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Hennepin County, Minnesota

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Transit oriented development

The Hennepin County Board of Commissioners established the transit oriented development (TOD) program in 2003 to support both redevelopment and new construction that enhances transit usage. Since the program began, Hennepin County has awarded more than $29 million, to-date, in general obligation bonding and levy funding to both urban and suburban projects. Funds have assisted projects along key Hennepin County transit corridors such as Hiawatha, Central Corridor, Southwest, Bottineau, and other high frequency and express bus routes.

The TOD program criteria support projects and developments that generally:

  • Enhance transit usage
  • Increase density along transit corridors
  • Reinforce both the community and the transit system
  • Exhibit a compact and efficient use of available space, rather than auto-oriented sprawl
  • Contain a diversity and mix of uses with daily conveniences and transit at the center
  • Support pedestrian-friendly physical design that encourages walking, bicycling and access for people with physical disabilities
  • Are within a comfortable walking distance to transit
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Who can apply for TOD funds?

  • Statutory or home-rule-charter cities or towns and development authorities (e.g., housing and redevelopment authority, economic development authority or port authority)
  • Private entities, including nonprofit and for-profit developers
  • Hennepin County and the Hennepin County Housing and Redevelopment Authority

Examples of past projects

Projects are competitively evaluated for increased transit ridership, pedestrian-friendly design that encourages active living, economic development impact, job creation and retention, and the ability to leverage other public and private resources.

Examples of projects that received past awards include:

  • $405,000 was granted to the city of Bloomington to upgrade a sanitary sewer to support a major expansion to an existing manufacturer that will retain and create jobs. Grant funding also provided for pedestrian enhancements to improve the connection between area businesses and the Hiawatha Light Rail Transit station.
  • $300,000 was loaned to Beacon Interfaith to redevelop a site and add pedestrian connections at a site on 66th Street West in Edina.
  • $750,000 was granted to the city of St. Louis Park for site acquisition and area infrastructure improvements for redevelopment of a site near the planned Wooddale LRT station on the Green Line Extension.
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