A Minneapolis developer has been facing the same labor and material shortages along with rising costs just like every other developer in the country, but Devean George is planning on doing something about it. He’s building his own modular construction factory.
The Minneapolis City Council on Thursday is expected to approve a $2 million loan for a modular-housing manufacturing plant planned for the North Loop.
Devean George, an Augsburg University graduate and former pro basketball player turned real estate developer, plans to locate the $19 million facility in a building near the Minneapolis Farmers Market. It would make modular units for multi-family housing.
Since he retired as a pro ballplayer in 2010, George has invested in North Minneapolis as well as other parts of the city and St. Paul. “I don’t take no” for an answer, he said.
The project would create 177 to 315 jobs from 2023 to 2025 paying $30 or more an hour, the city said.
The city credit, likely a no-interest loan from an economic development fund, would match a $2 million equity investment by George, developer of two North Side affordable-housing projects as well as commercial-residential projects in Hopkins.
“Devean is credible and connected to the community,” said Erik Hansen, Minneapolis chief of economic development.
“He is methodical. And his projects work,” Hansen said. “And we don’t have a lot of 200,000-square-foot manufacturing space on the North Side or Minneapolis. This is climate-controlled manufacturing. A modest cost, less waste, and more efficiency. And good jobs.”
With his first Northside development now open, Devean George is proud to be part of the positive things going on in the area. The Commons, located on the corner of Penn Avenue North and Golden Valley Road, is a 45-unit, mixed-use apartment building that also has an after-school program.
Gary Fleisher is the Editor in Chief of Modular Home Source and Offsite Builder. Email at [email protected]
Gary Fleisher
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