1.A Arden Village Workforce Housing Concept

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The Need for Work -Force Housing According to the Family Housing Fund, a non-profit funder for affordable housing in the Twin Cities metro area, housing is "affordable" if a family pays no more than 30 percent of its income for housing costs. In the Twin Cities metro area, more than 185,000 lower income households pay more than this amount for housing. Almost half live in the suburbs such as Arden Hills. Arden Village will help the City achieve some of its housing goals in the 2030 Comprehensive Plan including the development of a variety of housing that are suitable for a mix of incomes and the new development of affordable/work-force housing. The Plan forecasts a 55% increase in the number of households between 2000 and 2030. This forecasted rate of growth surpasses all adjacent communist as well as Ramsey County. The Plan also notes that apartments with ten or more units are just 2.74% of the City's existing housing stock and there is just one traditional apartment building with 37 units and one condominium project with 72 units. Even if the City does not achieve the projected growth, there is and will continue to be a need for rental housing for the many employees that work in Arden Hills. The 2030 Comprehensive Plan identifies three primary housing issues that will need to be addressed by Arden Hills: housing diversity, housing affordability and housing quality. Diversity. Rental housing is an important component of overall housing supply as it services the needs of several segments of the population including retail service employees, seniors, young adults just entering the workplace and economically disadvantaged households. Affordability. The availability of quality affordable housing is an issue in every Twin Cities area community. Because of the disparity of housing costs and wages throughout the Twin Cities, affordable housing continues to a major initiative of the Metropolitan Council. The Met Council has allocated a need for 288 affordable housing units to Arden Hills between now and the year 2020. Quality. The quality and long-term viability of existing and new housing stock is essential for successful housing in a community. The proposed Arden Village project will help the City accomplish many of its housing goals in the 2030 Comprehensive Plan and also addresses the primary housing issues. Because much of Arden Hills is developed, apart from the TCAAP site, opportunities to meet these goals are somewhat limited. The City will also be partnering with an experienced housing developer that has a proven track record of developing and maintaining high quality projects. ahage Arden Village Proposed Development 7