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Hey everybody, this is Lisa from the Greater East Side District 2 Community Council, and you're listening to the D2NU Podcast. The show that recaps everything happening on the East Side of St. Paul for people who love to be in the know. We have lots to talk about today, so sit back, grab a cup of coffee, or your favorite drink of choice, and let's get to it. Hey everybody. This is Lisa from the greater East side district to community council. And this is D two and you today, we are talking to Chad Dittman from twin cities, habitat for humanity. Although Habitat has built a few homes in our neighborhood in the past, they will be one of the developers at the Heights, the former Hillcrest Golf Course. Chad will be telling us about our new neighbors and an exciting opportunity that is coming as part of this project later in the year. Thank you so much for joining us today, Chad. My pleasure. Thanks for having me. Let's start by telling everyone a little bit more about you. How long have you been with Habitat for Humanity? It's been about 22 years. I first started as an AmeriCorps construction assistant in 1997. Wow. what is the most difficult part of your job? it is getting through the public approval process, with cities when we have a development project, like the Heights. Cities are not as efficient as we might hope them to be. And I know how tricky things can get. What is your favorite part? my favorite part is, seeing the joy of the families when they close on the house or at, a dedication when the kids are running around saying, this is my bedroom, this is my bedroom and they've never had their own bedroom before. Oh, yeah. I bet that's really exciting. What is one thing that people are surprised to hear about or find out about you? One, how long I've been at Habitat. But two is that I own and live on a farm in Carrick, Minnesota, about 100 miles north of the cities. And I commute down and all that stuff. But, that's about 12 years now. about how long is your commute? I don't know. Usually hour and 45 minutes, but I don't do it every day. usually I'm just making that commute once a week and I stay overnight at my parents house in South Minneapolis when I need to be here multiple days. Very good. Okay then it's not too bad. I would just immediately go to snow and think, Oh, yeah I was doing the hybrid work thing before COVID and the hybrid work thing is now makes it even easier to manage that. The weather problems that arise taught us new skills, didn't it? For sure. So let's talk a little bit about Habitat for Humanity itself. What is for those of our listeners who don't know, what is the history of Habitat? it started in Georgia. I was not Jimmy Carter. he was, an early arrival, but he didn't start it. it was actually started, by some folks who lived in a commune called the Koinonia Farms, in Georgia, who, just identified, the high degree of poor housing in Georgia and the unaffordability of better housing. And wanted to do something about that and arrived at this concept of working hand in hand with home buyers. To build high quality, safe, decent, affordable housing in partnership with families, making that affordable to them through volunteerism, to reduce costs through private donations, through public funding. And so it started small as all nonprofits do, and it took off, and certainly Jimmy Carter's profile was part of the success or the growth of the organization into what it is now, which is, Habitat International is the mothership in Georgia. There are affiliates in every state in Minnesota. There's 27 or so affiliates. and also globally, I think 1, 500 affiliates across the U. S. More than 100 countries across the world. Wow. A lot of projects. It's a tremendous amount. And yeah, if you look at the totality of that, we're the largest homebuilder in the world, probably, serving, hundreds and thousands of families and people every year. it must feel very gratifying to have much impact on the world and serving people. It is, I derive a lot of satisfaction from what we do here in the Twin Cities, but through the Habitat International and that global, work, the connection there and the stories that we hear, regularly about just the, the change that can happen through a globalized very small, very simple, but decent, home, is just phenomenal. Off the top of your head, do you know approximately how many, homes or projects that the Twin Cities Habitat do a year? Yeah, so we've been running in the 60 to 65, habitat developed projects. We call them. So that's houses that we either build as new construction by and rehab and. Buy back from existing owners who are moving to a new home or whatever.. We also have a loan product. that people can get and then just go buy a house on the market. And that's been running 50 to 60, 65 houses a year. about 120 families served each year through homeownership. How does it work? How does a family come qualified or what does someone do? If they say, Hey, I want to get part of this process. So most families come to us, because they're aware of the program. there are some that see a house being built or rehabbed in their neighborhood and say, Hey I'd be interested in buying that. And come to the program that way. But for the most part, people are coming to the program first. They apply and, provide the information that you would normally provide to a lender. and we determine, are they mortgage ready when they come in the door or not? And, if they're not. Then we've got homeownership counselors who will work with them to get them into that position. So if it's a credit issue, if it's a loan debt to income issue, we've got some work history documentation requirements. So they might have to just have been. They can't buy it right away. They just have to have worked in their job for a little while longer until they've got the necessary, work history. Once that's all put together, or if they come ready to go they have 2 choices. 