A shortage of apartments and rising rents in the Twin Cities metro have made area apartment buildings a hot commodity among national investors who are often able to improve the buildings and increase rents. That is a threat to the already tight supply of rentals that are affordable to the lowest-wage families.
And that is why Twin Cities nonprofits are leading an effort to preserve what is called “naturally occurring affordable housing,” meaning rentals that are below market rate without subsidy of any kind.
The latest win for such apartments, dubbed NOAH, in the Twin Cities happened when the NOAH Impact Fund of Greater Minnesota Housing Fund (GMHF), Enterprise Community Investment Inc. and Aeon put together a $77 million purchase of 768 rental apartments in 10 properties.
