Midwest

MINNEAPOLIS AND ST. PAUL, MINN. — A portfolio of 283 single-family rental homes, dispersed across the Minneapolis-St. Paul region, is now under nonprofit control following a joint acquisition by Grounded Solutions Network’s Homes for the Future (HFTF) initiative and five other nonprofit organizations. HFTF invested $2 million in the $61 million purchase and leads the ownership group’s efforts to transition the homes and expand the number of community-controlled assets stewarded by nonprofit shared equity housing organizations. “By bringing this previously for-profit, private equity investor-owned portfolio under nonprofit control, we have an opportunity to transition current tenants into homeownership and to rehab and sell the vacant homes at an affordable price to future families,” says Devin Culbertson, vice president of innovative finance at Grounded Solutions Network. Properties in the portfolio are concentrated in historically low-income communities of color, many of which are the fastest-appreciating neighborhoods in the region. Homes in the portfolio may continue to be maintained as rentals or sold to the current tenants. When current tenants choose to move out, the homes will be sold, with priority given to nonprofit shared equity housing programs. The use of the shared equity housing model, such as a Community Land Trust, ensures …