Lady Luck Estates Project Wins Award

The Mille Lacs Corporate Ventures (MLCV) team responsible for Lady Luck Estates in Hinckley received the Project Team of the Year Award from Travois, a Kansas City company that raises funds for housing and economic development in Indian Country.

MLCV Economic Development Director Dustin Goslin, a member of the Prairie Band of Potawatomi Nation in Kansas, said the 28-unit Lady Luck Estates project is part of the first phase of the Hinckley I-35 master plan created in 2013, which also included the medical office building that opened in 2015.

“MLCV saw a need in our community for affordable housing, so we wanted to find a way to bring this type of project forward,” said Dustin.

To help make that plan a reality, the company primarily used federal Low-Income Housing Tax Credits, administered through the Minnesota Housing Finance Agency, to finance the construction in Hinckley — a community where much of the workforce was commuting 45 to 60 minutes due to the lack of housing options nearby.

“Affordable housing projects work by using tax credits to underwrite the cost of the project to lower rents. We gained a lot of insight through the development of Lady Luck Estates and are actively applying it to future projects around the region,” said Dustin.

Lady Luck Estates is currently under construction with the first units to be open in July, and all buildings targeted for completion by December.

“MLCV is committed to being a good community steward,” Dustin said. “Affordable housing projects in rural areas are tough because of numerous variables including financing, accessibility to public transit, and access to utilities — water/ sewer, broadband, etc. We believe that everyone has a right to quality housing, so our goal is to find ways to leverage housing partnerships and programs to bring these types of projects to our region.”

MLCV received the award in April at the 2018 Travois In- dian Country Affordable Housing and Economic Development Conference in Marina Del Rey, California. CEO Joseph Nay- quonabe, General Counsel Michael Beattie, Associate Gen- eral Counsel Zachary Atherton-Ely, and Dustin accepted the award for the team.

Dustin said, “We are proud to be rec- ognized as the project team of the year. This project ensures working people and families have a place to call home in the Hinckley community for years to come. We look forward to continuing our work in investing and implementing affordable housing in other areas of the state.”

Lady Luck Estates is located just over a mile from Grand Casino Hinckley and adjacent to the MLCV medical office building. It is within walking distance of a second health clinic, restaurants, employment options, and a movie theatre.

“We have had a huge influx of interested potential tenants and are already developing a wait list for some types of units,” Dustin said.

The project will include 12 two-bedroom, 1.5-bath units and 16 three-bedroom, two-bath units. All homes will have a one- or two-car attached garage.

Two units will accommodate tenants with physical disabil- ities, with at least one constructed to be fully handicap accessible. In addition to serving income-qualified families, four units will provide housing for previously homeless families.

Those interested in renting a unit can look for Lady Luck Estates on Facebook or call 320-384-4607.

Photo: The team behind Lady Luck Estates — Zachary Atherton-Ely, Dustin Goslin, Michael Beattie, and Joe Nayquonabe — received the ProjectTeam of the Year award at the 2018 Travois Indian Country Affordable Housing and Economic Development Conference April 11 in Marina Del Rey, California.