Livable Communities Development Projects

Available funds will be announced in February 2026.

Applicants must be a city, township, county, or development authority (Minn. Stat. § 473.252, subd. 1) within the 7-county metropolitan area (Minn. Stat. § 473.121, subd. 2) that has enrolled in the Livable Communities program and is in good standing (Minn. Stat. § 473.254, subd. 1-4).

Individuals or private and nonprofit organizations are not eligible applicants but are welcome to partner with an eligible applicant on projects.

To be eligible for a Livable Communities grant, the development project must:

• Be located in a Livable Communities participating city and the city must be consistent with all comprehensive plan requirements. View participating cities.
  • Projects located in cities that have a current comprehensive plan amendment under review that would make the city ineligible to apply or draw down funds may not apply until the review is complete.
• Meet at least one of the defined Outcomes in the Outcomes score (see Scoring Criteria below).
• Have a funding gap.
• Have a city, township, county, or development authority partner to sponsor the project, submit the application, and accept funds on behalf of the project.

Additionally,

• If the project or proposed use requires a comprehensive plan amendment, the amendment must be completed before the application.
• Unless the project is only requesting pre-development or acquisition funding, the project must have site control or an executed purchase agreement.
• If the project includes housing:
  • The homes must remain affordable for a minimum of 15 years (view current affordability limits).
  • Rental housing projects must accept housing choice vouchers and offer some rents that do not exceed local voucher payment standards.
  • Homebuyers must complete homebuyer education before purchase.

• If requesting environmental site investigation or cleanup funding, the project must be on an eligible site (See Eligible Sites on the Environmental Cleanup & Investigation page).

The Met Council accepts Livable Communities grant requests twice per year:

• April 15 (awards announced in the summer)
• October 15 (awards announced in the winter)

The Met Council also awards funding to multi-family rental housing projects through the annual Minnesota Housing Consolidated Request for Proposals, which follows a separate application process. Learn more.

MINNEAPOLIS AND SAINT PAUL-BASED APPLICANTS: Minneapolis and Saint Paul have a pre-application process with separate due dates to select projects for which they will select projects. Learn more about the Minneapolis and Saint Paul applications.

Requests cannot exceed:

• $500,000 for pre-development costs, such as:
  • Capacity building
  • Community engagement
  • Site planning
  • Environmental site investigation
  • Project design
  • Environmental sustainability planning
  • Financial modeling
  • Appraisals and assessments for acquisition
• $2,000,000 for construction-stage activities, such as:
  • Capacity building
  • Demolition
  • Site preparation
  • Environmental cleanup
  • General construction and site improvements

The Met Council may make partial awards.
 

Reapplication Policy

Applicants are eligible to apply for the same project again if the project meets one or more of the following:

• Project has drawn down at least 50% of the funds previously awarded at the time they reapply
• Project has relinquished 50% or more of the earlier Met Council grant
• Project budget has increased more than 20% since the prior grant award
• Project did not receive an award for the previous application, or received a partial award and has remaining eligible costs
• Project is applying for a different phase of the project
  • A new phase must be financially independent from earlier phases, and
  • Each phase must result in a stand-alone project

After a project has received two awards of the same type (pre-development or construction-stage), other projects that have not yet received two awards will be prioritized.

Application scoring consists of an Outcome Score and a Quality Score.
 

Outcome Score

How many of the following outcomes does your project meet?
Build housing that is 100% affordable OR the income of residents in all units in the project averages to an affordability band needed in the city (view affordable housing need tracker)
Create new affordable homeownership opportunities for households earning 80% AMI or less
Rehab or preserve existing homes affordable to households living at 60% AMI or below for rental projects or 80% AMI or below for ownership projects
Reduce vacant or underutilized land through infill or redevelopment OR project is located in an eligible transit area (view eligible transit areas, select “TOD Grant Areas” layer)
Create or rehab business incubators and/or small business development spaces
Future site use will add at least 10 living wage jobs and/or provide job training for at least 10 residents annually
Environmental cleanup in Environmental Justice areas (view Environmental Justice Areas)

If your project meets one to three of these outcomes, it will receive 16 points. If it meets four or more of these outcomes, it will receive 24 points.

