MINNEAPOLIS (October 2025) — On the 4800 block of Emerson Avenue North, a house that once sat vacant and neglected is alive again. Its walls are renewed, its lights back on, and it is ready to welcome a new family home.
This transformation is part of a larger effort led by Land Bank Twin Cities, Inc. and its partners to reclaim investor-owned single-family properties and return them to community hands.
“This project shows what was possible when we could acquire, hold, and finance rehabilitation so families can access affordable homeownership,” said Aarica Coleman, President and CEO of Land Bank Twin Cities. “By filling the gaps in a real estate system that too often keeps people out, we created the conditions for stability, equity, and ownership. This is what our model was built to do.”
The story of this home began years earlier, when Havenbrook Homes, a hedge fund landlord, purchased hundreds of single-family houses across Minneapolis and turned them into rentals, leaving many tenants living in unsafe conditions. A 2024 settlement with the Minnesota Attorney General’s office ordered that those properties to be sold, creating a rare chance to bring them back under community control.
Land Bank Twin Cities acted quickly. Instead of letting the homes fall back into the hands of absentee investors, the organization worked with the City of Minneapolis Community Planning and Economic Development (CPED) Department to co-develop the Single-Family Investor-Ownership Intervention Pilot Program (SFIOIPP). The pilot was designed to reduce investor ownership, create new pathways to homeownership for households earning below 80 percent of area median income (AMI), and stabilize neighborhoods through owner occupancy.
Through the program, the City of Minneapolis invested $2 million in zero-percent deferred loans to help cover project gap subsidies. Land Bank Twin Cities matched that effort with its own capital, identifying and holding $2.5 million in eligible properties through its Strategic Acquisition program and providing flexible acquisition and rehab financing through its Community Lending program. Together, these tools allowed trusted local developers to move quickly and bring revitalized homes back to market for family homeownership.
The home on the 4800 block of Emerson Avenue North became one of the first success stories in the pilot. Land Bank Twin Cities acquired the property and provided $223,539 in rehabilitation financing directly to Beneficial Investments, a for-profit developer focused on keeping housing affordable and community owned.
“It means so much that our first project came through this kind of partnership,” said Monell Castellan and Miyoshi Seto, managing partners at Beneficial Investments. “Real impact starts when homes like this are restored for families instead of investors. We are proud to know our work helped keep this house in community hands and made space for a new family to call it home.”
When community members and partners gathered in late October to tour the finished home, it was more than a ribbon-cutting. It was a celebration of what coordinated action and shared purpose can achieve.
Home details
- 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 1,732 finished square feet (previously 3 bedrooms, 1 bath, 1,116 square feet)
- Detached two-car garage with workspace
- Acquisition cost: $189,000Renovation cost: $169,800
- Sale price: $285,000
The success of the Emerson Avenue rehabilitation reflects the agility and impact of the Land Bank Twin Cities model. The organization moves quickly to capture opportunity, deploys flexible capital, and partners with developers who share a commitment to equity and long-term stability.
About the Single-Family Investor-Ownership Intervention Pilot Program
The Single-Family Investor-Ownership Intervention Pilot Program includes 11 homes across Minneapolis and five participating developers, both nonprofit and emerging for-profit organizations. Together, they are working toward the same goal: turning investor-owned houses into affordable homes for local families.
