Combatting the Housing Shortage in Warroad
Like the rest of the nation, the Warroad area is experiencing a housing shortage. But thanks to a little collaboration and a lot of creativity, the Warroad Housing Revitalization Project is facing this challenge head-on.
The housing shortage is nothing new in Warroad. Kathy Lovelace, who has been working as City Administrator for over 20 years, spoke to what she has seen in her time on the job regarding housing. “It was back in 2002 that we began developing the Highland Park addition (on the northwest side of town). Marvin Home Center has put up a house or two each year as well. Then in 2013, the city began offering housing incentives,” said Lovelace.
These housing incentives are available to those building new homes within the city, as well as new residents who purchase existing homes within city limits. The suite of incentives includes everything from free cable and passes to the pool and school activities, to electric credits, reimbursement for landscaping, and Chamber Bucks redeemable at local businesses.
“These incentives have been well-utilized with approximately 200 families taking advantage of them to the tune of $300,000,” continued Lovelace, “and realtors have commented that they are great incentives and may be the tipping point for those who are considering properties within and outside of city limits.” But despite the traction these incentives have gotten, there was more that needed to be done. Lovelace explained that there was an abundance of empty lots within the city limits and an overall housing shortage in the area.
Given the ongoing shortage of housing, a committee including representation from the city, community, and business leaders was assembled in 2021 to sponsor a housing study. Research was done and data was collected to determine the landscape of the housing market. The results were exactly as expected: Warroad lacked housing inventory of all types – market rate single family homes, multi-family apartments and duplexes, and entry level housing.
Now armed with an official housing study in hand, the City of Warroad and members of the committee representing Marvin initiated the Warroad Housing Revitalization Project (WHRP). This initiative aligned perfectly with the Marvin company’s purpose - To Imagine and Create Better Ways of Living – and with their dedication to remain headquartered and invest in the community of Warroad.
As one of the area’s largest employers, Marvin has a vested interest in the health and vitality of the community and has experienced some growing pains with the lack of housing options for its existing local workforce and the candidates who are interested in moving to Warroad for jobs at Marvin. “The infrastructure problems of housing and childcare have really been barriers for our talent acquisition efforts,” stated Rick Trontvet, Senior Vice President of Human Resources. “We have a variety of employment opportunities available, but candidates who are interested in working for the company are often unable to find housing and as a result they move on to other opportunities.”
Having largely tapped the local labor market – there are more employees at Marvin than there are residents living in Warroad – the company has had to get creative, recently bringing in contracted workers through Tradesman International and relocating an entire product line to another Marvin location where there are more applicants for jobs. Trontvet continued, “The reality is, in our Warroad window plant alone, we have 900 employees and we still need 300 more.” In response to this, an audacious goal of establishing 300 new housing units over 3 years was set by the WHRP. “The purpose of our three year housing initiative is to build up the inventory of all different kinds of housing in Warroad so that local businesses can better attract and retain talent to meet business needs, and so we can continue to improve the infrastructure and raise the economic vitality of Warroad.”
In this first year, the Warroad Housing committee delved into 3 different markets: non-conventional housing, single-family homes, and multi-family rental properties. Ryan Jensen, the General Manager of Marvin Home Center, is the lead for the development efforts for the first two markets.
Non-Conventional Housing
“For now, that means tiny homes,” Jensen stated. “These tiny homes are not for sale but are rather a way to keep the door open for recruiting technical and professional talent to Marvin. These are landing pads to get the recruit to Warroad and give them a place to stay while they look for more permanent housing.” These homes were built by Escape homes with Marvin products and four of these tiny homes will be ready this year with opportunity to expand and increase the number if year one proves successful.
Single-Family Homes
“We are currently building 15 homes in a southeast Warroad neighborhood referred to as the Berg addition,” Jensen explained. “These homes are a mix of 3-bedroom and 4-bedroom homes of various styles. We don’t want to have a bunch of cookie cutter homes in the same block. You will see different floor plans for most and a mix of ranch and multi-level homes. We choose to use high quality products in the finishing of these homes to have a long-term value for the new owner. These homes are reserved for the first 30 days after completion for Marvin employees to purchase. After that they are available to anyone who is looking.”
Rental Properties
On September 8th, the groundbreaking for the new 65-unit ICON apartments took place. This complex is in the same Berg Addition development as the single-family homes. Jackie Habstritt, Project Manager of the WHRP, spoke to the challenges they faced in this project. “Funding for the apartments was complex and we were so grateful for the partnerships with the Minnesota Housing Finance Authority, the City of Warroad, Warroad School District and local investors to make this possible.” Trontvet echoed her sentiments, “There are often unique financial barriers for multi-family housing in small towns like Warroad where market rent rates don’t always match up with the building cost proformas that are the same as found in bigger cities, so creative financial gap assistance such as tax abatements, as well as creative financing and unique local partnerships are critical for the projects to become reality. We were fortunate to now see that reality in Warroad with Icon Apartments, with construction work in south Warroad now underway.”
Another set of seven downtown apartments are currently under construction as part of the Main Avenue Renovation that kicked off in April 2022.
If you have been doing the math, four tiny homes, 15 single-family homes, a 65-unit apartment building and another seven condo-like apartments under construction brings the grand total to 91 new housing units for year one of the project so far! And this is just the beginning. As the project moves to Phase Two, the focus of each project market will shift. “Not everyone can afford a brand-new home and we hope to address just that.” Jensen explained. “In the next phase, we plan on building twin homes that will be sold not rented and a couple smaller homes with unfinished basements. This should hopefully get us to a more entry level cost.” A natural shuffling in the existing housing market is also anticipated, “Having new housing will allow people to upsize or downsize which frees up other housing to become available on the market,” stated Habstritt.
While this process has not been without its challenges, rising interest rates and material and supply shortages chiefly among them, the committee is pleased with the progress that has been made. They credit this success to the teamwork among all the contributors, from state and local government agencies to the developers and contractors making it happen. “DW Jones has been such a great partner. They fully understand greater Minnesota housing and are so well connected, working hard to solve so many challenges that popped up along the way and paving the way for us to get our multi-family project in the ground before the snow flies. On behalf of all the stakeholders, I can’t thank them enough”, said Trontvet. “Next Level Construction and Lakeshore Electric have proven to be great partners in this project,” Jensen stated. “This is the biggest home development that has happened in Warroad,” Habstritt added, “and these contractors understand they are part of it and come to the site every day with an excitement for the project!”
An open house event is scheduled for Monday, October 24 from 4PM – 7PM to tour the four NEW single-family homes that are for sale. All are welcomed! Refreshments will be served. Watch for signs posted to guide you to Garfield and Lincoln Streets southeast of Warroad.