From
its genesis in the summer of 1999, GIFT was formed around the area known
as the Gateway. The Gateway community is the
first neighborhood to greet travelers entering St. Paul from the
southwest, especially the airport and Interstate 494. The City of "
St. Paul has designated this neighborhood for redevelopment, including
commercial and residential changes.
Through the strong involvement and
advocacy of citizens, in September 1999 the St. Paul City Council
approved the Shepard-Davern
Small Area Redevelopment Plan. The initial city proposal did not take
into account the needs for affordable housing, not explicitly
stating
even the City’s own policy that called for 20% of the city’s housing
to be affordable. The affect of the plan on housing would have been
to increase market rates for multi-units, decrease single family homes
without any plan to preserve, replace or increase affordable
units compared to those already in the neighborhood.
GIFT stood up with a loud and clear voice
and introduced to the City Council an amendment to the plan that
included emphasis on
affordable housing. The City Council amended and approved the plan.
Now our focus is to see this plan on
paper become a reality in our neighborhood.
GIFT participated in a second American
Institute of Architects Charrette, developing ideas within the Urban
Village concept related to the triangle of land bordered by West 7th
Street,
Norfolk Avenue and Davern Avenue; the creation of this concept was
instrumental in the plan recently approved by the Implementation
Task Force.
Two GIFT members were involved in the
Shepard Davern Implementation Task Force appointed by St. Paul Council
member Pat Harris.
They were part of the deliberations that approved 306 family housing
units, 20% of which will be affordable, and an additional 136
senior
citizen units; this housing proposal calls for significantly more
housing than previous proposals that called for mostly commercial
development.
In addition to work on the specific
Shepard-Davern Small Area Redevelopment Plan, GIFT has continued to
serve as a source of information on
affordable housing issues and as an advocacy group for housing in St.
Paul. During the year 2000, GIFT members developed a new power
point presentation to explain the issue of affordable housing and how
GIFT is responding to that need; a speakers bureau of GIFT members
has used this presentation at five different groups in the community.
In October GIFT hosted with other housing
organizations, including Habitat for Humanity and Project for Pride in
Living, a mayoral debate
between Jay Benanav and Randy Kelly that offered more than 100 people in
attendance differing viewpoints on how to expand affordable
housing; this debate was well-covered in the written press.
GIFT collaborated with the Minnesota
Senior Federation to encourage the owners of Rockwood place to maintain
109 units of the building
as project based Section 8 while assisting in the process to enable most
of the remaining units to be used by Section 8 individual voucher
holders.
Three members of GIFT were appointed to
the Met Council Advisory Committee for the Riverview Corridor – this
committee is very important to
develop a comprehensive plan of transportation, housing and business
that runs through the redevelopment area where GIFT has focused its
attention.
In December of 2003 ground was broken on
the Gateway Development. The construction includes 121 units of senior
housing of which will be
affordable, 313 market rate apartments 79 of which will be affordable
and 121 for sale condominiums.
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