Lofty housing dreams realized
Pioneer Press, 08/24/06
Rehabilitated warehouse targeting renters of modest means
BY LAURA YUEN
Yuppies and bourgeois bohemians need not apply to downtown St. Paul's newest loft development. In fact, the developers of the Crane Ordway apartments are trying to capture a less-sought urban market: the poor.
Starting next week, the former plumbing-supply warehouse across East Fifth Street from the Farmers' Market will house a decidedly mixed group of tenants, including downtown restaurant servers, part-time students, retirees and even the formerly homeless.
Many of them work in downtown St. Paul's service industry but have been shut out of the escalating housing prices in Lowertown, said Alan Arthur, president of the Minneapolis-based Central Community Housing Trust.
"If you make $10 an hour, you're not going to buy a condo," Arthur said.
City officials and other dignitaries today will celebrate the $11.7 million transformation of the former Crane & Ordway Co. warehouse, a 102-year-old relic that has stood vacant for three decades and once faced demolition to make room for a parking lot. It was purchased with a combination of private and public funding, including the use of historic tax credits.
Rehabbing historic buildings for living spaces is nothing new in Lowertown, where such a renaissance has been under way for several years. The project's focus on affordable housing — including setting aside 14 units for the formerly homeless — has pleased some community planners and civic leaders.
Beginning three years ago, the housing trust met with neighborhood groups as well as public and private partners about the concept. The downtown's district council, for instance, supported the project because it helped diversify the area's housing choices — a longtime goal of neighborhood activists.
The Crane Ordway project marks the housing trust's first St. Paul development, but it won't be the last. The trust closed about a month ago on the nearby high-rise Renaissance Box with plans to build similar affordable apartments there.
Not everyone is rejoicing. Nearby condo owners in the emerging North Quadrant neighborhood have complained about living next to a future development for low-income tenants, Arthur said.
"We think that's a natural and normal reaction to affordable housing, and it's our view to make sure we develop something that's going to be a positive thing for the community," he said.
Built in 1904, the six-story Crane Ordway warehouse was designed by St. Paul architecture firm Reed & Stem, which also created New York's Grand Central Station and the St. Paul Hotel.
The studio apartments are sparse and narrow, with exposed brick walls and original awning windows. They're available to households earning 30 percent to 60 percent of the area median income, or about $16,000 to $33,000 a year. Monthly rents range from $330 to $620.
To learn more about the Crane Ordway apartments, go to www.craneordway.org or call 651-224-4710.
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