Build new rental housing with at least 10% of units in the project affordable to households living on 30% AMI or less OR the project meets 10% of the city’s need for units affordable to households living on 30% AMI
Project includes at least three 3+ bedroom units for families and are affordable to households living at 60% AMI or below for rental units OR all units are 3+ bedrooms and affordable to households living at or below 80% AMI for ownership projects
Project includes permanent community space that is accessible, open to the public, and intended to provide gathering space through amenities, community rooms, or other infrastructure that supports community gathering
Energy-saving activities, beyond in-unit fixtures and furnishings, that result in decarbonization, water efficiency, or reduced energy costs for cost-burdened residents
Create senior (55+) or youth-serving (aged 16-24) housing affordable to households living at 60% AMI or below
Build or rehab housing that serves people who have experienced homelessness
Design beyond minimum Americans with Disabilities Act requirements through universal design or similar strategies
Project serves American Indian people and is led by an American Indian organization

If your project meets one to three of these outcomes, it will receive 8 points. If your project meets four or more of these outcomes, it will receive 12 points.

The sum of the points earned from the two lists is your project’s Outcome Score.
 

Quality Score

Applications will be assessed on how well they meet the Livable Communities program goals using the following questions and corresponding maximum possible scores.

• How is the project helping the city to meet its identified development needs that are aligned with regional goals? (9 pts)
• How is the project benefiting people who are Black, American Indian, or part of another community of color? (9pts)
• How does the project improve access and safety in the neighborhood and provide direct, convenient connections to existing or planned transit or multi-use trails? (5 pts)
• Whose perspective is represented in the project through community engagement and/or as part of the development team? And how are their perspectives represented? (9 pts)
• How does the project maintain residents’ and/or businesses’ ability to stay in the community and maintain cultural and social community connections? (9 pts)
• Are the project team and funding sources identified? (4 pts)
• Is the project led by an emerging developer of color? (2 pts)

If the project is requesting environmental site investigation or cleanup funding, the following questions are also required.

• What is the severity of and risk of exposure to environmental contamination? (20 pts)
• What is the impact on the property tax base? (20 pts)

If the project is applying through the Minnesota Housing Consolidated Request for Proposals (RFP), the following criteria is evaluated.

• Does the city have contribution net tax capacities that exceed its distribution net tax capacities by more than $200 per household? (2 pts if yes)

All applications must submit:

1. Documentation of local support for the project. Options include:
   • Letter from the Mayor
   • Letter from the City Administrator
   • Resolution of support (download sample text as a Word Doc)
   • Acknowledgement of Receptivity Form (applications through the Minnesota Housing Consolidated Request for Proposals only)
2. A budget

If requesting funds for acquisition, projects must submit:

3. An appraisal is required for any identified sites. If the site is not yet identified, please explain how acquisition costs were estimated. An appraisal will be required before any funds are reimbursed.

Construction stage projects must also submit:

4. A proforma
5. Site plan showing all ground floor uses, vehicle, bike, and pedestrian entrances, public and semi-public spaces, and transit stations/stops (construction-stage projects)

If requesting funds for environmental cleanup, projects must submit:

6. An approved Response Action Plan (RAP) from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency for soil and/or ground water or vapor intrusion contamination. This may be submitted after the application but is required before awards are finalized.
7. An assessment that meets the Minnesota Department of Health standards for asbestos or lead paint, identifying the contaminant, percentage content of the building, quantities of materials to be abated, condition of materials assessed, and includes maps of sampling locations and laboratory analysis results.

Term: If awarded, the grant term is three years with a possible two-year extension if needed.

Structure: All grants are reimbursement-based.

Match: No match is required, unless your project is awarded a grant through the Minnesota Housing Consolidated Request for Proposals (RFP). If your project is awarded funding through the Consolidated RFP, there is a required dollar-for-dollar match.

Fund Drawdown: All grants are reimbursement-based. To be eligible to drawdown awarded funds, the grantee must:

• Have completed the most recent reporting requirement.
• Have adopted a Fair Housing Policy. ​Best practices, guidelines, and a sample policy are available.  
• Spend at least 85% of the city’s annual required Affordable and Lifecycle Housing Opportunity Amount (ALHOA) on housing activities in the previous reporting period.
• Reported the city's Housing Action Plan (via completing the previous year’s Housing Policy and Production Survey).
• City must be consistent with all comprehensive plan requirements and have guided sufficient land for affordable housing.

For additional information on grant terms, visit the Current Grantees page.

Semi-Annual: Grantees are required to submit semi-annual reports on project progress. Payment Requests: Grantees must provide activity details with each payment request.

Final Report: A final report is required with the last payment request.

As a grantee, you are responsible for alerting the Livable Communities grants administration team of any changes to the project. The grant administrator will work with you to determine if an amendment to your grant agreement is required because of changes.

For more information, see Current Grantee section.