2025 Annual Report Feature Series
Reclaiming homes in North Minneapolis and rebuilding pathways to ownership.
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. (2026) — In North Minneapolis, homes once pulled out of community ownership by hedge fund investors are finding their way back.
On blocks like Emerson Avenue North and Irving Avenue North, houses that once sat neglected are now being restored and returned to the market as affordable homeownership opportunities.
This work is part of the Single-Family Investor-Ownership Intervention Pilot Program, a partnership between Land Bank Twin Cities, the City of Minneapolis, and local development partners focused on reclaiming investor-owned homes and returning them to community ownership.
The opportunity emerged following a 2024 legal settlement that required a national hedge fund to sell hundreds of single-family homes across Minneapolis. Without intervention, many of those properties were at risk of cycling back into speculative ownership.
Land Bank Twin Cities stepped in.
Using its Strategic Acquisition and Community Lending tools, the organization moved quickly to identify, acquire, and finance the rehabilitation of key properties. That approach created the time and capital needed for trusted developers to restore homes and prepare them for sale to income-qualified buyers.
“This is exactly the kind of moment our model is built for,” said Aarica Coleman, President and CEO of Land Bank Twin Cities. “We can step in, secure properties, and create the conditions for partners to move quickly and bring homes back to community ownership.”
That work is grounded in partnership.
“This is more than just a single home,” said Kirstin Burch, executive director of PRG, Inc. “It is about showing what can happen when nonprofits, philanthropy, and government work together toward housing equity.”
Early projects on Emerson and Irving avenues reflect that impact. Homes that once required significant repairs have been fully rehabilitated, with more than $400,000 in combined reinvestment across the first properties.
“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.”
The broader pilot includes 11 homes supported by $2 million in City of Minneapolis gap financing, alongside Land Bank’s acquisition and lending capital.
“There are few things more important in life than having a safe place to call home, but HavenBrook's negligence caused its tenants to live in appalling conditions,” said Keith Ellison. “I sued them, won back over $4 million for their tenants, and got HavenBrook to leave Minnesota. I am grateful to the nonprofits that stepped in to repair these homes and get them on the market at affordable rates. Together, we are building a Minnesota that puts people's needs over hedge-fund profits.”
Development partners, including nonprofit and emerging for-profit builders, have played a key role in delivering these homes, ensuring they are not only restored but positioned for long-term stability and ownership.
In 2025, these homes are once again owned by residents, not hedge funds.
The impact extends beyond individual properties. Each home returned to ownership represents a shift in how housing systems can respond to speculative investment, demonstrating how coordinated action and flexible capital can interrupt cycles of disinvestment and displacement.
Land Bank Twin Cities steps in at critical moments, helping align land and capital so partners can move projects forward and create lasting pathways to homeownership.
Homes return to use. Neighborhoods stabilize. Families gain a foothold.
This is how speculative harm is reversed and pathways to homeownership are rebuilt.
IN THE NEWS
Hundreds of Minnesota homes neglected by hedge fund are now in hands of nonprofits
Star Tribune | Susan Du
This story examines the fallout from HavenBrook’s neglect and how the Attorney General’s lawsuit opened the door for nonprofits to intervene. It connects the issue of investor-owned homes to the rehabilitation on Irving Avenue and emphasizes accountability and neighborhood recovery.
Read the story
From slumlords to single families: New ownership for renovated rentals
FOX 9 | Corin Hoggard
This report focuses on tenants’ experiences under investor ownership and the transition to nonprofit-led rehabilitation. It highlights acquisition and renovation details, community voices, and how subsidies make ownership attainable.
Watch the story
