August 28, 2025 | Mark Luis Foster
I live in Lakeville, and this south metro community has had its fair share of recent publicity, both good and bad. Several months back there was a big scam about a piece of real estate being sold only to certain ethnic groups in a new community association that was planned to be built in short order (only to find out the “sellers” did not own the property); homeowners at Avonlea Townhome Association sued the board over a re-roofing project (now dismissed); and news that Lakeville is “one of the fastest growing communities in Minnesota” (might still be actually number one in that category).
Now comes news that Lakeville is wandering into more affordable housing territory. From Sun Media:
The Lakeville City Council approved on Monday a planned unit development for a 6.49-acre apartment and townhome site northwest of the intersection of Interstate 35 and 185th Street. While it’s not the first of its kind in Lakeville, city officials say the in-fill development and its affordable component are likely to occur more often in the city’s future.
Adding affordable housing is purportedly one of the goals of Envision Lakeville and the Economic Development Commission to support the city’s growing economic market, Community Development Director Tina Goodroad said during the meeting.
Like many suburbs, affordable housing in Lakeville is few and far between. With so much construction going on here, prices simply seem to go up almost immeasurably. However, the city council thinks they can mitigate this through a large addition along 35W:
Kenyon Green at 18430 Kenyon Avenue will offer a 49-unit apartment building that will set affordable rents based on income, for example with a family four having a household income of $75,420 would be eligible in 2023.
So $75K for average income? Holy moly. I must be getting old as I remember average incomes more in the $20’s/30 range not too long ago. And news of the addition comes with the usual criticism:
One single-family resident to the south commented about the potential development citing concerns about the loss of mature trees and the visual of the 45-foot tall apartment building.
Read the whole article HERE.
