Sm+RT Homes officials say the company has a two-fold mission of operating as a successful private business and building sustainable communities in under-invested core urban neighborhoods with large minority populations. And although the Twin Cities has one of the strongest economies of any metro area in the US, North Minneapolis has in many ways missed out on that prosperity.

According to Gary Findell, managing partner, Sm+RT Homes, the Northside lost some 7% to 8% of its single-family housing stock over the past 10 years, and now needs new, affordably priced homes to meet increased demand from people who want to live in Northside.

New Sm+RT homes will cost from $179,00 to $249,000, depending on the home type, location and level of finish quality. The first home is a four-bedroom bungalow model now under construction on Irving Ave., a one-story house with a finished basement totaling 1,800 square feet of living space.

“We're open to take orders for new homes now, with about 15 lots in North Minneapolis ready to go for new homes,” says Findell.

MINNEAPOLIS–North Minneapolis could prove fertile ground for a wave of new single-family homes, according to a Twin Cities homebuilder breaking ground on its first Northside home today. As reported in GlobeSt.com, the historically disadvantaged neighborhood has started to attract investment, especially from THOR Construction, which plans to build its new headquarters here, and the NorthPoint Health & Wellness Center, which plans a $60 million expansion.

Now homebuilder Sm+RT Homes LLP, partly owned by THOR Sustainability, has unveiled its blueprint to build dozens of new, affordably priced single-family homes on the many vacant lots spread across the city's Northside. The city of Minneapolis owns, through foreclosure, abandonment and tax forfeiture, nearly 350 vacant lots in north Minneapolis.

And rather than using traditional, “stick-built” construction, the company will use modular construction technology to reduce costs for new homeownership and deliver new houses from scratch in just 45 to 60 days.

Company and civic leaders scooped out the first shovels-full of dirt at 4309 Irving Ave. last week to kick-off Sm+RT Homes' campaign to rebuild the Northside.

Sm+RT Homes officials say the company has a two-fold mission of operating as a successful private business and building sustainable communities in under-invested core urban neighborhoods with large minority populations. And although the Twin Cities has one of the strongest economies of any metro area in the US, North Minneapolis has in many ways missed out on that prosperity.

According to Gary Findell, managing partner, Sm+RT Homes, the Northside lost some 7% to 8% of its single-family housing stock over the past 10 years, and now needs new, affordably priced homes to meet increased demand from people who want to live in Northside.

New Sm+RT homes will cost from $179,00 to $249,000, depending on the home type, location and level of finish quality. The first home is a four-bedroom bungalow model now under construction on Irving Ave., a one-story house with a finished basement totaling 1,800 square feet of living space.

“We're open to take orders for new homes now, with about 15 lots in North Minneapolis ready to go for new homes,” says Findell.