A group of CEOs has invested in local housing
DULUTH, Minn. – A new housing development in West Duluth is nearly move-in ready.
Housing shortages aren’t new or exclusive to Duluth, but some business leaders are hoping to drive development. Northland Housing Partners is a non-profit formed by CEOs from several local companies including Essentia Health and Maurices, that invests in funding developers to complete housing projects in the area. RiverWest, right across from the base of Spirit Mountain, is the initiative’s first investment, and they hope it will set an example for other investors.
“We’re hoping that we’re getting the fly wheel going right now,” said Essentia Health CEO Dr. David Herman. He said the hope is that the group’s investments will attract others to invest in developments. “As the money we lend gets paid back, do we lend that money again to other investors, and keep this fly wheel going,” he said.
The model has attracted the attention of leaders outside of Duluth, including Paul Peltier, the Executive Director of the Range Association of Municipalities and Schools. Peltier said that a limiting factor to the growth of communities on the range is limited housing. “One of the things that the Iron Range and the Duluth area have in common is that it takes housing to attract and retain talent,” Peltier said, “What they’re (Northland Housing Partners) doing is they’re exploring a creative solution that hasn’t been done before. I’d like to see if this proof of concept can be ported over to other areas of the state.”
