Rental subsidies up for vote before the Metropolitan Council

Subsidies for affordable rental units in Eagan and in Richfield's Lyndale Gardens project are expected to go before the Metropolitan Council next month.

The projects are among a cluster approved last week by a council committee. Altogether, $1.5 million would go to affordable housing.

Another $3.9 million is being recommended to be shared among five transit station area projects in Minneapolis, St. Paul and Hopkins.

Of those five, the biggest dollar amount, $1.6 million, would go to a project called Oxford Green in Hopkins, near St. Louis Park's Knollwood Mall.

The aim is to help provide 51 affordable units at 1202 Oxford St., close to the proposed Southwest Corridor light-rail line. Four units would go to long-term homeless families.

Other transit station area project subsidies recommended:

• 2901 4th St. SE., Minneapolis, steps away from Central Corridor light rail: $1 million for a six-story apartment building with 201 units, one-fifth affordable.

• 771-785 University Av. W., St. Paul: near Central Corridor: $77,000 for a 30-unit affordable housing project with ground floor retail and offices for nonprofit developer Model Cities.

• 839-849 University Av. W., St. Paul: near Central Corridor: $160,000 for a project that includes 40 units of affordable housing, ground floor restaurant and shops, and a pocket park.

The housing grants for Eagan and Richfield are part of a separate group, mostly amounting to $200,000 each.

They include:

• Lakeshore Townhomes, 1319 Jurdy Road, Eagan: 50-unit affordable townhouse development, with 10 buildings.

Other cities getting grants would be Minnetonka and Robbinsdale. □