For decades, 960 Payne Avenue was home to Saint Paul Floral. Built in 1886, the three-story, mixed-use building sits prominently at the corner of Payne and Case avenues. Its Mansard roof and gabled dormers make it one of the most architecturally distinctive properties along the Payne Avenue corridor.
The proposed scope of work involves the comprehensive rehabilitation and adaptive reuse of From The Roots Collective Relocation, a 1,700 square foot structure originally built in 1926 within the Dayton’s Bluff Historic District.
This project not only delivers deeply affordable homeownership but also aligns with the Land Bank’s goal to expand access to permanently affordable housing across the broader 7-county metro area, beyond Minneapolis and St. Paul.
The Playwrights’ Center is one of the nation’s premier artist-advocacy organizations, dedicated to supporting playwrights and advancing new theatrical works. After more than 40 years in a former church, the organization had outgrown its longtime home and needed a permanent facility that could better support its mission and future growth.
For decades, this 13.8-acre site on Saint Paul’s East Side served as a legal dumping area for concrete slurry, leaving behind an underutilized property in the heart of a neighborhood with limited access to parks and open space. While the site held tremendous potential, its size, environmental challenges, and uncertain future made redevelopment unlikely without public intervention.
Building new affordable homes has become increasingly difficult as construction costs continue to outpace what working families can afford to pay. Closing that gap requires flexible financing, layered public investment, and strong development partnerships. This new home demonstrates how those pieces come together to create a homeownership opportunity for a household earning at or below 80% of Area Median Income.
The Penn-Glen Assembly demonstrates how strategic land banking can shape the future of a neighborhood before redevelopment begins. Over three years, Land Bank Twin Cities assembled six parcels at the intersection of Penn and Glenwood into a 1.36-acre redevelopment site, creating the foundation for a future mixed-use project that could bring affordable housing and a neighborhood grocery store to an area long identified as a food desert.
Transformational development rarely happens all at once. At the intersection of West Broadway and Girard Avenue, Land Bank Twin Cities assembled key properties over four years to create the foundation for The Resolute, a multi-phase, mixed-use development that will bring new commercial space, neighborhood services, and long-term investment to North Minneapolis.
Once part of a private equity-owned rental portfolio, Summer 2026 Minneapolis Rehab Project represents a new approach to reclaiming investor-owned homes for community benefit. Through the Single-Family Investor-Owned Intervention Pilot Program (SFIOIPP), Land Bank Twin Cities and PRG are demonstrating how strategic acquisition, rehabilitation, and partnership can return homes to owner occupancy while preserving long-term affordability.
For more than 40 years, Old Town in Town Cooperative provided affordable homeownership opportunities in Minneapolis’ Elliot Park neighborhood. By 2022, however, years of financial instability, high vacancies, and management challenges had pushed the cooperative into technical default. With only weeks before foreclosure, five adjacent brownstones were at risk of being lost to speculative investment. One building had already been overtaken by a drug operation, further destabilizing the property.
A long-vacant office building in downtown Minneapolis is now home to 59 deeply affordable housing units for people exiting homelessness. With support from Land Bank Twin Cities, the project shows how strategic acquisition can turn vacancy into long-term housing stability.
In North Minneapolis, homes once owned by hedge funds are being reclaimed and returned to community ownership. Through a city partnership and targeted investment, Land Bank Twin Cities is helping rebuild pathways to affordable homeownership.
A $1.1 million investment by Land Bank Twin Cities transformed a vacant Arcade Street property into a permanent home for 30,000 Feet. Opened in 2025, the space now serves as a youth-centered hub on St. Paul’s East Side.
A former industrial site in Northeast Minneapolis is now home to more than 160 affordable housing units after years of strategic intervention by Land Bank Twin Cities. By acquiring, holding, and ultimately passing value to the right developer, Land Bank helped turn a complex site into a long-term community asset.
In South Minneapolis, 49 families went from tenants to owners through one of the city’s first large-scale cooperative housing conversions. With support from Land Bank Twin Cities, the Corcoran Five shows how acquisition and patient capital can create a pathway to lasting community ownership.
© 2026 Land Bank Twin Cities, Inc.
2515 Wabash Avenue, Suite 150, Saint Paul, MN 55114
612-238-8210 | info@landbanktc.org
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