Neighborhood Housing Services of Minneapolis, Administrator, Central Neighborhood Home Improvement Loans

Rony Davis, Executive Director
1501 Dupont Avenue North
Minneapolis, MN 55411
Phone: (612) 521-3581
Fax: (612) 522-1963

2007 Home Tour Features Historic Homes, Inspires New Central Neighborhood Home Improvement Loan Programs

Three historic homes from Central Neighborhood featured on this year's Minneapolis & Saint Paul Home Tour topped attendance records with an impressive 1,000+ visitors each. A total of four Central homes took part in the 2007 NRP-sponsored event as part of its "Historic Homes" showcase of distinct examples of creative approaches to historic preservation and renovation of turn-of-the-century homes in established city neighborhoods. One featured home was a Theron Healy-built, 1886 Queen Anne on the famous Healy Block Residential Historic District. The district, bounded by 2nd and 3rd Avenues and 31st and 32nd Streets, was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1993. A cluster of three historic homes on the 3100 block of Park Avenue also offered tour-goers an opportunity to compare and contrast nearby Four Squares of similar vintage to see how a grouping of beautifully preserved and restored homes helps create striking neighborhood character.

Inspired by this year's hugely successful Home Tour, your CANDO immediately began working with NRP and Neighborhood Housing Services (NHS) to develop new and exciting low-interest home improvement loan programs exclusively for Central Neighborhood and its residents. The programs' low-interest rates are designed to encourage Central residents to make improvements to their properties that will help halt the physical decline, increase and maintain homeownership, maintain property values, and preserve Central's turn-of-the-century housing stock.

The new Central Neighborhood Home Improvement Loan Program features a highly competitive 5% interest rate for most improvements made to any 1-4 unit, owner-occupied dwelling within the Central Neighborhood. Additionally, an "Architectural Preservation Incentive Program" (a Minneapolis neighborhood first), seeks to encourage residents to honor and preserve Central's historic housing stock and the neighborhood's turn-of-the-century character through the preservation and restoration of original sound architectural features, such as wood clapboard siding, shakes, and detailing, and other original exterior and interior building characteristics. The Architectural Preservation Incentive offers a 3% interest rate on projects where 30% or more of the total cost goes toward preservation. In addition to preserving an older neighborhood's distinctive character, such preservation and restoration methods have been shown to have a significant, positive impact on property values.

As one of the older neighborhoods in South Minneapolis, Central contains a wealth of extraordinary architecture built largely between the late 1800s and early 1900s. Its diversity of architectural styles-from ornate Queen Anne to simple Farmhouse, Colonial Revival to American Four-Square, and Arts & Crafts Bungalow to English Tudor-reflect materials and craftsmanship of a bygone era and make Central Neighborhood a unique housing destination with its own distinct look and feel.

Take advantage of the new Central Neighborhood Home Improvement Loan Program and Architectural Preservation Incentive Program today and help preserve some of Minneapolis's most impressive and charming housing stock for generations to come. For full descriptions and financial qualifications, including a listing of qualifying exterior and interior architectural features and ineligible improvements, please contact NHS at (612) 521-3581. If you would like to nominate your home for the 2008 Minneapolis & St. Paul Home Tour, call NRP at (612) 673-5140. For more information about the Home Tour, visit www.msphometour.com.