DULUTH – Developers are planning more than a dozen tiny homes in Duluth, including an eight-unit park that is among the first and largest such developments in the state.
The proposals, at sites around the city, are part of the Rebuild Duluth program in which the city gives away parcels of land to encourage creative housing solutions.
"I'm excited to see what the community interest is," said Jason Hale, senior housing developer for the city of Duluth. "If it goes well we can start looking at where else this might make sense."
The Duluth Economic Development Authority signed off on the land giveaway at a meeting Wednesday night. Hale said the homes, which will be permanent structures connected to city utilities, could be ready by the end of 2022.
All 15 proposed units would be rentals, though the city and the local housing authority are looking at similar developments that could incorporate homeownership.
"It is a higher cost per square foot," Hale said, which makes rentals a more palatable investment for developers. Ownership "is not out of the realm of possibility, it's just more complicated."
Duluth, like cities around the state and country, is facing a housing shortage across all price levels with a deep deficit of options for those making less than the median household income, about $50,000. The popularity of tiny homes in other parts of the country has left Duluth leaders encouraged about their potential for infill development in a city that is largely built out.
Last year a developer proposed a nine-unit "cottage village" comprising smaller rental homes — about 400 to 540 square feet — near the University of Minnesota Duluth campus.
