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.
Creative paths to homeownership across the spectrum require flexibility and new approaches. Land Bank Twin Cities’ partnership with Glow Tiny Homes demonstrates how small-scale development can expand access to ownership in today’s housing market.
With time, guidance and access to down payment assistance, Gwen purchased the home she once feared losing. LBTC’s model made her path to ownership possible.
A once-vacant North Minneapolis home on the 4800 block of Emerson Avenue North was brought back to life through Land Bank Twin Cities’ quick action and financing partnership, part of a pilot program returning investor-owned houses to community ownership.
A North Minneapolis home once neglected by a hedge fund is now ready for a new owner, showing how Land Bank Twin Cities and partners are turning investor properties into pathways to homeownership.
Congratulations to Canvas Apartments and 825 Arts for being named two of Finance & Commerce’s Top Projects of 2024!
© 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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