Get Major Upgrades
A major part of ensuring the resiliency of a community is to provide quality, safe and accessible housing for low- and moderate-income households. Milton Young Towers has been providing those services in Minot for nearly 50 years and through National Disaster Resilience (NDR) funds the facility will be receiving much needed repairs and resilience improvements that will ensure this housing will support the Minot community for years to come.
The tower is owned and managed by the Minot Housing Authority (MHA) and accommodates low- to moderate-income residents including many seniors and individuals with disabilities. The building did not flood during the 2011 flood, so vacant units were used to immediately help meet the community’s housing needs, especially for those who needed ADA compliant housing.
Through NDR, the City of Minot is investing $5 million and the MHA is investing an additional $800,000 in the resilient building renovations. Work will include updates to mechanical systems, fire safety, power backup systems, waste stack replacement and the installation of high-efficiency plumbing and lighting. New windows will be installed for
energy efficiency on the first floor of the building, which will help reduce the noise entering the building from nearby Burdick Expressway. Renovations to the building will also increase the number of twobedroom units from 6 to 24 units.
“This project means everything to us,” said MHA Executive Director Tom Alexander. “This building is pushing 50 years old. We have updated what we can along the way, but this funding through the National Disaster Resilience program will give us an opportunity to make the building more resilient, decrease utility costs and significantly extend its useful life.”
Due to the extensive work that will be done to replace the waste stacks throughout the building, residents will need to be temporarily relocated during the renovation process. Most relocations will be within the building and the MHA is working to make the process as easy as possible on residents. Professional movers will be brought in to take care of each move and provide any needed storage during the time that residents are out of their units. State and CDC COVID-19 health and safety guidelines will be followed throughout the process to help ensure the safety of the residents.
History of the Milton Young Towers
Completed in 1972, the tower was named after former United States Senator Milton Young who represented North Dakota in the U.S. Senate from 1945 until 1981. Originally from Berlin, North Dakota, Young served in the North Dakota House of Representatives and later Senate before being appointed by Governor Fred Aandahl to fill the vacancy created by the death of Senator John Moses. One interesting fact about Senator Young – during his time in the Senate he voted in favor of the Civil Rights Acts of 1957, 1960, 1964, and 1968, as well as the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the 1967 confirmation of Thurgood Marshall to the U.S. Supreme Court.
The building project was made possible through a grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The building took nearly two years to complete and cost $3.3 million. The 14-story building has 221 housing units and includes offices for MHA staff and several community rooms. Recently, the building’s commercial kitchen was updated through a grant from Bremer Bank.
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Milton Young Towers to
Tuesday, July
Epic Companies alongside Mayor Sipma and community leaders held a groundbreaking ceremony for Blu on Broadway.
Milton Young Towers
PROJECT HIGHLIGHTS
Acquisition Program
• Overall, the City of Minot has acquired 155 properties to date: 81 properties using NDR-CDBG funds and 74 properties using State Water Commission Funds; 7 properties included in the 81 NDR properties were partially funded with State Water Commission funds. These properties are needed for on-going or upcoming flood mitigation projects.
• The City has demolished 130 properties in the first three buyout areas. The 2019 Round 4 Structure Demolition and Site Restoration project and the 2020 Round 1 Structure Demolition and Site Restoration project were completed in July 2020. The bidding documents for 2020 Round 2 Structure Demolition and Site Restoration project have been created with the project anticipated to start work in September 2020.
• The City’s structure and salvage auctions continue, and all sales generate program income which will be fed directly back into acquisition program future purchases.
Affordable Housing
• 90 people have applied to the Resilient Homebuyer Program: 50 remain in the process of review and eligibility verification through a lender of their choice, 29 applied but were not eligible or withdrew, and 11 have closed to date. The program continues accepting applications.
• During the first week of July, the Minot Housing Authority (MHA) released the bids for construction on the Milton Young Towers rehabilitation project, which is slated to begin late summer/early fall.
• Construction started in July on the Blu on Broadway mixed-use affordable rental housing facility, which will provide 42 rental units built above a ground-level commercial space.
• The City entered into a subrecipient agreement with Essential Living to build 22 affordable housing units, which will be known as Park South II. Construction management services have been secured and subcontracts are out for bid; the project is progressing.
• The City entered into a sub-recipient agreement with Lutheran Social Services Housing, Inc. to build 17 units of multi-family affordable rental housing; the future site for the affordable housing project was acquired in early January. The proposals for Architecture and Engineering services were reviewed and a firm was selected in July.
• The Minot Area Community Land Trust’s single-family affordable housing activity is underway; the trust is planning to renovate or construct one house first to determine a solid process framework moving forward.
Family Shelter
• In conjunction with the aforementioned Lutheran Social Services Housing project, the City entered into a sub-recipient agreement to build a Family Shelter; the future site for this project was acquired in early January. The proposals for Architecture and Engineering services were reviewed and a firm was selected in July.
City Hall
• At the April 20 meeting, Council agreed to pursue the Wells Fargo building for a new City Hall location; the environmental review process was finalized on July 22 and the Request for Release of Funds was submitted to HUD.
Center for Technical Education
• The CTE committee is currently in discussions with Trinity Health about the acquisition and remodeling of a downtown building for the CTE location. The environmental review process is underway.
PROJECT OVERVIEW
Reduce Flood Risk/ Improve Water Management
A. Buyouts / Acquisitions / Demolitions / Relocations
a. Total Budget - $20,052,016
b. Spent to Date - $18,261,621
Build Affordable Resilient Neighborhoods
A. Multi-Family Affordable Housing
a. Total Budget - $20,897,000
b. Spent to Date - $3,885,009
B. Single-Family Affordable Housing
a. Total Budget - $12,807,750
b. Spent to Date - $1,540,845
C. Family Shelter
a. Total Budget - $3,041,500
b. Spent to Date - $633,614
Foster Economic Resilience and Diversification
A. Center for Technical Education
a. Total Budget - $1,540,000
b. Spent to Date - $40,230
B. Relocate City Hall
a. Total Budget - $3,750,000
b. Spent to Date - $10,935
Completed Projects
∙ Affordable Housing Supply & Demand Study
∙ Souris River Decision Support Tool
∙ Park South Renovations