04-08-2026 PC Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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Page 2 of 10 person household with an annual income between $79,440 and $104,200. The median home sale price is $465,000 with only a three-month supply on the market — well below the five-to-six months considered healthy. Average rents exceed $1,800/month. Affordability pressures extend beyond lower-income residents: over a third of older households (65+) are now cost-burdened nationally, and many Arden Hills seniors face a "lifecycle housing mismatch" with few options between large single-family homes and expensive senior care facilities. The crisis is both national and local. Home prices have risen 60% nationwide since 2019, and the U.S. homeownership rate fell in 2024 for the first time in eight years — most sharply among households under 35. Two structural forces drive the shortage: decades of underbuilding "missing middle" housing (small-scale homes and small multi-family buildings), and incomes that have not kept pace with construction costs. New tariffs are expected to add roughly $10,900 per new home, and economic uncertainty is suppressing both builder confidence and buyer demand. Locally, Arden Hills is largely built out, institutional land holdings limit developable areas, and limited public transit adds to residents' true cost of living. The following definitions have been used to frame the conversations: Affordable housing means any home, whether rented or owned, costing 30% or less of a household's income. Attainable housing refers to homes/condominiums purchasable by households earning 100–125% of Area Median Income (AMI). Workforce housing serves households at 60–80% AMI. Subsidized and deeply affordable housing targets households at or below 60% and 30% of AMI respectively, often through government programs. Naturally Occurring Affordable Housing (NOAH) describes older, unsubsidized homes that are affordable due to age or condition. Missing middle housing describes duplexes, triplexes, and small apartment buildings compatible with single-family neighborhoods. This type of residential housing has been severely underbuilt since the 1980s. Arden Hills’ home values and rents are higher than surrounding communities, driven in part by institutional land holdings which limit net tax capacity, limited transit options, demand for homes within the Mounds View School District, and constrained supply. One offsetting factor: Arden Hills homeowners pay less in property taxes than owners of similarly valued homes in neighboring cities. The ~1,960 planned units at Rice Creek Commons will help address supply, though the timeline is uncertain. Other first and second ring suburban cities offer proven models: Shoreview, Little Canada, New Brighton, Woodbury, and St. Louis Park have each added hundreds of affordable units through inclusionary policies and density bonuses. Edina's inclusionary housing policy has generated nearly $9 million for affordable housing and Richfield and Bloomington have had similar successes. Further, Minneapolis and St. Paul eliminated single-family-only zoning districts with measurable results that have been demonstrated to be an outlier among similarly sized metropolitan areas. Fortunately, there are many low- to no-cost opportunities and solutions that can be tailored to meet Arden Hills’ unique needs: • Zoning reforms: Allow more units per lot by right, eliminate minimum parking requirements, reduce minimum lot sizes, allow the construction of accessory dwelling units, and adopt a more flexible building code — all largely cost-neutral and likely to increase the city's tax base. • Inclusionary housing policy: Require affordable units in new developments of 20+ units or collect in-lieu fees for a housing trust fund. • Density bonuses: Offer developers additional units in exchange for affordable housing, green space, or sustainable design.