.jpg)
IRRRB set to consider $3.7 million boost for apartment complex
The Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Board might bring a proposed housing project in Ely back to life.
Thursday, the board was set to consider a recommendation to provide another $3.7 million to the city of Ely, aimed at advancing plans for a 37-unit apartment complex.
The decision was set to be made after deadline, and would be on top of a previous $850,000 award from the agency.
The IRRRB funds would fill a significant funding gap in an effort to advance a $9.6 million project.
The project also hinges on a $1.5 million award from the Minnesota Housing FInance Agency’s Workforce Housing Development Program.
Other funds include cash equity of $350,000 from the city’s Housing and Redevelopment Authority and a $3.2 million mortgage taken by the HRA.
If the funding comes together, site preparation would begin this fall with construction slated to begin in 2026.
Dubbed “Wilderness Escape,” the Ely project calls for a 37-unit, three-story, market- rate workforce housing project near Ely-Bloomenson Community Hospital.
The project is aimed at meeting housing needs in the region, and officials have both a housing study that backs their claims that housing is needed to attract and retain jobs.
Hopes to move forward last year were crushed when Ely’s request for $4.5 million in MHFA funds was not approved.
City officials went back to the drawing board this year and it appears the IRRRB will come to their aid.
The city, through its HRA, is working with private development company D.W. Jones, Inc., which has completed numerous housing projects across the state.
Once the project is completed, the apartment building will be owned by the Ely HRA.
Plans call for a mix of studio, one bedroom, two bedroom and three bedroom units, ranging from a little as 447 square feet of living space to better than 1,200 square feet.
• Also on the IRRRB docket Thursday was a proposal for $1.2 million in funding for the Prospectors Loop ATV Club.
The funds could cover nine miles of trail between Peyla Road and Pfieffier Lake, connecting the area north of Highway 169 and the west side of Lake Vermilion with a potential connection to Tower’s Y Store.
It would also pay for 1.1 miles of trail and a bridge over Pike River, and two miles of trail and a bridge over the Ranger River, connecting existing trails in Lake County to St. Louis County by way of Echo Trail to the Cloquet Line.
Also in the works is an environmental assessment for multiple proposed trail segments connecting the new Lake Vermilion-Soudan Underground Mine Park and campground to surrounding communities.
• Another local funding initiative on the agenda is a $157,000 for the veterinary technician program on the Vermilion campus of Minnesota North College.
• Nearby Babbitt is set to receive $1.5 million for upgrades to the Ron Castellano Arena, pending approval at Thursday’s meeting.
