On Wednesday, May 14, the Pioneer Press reported on the seeming paradox of declining home values and rent increases along the Central Corridor Light Rail line, or Green Line.
Much of that increase likely has to do with new higher-end units coming online in downtown St. Paul, downtown Minneapolis and by the University of Minnesota, rather than general rent increases in Frogtown and Hamline-Midway. In those two neighborhoods, average rents are actually going up slower than St. Paul’s citywide average.
St. Paul City Council Member Russ Stark, who co-chaired the Big Picture Project steering committee, had the following to say about the housing trends, and about concerns that too much affordable housing is being built along transit lines such as the Green Line:
“It looks like rents are up pretty significantly throughout the corridor, but they’re also up pretty significantly throughout the region. … We want to make sure people aren’t being priced out of the market. I think the report suggests we’re not seeing that yet, but it’s something we want to keep an eye on.”
“In terms of the overall goal of investing in affordable housing, that’s something we’re doing really well in. … We really believe there’s going to be a lot of market-rate units in the next 10 years, and for a lot of people that’s been the hardest point to wrap their heads around. They see a lot of affordable units today. They see neighborhoods that are in some cases low-to-moderate (income). … We think the market is, over time, going to raise prices and rents.”
“We’re not going to know how well we did until 10 or 15 years down the road.”
