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tMetropolitan Council Working for the Region, Planning for the Future May 23, 2001 Katherine Hadley, Commissioner Minnesota Housing Finance Agency 400 Sibley Street, Suite 300 St. Paul MN 55101 RE: City of Orono Multifamily Housing Development Program—Orono Woods Apartment Project Metropolitan Council Referral File 18522-1 Dear Commissioner Hadley: The City of Orono has submitted for our review pursuant to Minnesota Statutes Chapter 462C, a proposed housing bond program for the Orono Woods Apartment Project. The program proposes to finance acquisition and construction of a 62-unit apartment development at the intersection of Brown Road and Wayzata Boulevard in Orono through issuance of up to $9 million in revenue bonds. The construction of this 62-unit rental apartment development for independent seniors age 62 and older is consistent with local and regional plans that call for the development of life-cycle housing options in suburban communities, especially those that provide the opportunity for citizens to remain in their communities and roll over their existing homes to new young households moving into or moving up in the city. The Regional Blueprint encourages the development of life-cycle housing options throughout the region. As a participant in the region's Livable Communities Local Housing Incentives Program, Orono has negotiated housing goals that encourage more rental and life-cycle housing options in the city. Given Orono's forecasted sewered housing growth through 2010 and the benchmarks for rental housing in the suburbs in the Southwest of Minneapolis planning sector, it would be expected that Orono would add about 100 rental units during the decade. This elderly rental housing appears to be the first rental housing built in Orono since the city began LCA participation in 1995. Orono Woods will be built very close to services available in downtown Long Lake, including transit service. The proposed density of around 15 units per acre is also consistent with efforts to increase residential density, thus reducing land costs per unit and total development costs. Although the city's comprehensive plan has not been reviewed by the Council, the plan submitted for review indicates that it likely guides a sufficient amount of land for the development of medium density housing that would permit Orono to meet its affordable homeownership benchmark number if such affordable units were proposed. V:TIBRARY\COMMUNDVPETERSOM2001\052301 OronoN l 8522-I.doc 230 East Fifth Street St.Paul,Minnesota 55101-1626 (651)602-1000 Fax 602-1550 TDD/TIY 291-0904 Metro Info Line 602-1888 An Equal Opportunity Employer