1, they can enter into our matching pool to buy Habitat Developed House. So it's something that we touch, or they can choose to go into the open market program, which is the loan product. Get an agent and then go out and buy a house on the market. in that open market program, then they just spend time looking for a house. We provide a low interest loan as well as subsidy for those families to try to boost their. Buying power, so then that's pretty much the normal house buying process for have developed once they're in the matching pool. Then they start getting a monthly list of the properties that we have available that they're qualified. They've got enough income family size matches enough and then can select or not select the houses on that list. If they do, and they're the only one, then we'll match them to that house and sell it to them. If there's multiple families interested, then we have a lottery system. And then if there's none that they're interested in that month, then they just wait till the next month and see if any new properties that are added meet their needs. It seems like it's a kinder, friendlier way to Look at the home buying process. I think it's really intimidating, especially for folks who, may have rented most of their lives or know that their credit isn't 100 percent great or have had to, move from job to job. this seems like it's a much easier process. I know that in the past, before the kind of open market portion of things happened, that there was a requirement for sweat equity to be part of it. Is that still a part of the equation for twin cities? Habitat? It is not. So we started thinking about. The efficacy of the sweat equity requirement before COVID hit, then COVID hit, we suspended volunteerism and we suspended the sweat equity requirement just because we couldn't physically have people on site that gave us an opportunity to do a deep dive on that sweat equity requirement and figure out if it really was achieving. A benefit of the goals that we said it was achieving, and we determined that it was not, and that it was presenting a real barrier, especially for foundational black households who, after the murder of George Floyd, we have really zeroed in on hyper focus on doing better to serve foundational black households. And that's what equity requirement, which, at the time it was terminated was 100 hours of work on site. Is the serious barrier for. Single heads of households. People whose whole family, extended family or otherwise may not be able to pitch in to help fulfill those hours. Cause you know, they're also low income, also working jobs that you can't just take vacation from., daycare is a problem. if you're doing it at a time when you're not at work, that probably means you got kids that you need to have taken care of. And so that's a barrier. And it just, it was, we felt like people really weren't learning all that much. One of the ideas is that they would learn how a house put together. We didn't really have strong evidence to suggest that was really actually happening. And there's probably a better kind of more educational way to do that. so we let it go and we're one of the few affiliates that does not require that anymore. and by that and through many other things that we're doing to improve our process for foundational black households, we have significantly increased their success rate in converting from applicant to homeowner. That's great. That's great. It's wonderful that you can take that pause. One of the I guess nice things about the pandemic is we were all able to take that pause and see what was working and what really wasn't working and how do we shift. Speaking of shifting, I want to know a little bit more about the heights project, how did Habitat get involved with the heights and, what exactly is the plan? Yeah.. I think we got involved, as the demand for housing to be a part of that project, grew and strengthened. and, I don't know that I was necessarily paying very close attention to it in the early days. but, maybe the Port Authority originally was thinking that it would be all industrial. The neighborhood, the City Council said, we want some housing there. we had been paying attention to the fourth site and hoping that there would be a requirement for some affordable ownership housing there that ended up being a very small requirement. and so we, used our voice, our CEO, Chris Coleman, former mayor of the city's voice to say, hey, if you're going to do housing at the heights. you it should be affordable and there should be a good number of, homeownership units and we're happy to provide those for you. so we, insinuate ourself into that conversation between the city and the board. Neighborhood, it was not a hard fight, warmly received by the port, by the neighborhood. And we thank you all for that. by the city council, everybody has just been very excited that Habitat's going to be a part of this project. And we're super excited that it's going to be in a big way with, a unit count 147 units over the four blocks, which is just exponentially larger project