When Alliance and Hennepin County opened the doors to Stevens Square Residence in December 2020, Alliance recognized it as an opportunity to expand a housing model that has been a staple in our portfolio for years: single room occupancy (SRO) units. Throughout the last three years, Stevens Square Residence has been an important community asset, providing low-cost, low- barrier housing for individuals, primarily those transitioning out of homelessness. During the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, cities nationwide utilized funding from the Federal CARES Act to de-populate shelters and provide temporary housing for individuals experiencing homelessness in hotels and motels.
As lockdown restrictions eased, Hennepin County, like many others, sought permanent housing solutions for those residing in these temporary shelters. To address this need, Alliance and Hennepin County collaborated to establish Stevens Square Residence, a 31-unit SRO building in the Stevens Square neighborhood. Hennepin County purchased the building and completed critical building upgrades. Alliance assumed responsibility for operating the property, laying the groundwork for an SRO/rooming house pilot program in Minneapolis.
In SRO units, also known as rooming houses, tenants have a private room but share communal facilities such as bathrooms, kitchens, and living spaces. Throughout much of the 20th century, SRO units and rooming houses served as a crucial component of the affordable housing continuum. However, toward the mid-1900s, cities began to move away from this model, demolishing or repurposing many properties and hindering the development of new ones. Alliance has long been an advocate for SRO and sleeping room units as a part of the affordable housing landscape and as part of the solution to homelessness and was a key part of policy advocacy to allow SRO units to be allowed again in the City of Minneapolis.
The pilot program sunset at the end of 2023, Alliance is grateful to have partnered with Hennepin County on a pilot program that aligned deeply with our mission. Stevens Square Residence allowed both Alliance and Hennepin County to explore and learn together about the challenges and benefits of SRO housing. We learned a tremendous amount about operating SRO housing and plan to carry these lessons into our 2116 Nicollet project which is under development. This new project will have additional revenue sources to make the project feasible.
As for the former tenants of Stevens Square apartments, Alliance and its partner Vail Place used financial support from Hennepin County to help tenants find a new affordable unit. 10 of the tenants now live elsewhere in Alliance’s Portfolio!
