The Powderhorn Park neighborhood made history on September 23 when it became the first Minneapolis neighborhood to have its NRP Phase II action plan approved by the NRP Policy Board. The plan must now go to the Minneapolis City Council and mayor for final approval.

The Powderhorn Park plan directs the allocation of $3.6 million in Phase II investments, building upon the neighborhood's experience and work of Phase I.

Nearly 40 percent of the Phase II plan is aimed at ensuring affordable housing options for residents in the neighborhood while another 19 percent is directed to improving the existing housing stock. Most importantly, the plan focuses on the long-term sustainability of housing funds by recycling them through loans rather than giving them away through grants.

Highlights from the Powderhorn Park Neighborhood Association's Phase I plan include: providing home repair grants to more than 300 homeowners and 36 rental property owners, providing grants to more than 100 first-time homebuyers, assisting in the production of several three- and four- bedroom housing units including the construction of 10 artist housing units, completing more than $500,000 worth of physical improvements to Powderhorn Park, providing investment capital to several large commercial ventures including the Mercado Central and the Midtown YWCA and providing grants to improve more than 30 existing neighborhood businesses.

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