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Jun 04, 2024

Fairmount Cottages bring new type of housing to Duluth

DULUTH — A new type of housing development is coming to town. It’s called a “ cottage village .” Small, inward-facing, free-standing homes are clustered around a pond and common green space,

DULUTH — A new type of housing development is coming to town. It’s called a “ cottage village .”

Small, inward-facing, free-standing homes are clustered around a pond and common green space, interlaced with walkways. The Duluth Housing and Redevelopment Authority hosted a ribbon-cutting at its soon-to-be-occupied Fairmount Cottages housing development in the 7100 block of Redruth Street Monday afternoon.

Jill Keppers, executive director of the local HRA, noted that the innovative project is the first of its kind built in Duluth, but also is a first in another sense. It will be the first to create local housing with the help of American Rescue Plan Act pandemic-relief funding.

Duluth funneled $1.15 million in federal ARPA funds into the project, as part of a $19 million city-wide investment to boost the inventory of affordable housing .

The HRA broke ground on its 18-unit Fairmount Cottages in September and is on pace to welcome its first residents less than one year later, adhering to an ambitious and impressive timeline, as noted by Matt Baumgartner, president of the Duluth Area Chamber of Commerce.

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“That is remarkable,” he said. “And I think it shows the power of agencies working together for a common goal and vision, and how much we can accomplish when we do that.”

Fairmount Cottages will be a mixed-income development, with homes offered to income-qualified people making anywhere from 50%-100% of the area median income. That means rents will range from a low of as little as $748 a month for a one-bedroom home at the low end of the income spectrum to $1,700 a month for a market-rate two-bedroom house.

“This project is built to provide a sense of community for those who live here,” said Keppers, who stressed that having families from a diverse range of financial means should ensure a healthy social mix that reflects the city as a whole.

“Research has shown that when you’re living in mixed-income communities, you have more opportunity, that you see things that perhaps you wouldn’t see in a more homogenous setting,” Keppers said.

The single-level homes vary in size from 620-720 square feet.

Fairmount Cottages was able to optimize the amount of green space remaining on site, in part by clustering parking for the development into shared parking lots.

U.S. Tina Smith, DFL-Minn., said, “I love how this place is built around the idea of community, and also just the core value that everybody deserves a safe, affordable, comfortable place to call home. And if you don’t have a safe place to call home, then nothing in your life is going to work — not your job, not your education, not your family, not your health. Housing really does truly come first.

“This is a true collaboration,” Smith said, noting that the Duluth HRA contributed $1.5 million to the project on top of the ARPA funds and $2.5 million in housing revenue bonds from North Shore Bank.

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“Projects like this don’t just happen,“ she said. “They happen because of the relentless advocacy and strength of this community. And I want to just call out the efforts of your incredible mayor, Emily Larson, who is at the top of the list of advocates when it comes to housing in this community.”

Larson said her administration, with City Council support, agreed that $19 million of the $58 million in pandemic relief funding Duluth received from the federal government should be invested in the creation of additional long-term affordable housing “to directly change the math to help make affordability more possible.”

“We have to keep trying things if we want to get different outcomes,” Larson said. “We have to keep pushing new ideas and new funding strategies and new models if we want to make sure that everyone is getting what they need.”

Duluth City Council President Janet Kennedy said she lived in a nearby public housing development as a child with her single mother.

“I am so excited that we are in the ‘hood that I grew up in, and that we have housing like this,” Kennedy said.

“This is going to be a place where we can grow future city councilors, we can grow senators, and we can grow mayors,” she said.

“The possibilities are wide open. When people have a place to live, they get to thrive. When children know they have a place that grounds them, they thrive. So, that’s what this place is about for me. It’s about and building our community,” Kennedy said.

Keppers said the first nine homes in the development were just inspected, and she hopes to have certificates for occupancy in hand by the end of the week. By October, she believes Fairmount Cottages could be at full capacity.

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The local HRA has begun to accept pre-applications for the development, and Keppers encouraged interested parties to visit fairmountcottages.com for more information.

This story was updated at 10:16 p.m. Aug. 21, with more information about Fairmount Cottages' location. It was originally posted at 6:26 p.m. earlier the same day.

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