The FloCo Fusion apartments will be part of the major renovation and redevelopment of the historic Florence Court site, located a few blocks from the University of Minnesota.
All on-site construction work at the $16 million project will be performed under collective bargaining agreements with local building and construction trades unions, the Housing Investment Trust reported. The investment is expected to create approximately 100 union construction jobs as it provides competitive returns for the pension plans that invest in the HIT.
“FloCo Fusion is the latest project in the HIT’s long history of bringing jobs and development to Minnesota,” said HIT chief investment officer Stephanie Wiggins. “In just the last three years, we have committed more than $100 million to support nine Minnesota development projects. These investments are promoting economic recovery in Minnesota with the creation of more than 900 union construction jobs and nearly 800 units of housing.”
Scott Gale, business manager of the Minneapolis Building and Construction Trades Council, said the HIT investment will be benefit working families and the community. “Our union members and their families appreciate the jobs that have been created and the increase in the housing supply,” he said. “This is a win-win situation for our community.
The union pension dollars that the HIT is investing in this latest project will help keep our members working and our communities growing.”
With construction unemployment running nearly two times the general unemployment rate, the HIT is supporting the AFL-CIO’s efforts to generate family-supporting jobs in Minnesota and across the country.
“Last year, the AFL-CIO asked its pension fund managers to help turn around the recession and create union jobs,” Wiggins said. “The HIT has responded with our national construction jobs initiative. We have invested over $600 million in 25 development projects across the country. Our goal is to create 10,000 union construction jobs by early next year, and we’re more than 65 percent of the way there.”
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| Thanks to the use of precast concrete construction, the new apartment building is rising rapidly on University Ave. SE just east of the exit ramp from Interstate 35W. Photo by Steve Share, Minneapolis Labor Review |
“These are good investments for our portfolio,” adds Chang Suh, HIT’s executive vice president–chief portfolio manager. “They should help the HIT continue to deliver competitive returns to our investors in the period ahead.”
FloCo Fusion will consist of three attached low-rise buildings, with two levels of underground parking. Its construction is part of a redevelopment plan that includes restoration of some of Florence Court’s original structures, including a row of Queen Anne-style townhouses that are among the oldest apartments in Minneapolis. Built in 1886, they are considered an excellent example of the city’s early urban planning efforts.
Construction work also continues on the HIT-financed Applewood Point Cooperative of Bloomington and was recently completed at the Ellipse on Excelsior project in St. Louis Park. The HIT invested nearly $44 million in these two developments to generate over 340 union construction jobs.
The jobs created by the FloCo Fusion project move the HIT closer to its goal of creating 10,000 union construction jobs to help combat high unemployment and support economic recovery in communities around the country. The HIT is more than two-thirds the way towards reaching its goal and expects to surpass 10,000 jobs nationwide by the spring of 2011.
The AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trust manages nearly $3.9 billion in assets for approximately 350 investors, which include union and public employee pension plans. Seventeen of these investors are in Minnesota. The HIT invests primarily in government and agency insured and guaranteed multifamily and single family mortgage-backed securities. Since its inception, the HIT has invested over $5.8 billion to finance more than 95,000 units of housing nationwide, generating over 64,000 union jobs.
Reprinted from the Minneapolis Labor Review.
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The FloCo Fusion apartments will be part of the major renovation and redevelopment of the historic Florence Court site, located a few blocks from the University of Minnesota.
All on-site construction work at the $16 million project will be performed under collective bargaining agreements with local building and construction trades unions, the Housing Investment Trust reported. The investment is expected to create approximately 100 union construction jobs as it provides competitive returns for the pension plans that invest in the HIT.
“FloCo Fusion is the latest project in the HIT’s long history of bringing jobs and development to Minnesota,” said HIT chief investment officer Stephanie Wiggins. “In just the last three years, we have committed more than $100 million to support nine Minnesota development projects. These investments are promoting economic recovery in Minnesota with the creation of more than 900 union construction jobs and nearly 800 units of housing.”
Scott Gale, business manager of the Minneapolis Building and Construction Trades Council, said the HIT investment will be benefit working families and the community. “Our union members and their families appreciate the jobs that have been created and the increase in the housing supply,” he said. “This is a win-win situation for our community.
The union pension dollars that the HIT is investing in this latest project will help keep our members working and our communities growing.”
With construction unemployment running nearly two times the general unemployment rate, the HIT is supporting the AFL-CIO’s efforts to generate family-supporting jobs in Minnesota and across the country.
“Last year, the AFL-CIO asked its pension fund managers to help turn around the recession and create union jobs,” Wiggins said. “The HIT has responded with our national construction jobs initiative. We have invested over $600 million in 25 development projects across the country. Our goal is to create 10,000 union construction jobs by early next year, and we’re more than 65 percent of the way there.”
|
| Thanks to the use of precast concrete construction, the new apartment building is rising rapidly on University Ave. SE just east of the exit ramp from Interstate 35W. Photo by Steve Share, Minneapolis Labor Review |
“These are good investments for our portfolio,” adds Chang Suh, HIT’s executive vice president–chief portfolio manager. “They should help the HIT continue to deliver competitive returns to our investors in the period ahead.”
FloCo Fusion will consist of three attached low-rise buildings, with two levels of underground parking. Its construction is part of a redevelopment plan that includes restoration of some of Florence Court’s original structures, including a row of Queen Anne-style townhouses that are among the oldest apartments in Minneapolis. Built in 1886, they are considered an excellent example of the city’s early urban planning efforts.
Construction work also continues on the HIT-financed Applewood Point Cooperative of Bloomington and was recently completed at the Ellipse on Excelsior project in St. Louis Park. The HIT invested nearly $44 million in these two developments to generate over 340 union construction jobs.
The jobs created by the FloCo Fusion project move the HIT closer to its goal of creating 10,000 union construction jobs to help combat high unemployment and support economic recovery in communities around the country. The HIT is more than two-thirds the way towards reaching its goal and expects to surpass 10,000 jobs nationwide by the spring of 2011.
The AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trust manages nearly $3.9 billion in assets for approximately 350 investors, which include union and public employee pension plans. Seventeen of these investors are in Minnesota. The HIT invests primarily in government and agency insured and guaranteed multifamily and single family mortgage-backed securities. Since its inception, the HIT has invested over $5.8 billion to finance more than 95,000 units of housing nationwide, generating over 64,000 union jobs.
Reprinted from the Minneapolis Labor Review.