than anything we've ever done. Wow. Wow. 147 units. So are they twin homes? It's a whole mix. Yeah. What kind of will they look like? And I know we're an audio, so it'll be hard to, make people see what, but help us envision exactly what they'll look like. I'll try to paint that picture. So we're talking about, For kind of typical city blocks, they're a little bit narrower than a regular block, oriented north to south. On the west side of the project, starting from the south end and going and moving northward. so they all have a public alley running down the middle of them. we will be building single family, twin homes and. Townhomes 3 and 4 unit townhome buildings. we're focused on the 1st, 2 blocks starting at the south. Which are blocks called block 3 and 4. that's our phase 1. We're going through site plan review and approval on that phase, fundraising on that phase. And the other 2 blocks that we're just holding lightly in our hands for later. The two blocks together are 74 units. Okay. On block three, there will be singles, twins, and townhomes. The singles and twins are two stories. And the townhomes on that block are three stories. So they have a tuck under garage, some utility space, some flex room space on that at grade first floor level. And then the second floor is living room, dining room, half bath. And then the third floor is bedrooms, three bedrooms and four bedroom units. The singles and twins are just two stories. So living area at grade and then bedrooms above, although we do have some five bedroom units planned and that fifth bedroom on those units is on the first floor. So they are accessible. They're not going to be ADA compliant or certified that way, but. Zero step entry, first floor bedroom, somewhat more spacious bathroom so that, you can turn a walker around or a wheelchair. More easily, pretty open floor plan in the kitchen as well. So that works. on the 2nd block 4, the next one to the north, again, singles, twins and townhomes. In this case, the townhomes are 2 story. And, they have from an architectural point of view, a little bit of a modern feel. the development is going to be all electric across the whole thing. and we'll have solar panels on all the units. They're going to be high tech units and we wanted the. Exterior facade to reflect that a little bit without being too. I'm not a huge kind of futurist, modern architecture guy. So they're not too out there, a little bit of a modern feel to them. I know you mentioned that you're focusing on blocks 3 and 4 right now. What is the timeline for the project? Yeah, so we are very close to having final site plan approval. There's a few permits that we've got to Bye bye. Still get from the city and the watershed and met council all those permits that you love to get. Yeah We should have those by the end of this month and be pretty much at final site plan approved We have started submitting for both building permits. We're shooting to close on the property in May And then shooting to get in the ground in June, we're a little bit dependent on reports progress on putting in the infrastructure for the roads that would give us actual physical access to the blocks. but perfect year to have a crazy warm winter. So they were able to continue working all winter and get started right away this spring. So that seems to be on track for us to get in the ground in June. We're going to build 40 of those units over the course of, the rest of 2024 and through June, July of 2025. And then we'll start the 34 additional units. Spring next year and finish those up spring 2026. Wow. And I understand that there's a very exciting event that's happening with your build this year. Can you tell our neighbors about that? Yes, you bet there is. so we at Twin Cities Habitat and this, the project that the Heights have been selected for. The Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter work project, which is the Super Bowl for Habitat for Humanity. it's an annual volunteer event that, circulates around the country as well as internationally. Jimmy and Rosalynn were obviously, heavily involved and they got it started. They've been involved for many years. When COVID struck, the project had to take a break and they stepped away. Rosalynn has since passed away. Jimmy is in hospice. so Garth Brooks and Tricia Yearwood have become the hosts of the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter Work Project. So we're excited for them to come., so what it is a week long gigantic volunteer event. So it'll be taking place the first week of October this year, which. Sunday is September 29th when we have our opening ceremony. then volunteers will be working on site Monday through Friday. We'll have events going on in the evenings, to, promote the project to promote affordable housing, all kinds of stuff going on at, the depot and the armory. And, but of course on site is the most important thing. So we'll be working on 35 to 40 units. there'll be 800 construction volunteers a day and like 250 to 300 support staff on site and volunteers on site as well. so just a ton of people on site and, we will accomplish a lot. We plan to frame up and dry in, 17. Of the singles and twins, and then we're actually partnering with Doran, architecture and construction during special projects, to design and then build the townhomes. They're going to build about 18 to 23 of the townhomes and have those ready for us to work with volunteers on interior finishes. During that 1st, week of October, so we'll be working on. 35 to 40 