Residents again seek historic designation for Glendale Townhomes. But it’s not all about history.

For the second time in a decade, the city of Minneapolis is considering historic designation for Glendale Townhomes, a postwar public housing development located in the Prospect Park neighborhood.

Some residents, led by the organization Defend Glendale, have doggedly lobbied their Second Ward City Council representative — first Cam Gordon in 2019 followed by Robin Wonsley last year — to recognize the property as a historic district.

But the real issues at play are about more than historic preservation.

Testifying to the Heritage Preservation Commission last month, tenants — many of whom signed a petition for historic designation — expressed fears of displacement should changes come to Glendale.

“[Minneapolis Public Housing Authority] wants to build high-rises. They want to sell the land, to lease the land to a private developer like Royal Bank of Canada,” Defend Glendale co-founder Ladan Yusuf said. “There’s no chance of any of us coming back.”

MPHA is pushing back just as strongly.

According to the agency, historic designation would prevent redevelopment to create more housing for other families on MPHA’s waitlist, and block federal repositioning options.

“Residents can clearly see the reality that a growing number of things need to be repaired and replaced in their homes,” said MPHA staffer Anthony Rowe. “However, more recently, there’s been an effort by some residents and outsiders to scare and mislead residents.”

Staff have fielded numerous complaints about canvassers knocking on tenants’ doors and telling them they would lose their homes if they didn’t support historic designation.

“I can’t pretend to understand what motivates someone to threaten vulnerable residents,” Rowe said. “Residents at Glendale, by and large, do not want historic preservation.”

City staff have twice recommended against the historic designation, finding Glendale’s character-defining historic features had been altered long ago. The Minnesota State Historic Preservation Office also said in 2020, “None of the buildings resemble their historic appearance.”

Glendale Townhomes was built in 1952 to mirror the affluent neighborhood of Prospect Park, with one- and two-story buildings, sprawling lawns and playgrounds along curving streets.

Glendale’s diverse, intergenerational families love it, many have said in recent months. But the buildings are sliding into disrepair, with a capital backlog $22 million deep.

Tenant Malik Abdiaziz said at a recent Heritage Preservation Commission meeting that he’s called maintenance repeatedly about a broken sink, and other residents have mold problems.

“One of the most confusing things that I’ve heard is the idea that historic preservation would prevent the interior renovation of the homes,” he said. “I believe this is just completely wrong.”

MPHA Executive Director Abdi Warsame said the agency’s main challenge is the $260 million maintenance backlog spread across its full portfolio, compounded by the federal government’s disinvestment in public housing over the decades.

Most of the nation’s public housing was built between 1930 and 1970. Historically, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development only provides MPHA 10% of the funding required for maintenance each year.

“There is no money available to address this,” said Warsame.

Last year, MPHA started hosting listening sessions with Glendale residents to gather feedback on their renovation priorities. Residents desired modern amenities, larger family units and accessibility features for seniors to age in place.

MPHA also views Glendale as the portfolio’s single-best opportunity to add density. While zoning code would basically cap buildings to four stories or fewer, there’s room to build 100 new units on top of the existing 184, Warsame said.

The agency is proposing to accomplish that by using one of HUD‘s repositioning tools, such as Rental Assistance Demonstration. Public housing authorities across the country have used the tool to completely make over aging properties.

But the part that inspires fear among some residents is that MPHA would transfer building ownership to a private nonprofit in order for it to be eligible for private debt financing products and tax credits.

In 2020, MPHA created a nonprofit wholly owned by itself, Community Housing Resources, to take control of more than 700 units of scattered family housing across Minneapolis. The government continued to subsidize rents at about 30% of tenants’ income. Buildings will remain affordable in perpetuity.

“The goal is to preserve and improve these units and keep them deeply affordable,” said Sunia Zaterman, executive director of the Council of Large Public Housing Authorities. “It is not to sell it off. It is not to lease to higher-income people.”

MPHA completed a $27 million redevelopment of downtown’s Elliot Twins towers in 2022 using RAD, bringing residents accessible units, new air conditioning, kitchens, bathrooms and common areas.

Mary McGovern, an Elliot Twins resident and president of the Minneapolis Highrise Representative Council, said construction happened so smoothly it was “unreal.” Nobody got displaced who didn’t want to move.

Glendale resident Kayla Pittman, who opposes historic designation, said she is more concerned that, without major renovation, Glendale will deteriorate to the point of obsolescence.

“We all have humble beginnings,” she said. “A poverty mindset says, ‘These are my crumbs, you’re not going to take them away from me.’ So I can understand why [other residents] are scared that we’re going to be displaced.”

Defend Glendale did not respond to requests for comment. The organization previously said it has a policy against speaking to the Star Tribune.

The Heritage Preservation Commission voted to recommend historic designation last month. Its first finding, that Glendale is “the first affordable housing project in Minneapolis and thus its social and community planning qualified as landmarkable,” is erroneous.

Sumner Field in north Minneapolis was built in the 1930s.

When the City Council’s housing committee debated the nomination last week, Chair Jamal Osman said he was moved by residents’ fears of change and density.

“It kind of makes sense for us to keep at least a small portion of MPHA public housing for this kind of setting,” he argued.

Council Member Andrea Jenkins noted that historic properties are “extremely expensive to maintain.”

“I don’t see how this historic designation will help residents,” she said. “It boggles my mind that Defend Glendale would be advocating for this action.”

The council is scheduled to vote on Thursday.