red Lake Nation Embassy on the building's first floor. Mino-bimaadiziwin provides mixed-use, mixed-income, workforce housing for families on a distressed site along a transit-oriented commercial corridor.

This development is important and ground breaking for multiple reasons:

a. It addresses the lack of affordable rentl housing which disproportionately effects Native Americans;

b. Mino-bimaadiziwin is one of the first Tribal inspired, sponsored and developed housing developments off Trust land;

c. Cluturally appropriate services are co-located with affordable housing;

d. The location allows for a TOD development with access to jobs, education, entertainment and services; and

e. The addition of 109 housing units, an Embassy, and Wellness Center will completely transform a blighted site adjacent to an LRT station.

The Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians wants to permanently move the dial on the Native American experience by developing a mixed use development that combines housing with a Wellness Center and Red Lake Nation Embassy at the gateway of the American Indian Cultural Corridor. RLBC thoughtfully selected this site for its first development off the Red Lake Reservation because this is where many of their members live. Housing for Native Americans in the urban core hs been developed, but not by a Tribe. The location on the Cultural Corridor along Franklin Avenue represents an opportunity for Native Americans to create a community destination and source of pride. Mino-bimaadiziwin augments the Cultural Corridor through creating a comprehensive, holistic living environment that blends housing and traditional healing practices with contemporary therapies. Mino-bimaadiziwin is also a mixed-income development, recognizing the need to holistically provide housing that serves LTH households alongside households with incomes at the 50% and 60% Area Median Income levels. Efficiencies and 1-bedroom units are offered to encourage community elders to live in community with young families.

In addition to the Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians, the Mino-bimaadiziwin development team includes Cuninghm Group Architects; Loeffler Construction (MBE/WBE); Plumer Law Office (MBE); Woodstone Builders Inc.; Westwood Professional Services; and Landon Group (WBE).