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MINNEAPOLIMEDIA NEWS | Hennepin County Proposal Would Provide Up to $710,000 for Minneapolis Housing-Site Cleanup
The proposed revolving loan would help finance environmental work at the Cheatham Apartments redevelopment site.
MINNEAPOLIS, MN (October 23, 2026). A proposal before Hennepin County would authorize negotiations for a cleanup loan of up to $710,000 to support an affordable-housing redevelopment at a former grain-storage property in Minneapolis.
The request concerns the Cheatham Apartments property at 3716 Cheatham Avenue and would allow an agreement with Trellis Co. or an affiliated entity through the county’s Brownfields Revolving Loan Fund.
The proposal appeared on the October 20 board agenda. The legislative file reviewed for this report lists the item as referred and does not record final approval. Accordingly, the funding remains a proposed agreement rather than a confirmed disbursement.
The requested authorization provides for an agreement lasting 18 years. Its purpose is to help cover abatement and environmental cleanup associated with converting the former industrial property to housing.
The county’s supporting explanation identifies the revolving fund as a mechanism for addressing contamination and building-related hazards that can obstruct redevelopment.
How the revolving fund works
Hennepin County administers the program with funding from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Its broader purpose is to return contaminated properties to productive use.
The county makes low-interest cleanup loans available to eligible public entities, nonprofit organizations and businesses. The program addresses qualifying hazardous-substance and petroleum contamination; parties responsible for the contamination are not eligible borrowers.
Applications are accepted throughout the year, subject to available funding and program requirements.
Unlike a one-time grant expenditure, a revolving loan can support additional projects after repayment. EPA explains that repaid principal returns to the fund and can be lent again, maintaining a continuing source of cleanup capital within a community.
For the Cheatham property, the proposed financing addresses a specific redevelopment step: preparing a previously used site for a different purpose. Loan authorization, environmental work and delivery of completed housing are separate milestones.
Residents following the project can monitor county file 26-0397 for subsequent action. The next financial milestone would be authorization and completion of an agreement setting the borrower’s obligations and the conditions governing the use of public funds.
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