units. And It's going to be a madhouse. And we're going to have to work closely with you, Lisa, and with all those immediate neighbors to manage that. It's a lot of people. They won't all be driving to the site. That's a good thing. They'll be driving to parking locations elsewhere, and we'll be busing in the volunteers. we will have some staff driving to site, and then we'll have a lot of deliveries. This is the thing. We're gonna have a lot of deliveries because we're gonna be churning through material really quickly. We are going to start staging that beforehand, so that it's not all coming that week. but pretty much, starting in August activity is really going to ramp up. And, we want to do this with great respect for the neighbors and the immediately adjacent neighbors as well as, there is not probably going to be a direct route for us from McKnight or Larpenter does mean we're going to have to come through the neighborhoods to get to the site. So we want to make that as pain free as we possibly can. That would be appreciated. I know that traffic, especially truck traffic, is a really huge concern for the neighbors. So doing that with that understanding would be very appreciated. For sure. How do people find out more about how to, begin the process of being qualified for a home or even to sign up to volunteer for the Carter Work Project? For both cases, I would direct folks to our website, TChabitat. org, there's. big flashing lights about the car work project. Of course, there you can follow those links. we haven't actually opened up signups for volunteerism yet. Slots during the week are extremely coveted, and we have to work with Habitat International who's bringing people from across the country. There's troops of volunteers who follow the Carter work project around on a yearly basis. And then so they get some of those spots and that we feel some of those spots. so that's a tightly held complicated thing, but there's gonna be a huge amount of volunteers needed pre-event to get ready for it and then post-event to finish those houses off. and so all those opportunities will be on our volunteer hub. which you can get to through our website. None of that's been opened up quite yet, but it will be in the near future. So you can keep an eye on the main website to see that. For district 2, we're going to be putting together a team as well of, at least logistics help and things like that who want to put together a team. So if folks are interested, they can. either email me directly at D to Lisa at outlook dot com or go to our website at greater east side dot org. is there any final thoughts that you would want to leave with our neighbors today? I think the most important thing is we want this project to serve folks who already live on the East side. we are our 1st time home buyer program. So you do have to be a current renter. But, we want folks who are currently running on the East side to buy these houses. And we're budgeting to make them as affordable as we possibly can, serving an income range from about 40 percent of area median income to 100 percent of the area median income. So we do have a nice diversity of. Incomes anticipated, if you're a renter out there and you think that homeownership in the Eastside is the right thing for you, now is the time to start working on that, especially if you think you might have any barriers to that, we can help, with some of those barriers. So now is the time to, start thinking about it and to start. if you want to pull the trigger on applying to the program, you're more than welcome, you're encouraged to do that right now. And again, go to our website, go to the buy with habitat link. TC habitat. Dot org, and, start working through that process of becoming. Mortgage ready and having a name on the list. Great. We're really excited about having you as neighbors. now Chad, we do have a couple of questions that we always ask our interviewers and I don't know, how much time you've been able to spend on the East side, but are there any special places that you enjoy on the East side of St. Paul? I haven't had the opportunity to spend a ton of time on the east side for most of my career. I covered the west side of the cities and my predecessor, Mike Nelson, who some folks out there might know covered with ST. Paul on the east side, since I've been involved in the heights project, I have had, the pleasure of visiting the pond area on white bear as well as cups and tear. which. We're both excellent. But, living far from work also complicates that or detracts from that. I should say. I need to spend more time. And as the, as we get closer to being in the ground, then I will be there a lot more and looking forward to exploring. Yeah, it sounds like you're going to have plenty of time to find those hidden gems over here on the east side. Thanks again, Chad, for coming in today. I hope you'll be willing to come back in the future because I know neighbors will want to hear more about the project, especially as we get closer to October and that first week as the Carter work project moves forward. I would just say anyone should feel free to reach out to me at any time with questions and concerns. Chad. dippman. tchabitat. org is my email address. Thank you for listening to today's episode of.If you are new here, welcome and be sure to hit, follow or subscribe. So you never miss an episode. Check out our website@greatereastside.org for further information of what is happening in the neighborhood. Thanks again. And we'll chat with you next time.