Twin Cities, MN

Twin Cities LISC supports nonprofit community development organizations with grants, loans, and expertise to help them construct businesses, community centers, and affordable homes in low- and moderate-income neighborhoods.

In the past 20 years, Twin Cities LISC has invested more than $350 million in grants, loans, and equity, leveraging an additional $1 billion in total development. That investment has created more than 8,500 affordable homes and apartments and 1 million square feet of commercial/retail space (nearly equal to the size of Southdale Mall) in some of the Twin Cities’ most challenged neighborhoods.

LISC’s support of CDCs and other development partners helps ensure that neighborhoods provide residents with better access to education and housing; employment; arts, culture, and recreation; childcare and youth development; and healthcare, all in safe surroundings. That’s the goal of LISC’s comprehensive, integrated approach called Building Sustainable Communities.

Featured Projects:

Green Development Work Areas:


Featured Green Development Projects

Central Corridor TOD

Work Area(s): Transit Oriented Development
Based on a deep history in community development, Twin Cities LISC is a resource and knowledge broker for defining ways to tackle transit-oriented development on two fronts. First, with funding from Surdna, Twin Cities LISC will support on-the-ground TOD implementation in three communities and, as appropriate, will transfer the strategies to other areas that would benefit from them. Second, LISC will draw on Surdna funds to build the capacity of our community partners through training and technical support. By aligning LISC’s unique resources for TOD implementation with the values of equitable development, Twin Cities LISC will develop effective tools for implementing equitable TOD with the goal of improving long-term quality of life for communities.

Twin Cities Greenways Initiative

Work Area(s): Parks and Greenspace
In early October, 50 new trees will be planted to enhance the streetscape of North Minneapolis and to start building momentum for a North Minneapolis Greenway. Thanks in part to a $10,000 grant through the Healthy and Efficient Neighborhood Homes Partnership between The Home Depot Foundation and LISC, Twin Cities Greenways (TCG) has organized the tree-planting to improve existing outdoor amenities, stabilize property values, and encourage additional investment in North Minneapolis. Grant funds have been used to pay for trees, planting equipment, landscape planning work, and the promotion of the Greenways concept on the North Side.

TCG seeks to create a more comprehensive system of high-quality bike trails that would make it easier for residents to pursue healthier lifestyles, use alternative forms of transportation, and have better access to regional parks, transportation infrastructure, and economic opportunities. “This tree-planting effort fits beautifully with Twin Cities LISC’s comprehensive community development strategy to improve resident quality of life in North Minneapolis and other neighborhoods throughout the Twin Cities,” said Andriana Abariotes, Executive Director of Twin Cities LISC. “We want to help create communities that offer people opportunities to prosper, including the chance to get and stay healthy. Through our Healthy and Efficient Neighborhood Homes Partnership, LISC and The Home Depot Foundation have seeded a larger effort—plans to create vital Greenway corridor in North Minneapolis.”

Hawthorne EcoVillage

Work Area(s): Green Building - Affordable Housing
In the Hawthorne neighborhood, the big news in September was that construction of EcoVillage’s first green house was completed. The single family home—already purchased—was built to meet the latest state and federal green building certifications.

EcoVillage is a community redevelopment project on Minneapolis’ North Side, a four-block area of vacant and boarded homes hit hard by foreclosures that is now being reshaped into a welcoming, sustainable community. Supported by a $500,000 grant from The Home Depot Foundation, this redevelopment involves several partners: the Hawthorne Neighborhood Council, Project for Pride in Living, the City of Minneapolis, Northside Home Fund, Mississippi Watershed Management, Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity, Tree Trust, and the Family Housing Fund.

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