Renovation work begins at Birchwood Apartments
The first stage of the rehabilitation of the Birchwood Apartments in Grand Marais has officially begun.
The building falls under the USDA’s Rural Development program. In Jan. 2023, the USDA conducted an inspection of the building and found extensive water damage. Chronic issues with leaking pipes led to permanent damage to ceilings, walls, and floors in some units.
By the end of 2023 the building had changed hands. It is now owned by One Roof Community Housing, who worked with the Cook County HRA to secure funding from the USDA and Minnesota Housing Finance Agency for a complete rehabilitation of the two buildings that comprise the housing complex.
Phase one of the project began in the last week of April. This has been referred to as the “stabilization phase.”
One Roof Executive Director Jeff Corey told WTIP that this initial phase is using USDA funds to make immediate repairs. This will include putting walls back up in several gutted units, and replacing plumbing lines throughout the property. Funding from the Minnesota Housing Finance Agency will cover more of the renovations in the later phase of the rehab.
Corey said that while these repairs may not seem “luxurious,” they were vital to improving quality of life for residents. He said, “We have a lot of empathy for the tenants that have been putting up with less than wonderful living situations, and less less than wonderful sort of experience as tenants. So we’re hopeful that this interim stabilization period is at least better than the unknown, and sometimes really miserable conditions that folks have experienced the last several years.”
One Roof hired Frerichs Construction, a contractor based in the Twin Cities, to carry out the work on the buildings. WTIP spoke with Bob Faulkner, a senior project manager with the company, for an update on how the first weeks of work have gone. The company specialized in multi-family, affordable housing projects. Faulkner said that over the past 20 years, they have worked on 15,000-20,000 units across the state.
Faulkner said that a key part of doing occupied renovation projects is communicating with residents. He said, “You can’t say that it’s not disruptive, because we’re shutting water off, and that that impacts people’s lives. But if you are able to communicate what’s coming, and they know that it’s improving their community, people are pretty receptive to these improvements and are excited for us to come.”
Frerichs will act as general contractor for the entirety of the project, through the larger scale rehabilitation elements planned for next year.
WTIP’s Kirsten Wisniewski spoke with One Roof Community Housing Executive Director Jeff Corey and Frerichs Construction Senior Project Manager Bob Faulkner for an update on the Birchwood Apartments rehabilitation project. Audio of those interviews is below.
Kirsten Wisniewski May 8, 2024
