Details
“Heritage Commons represents the very best in senior housing, public or private. Seniors deserve to live in a great building like this, and it’s going to raise the bar for projects both here and in other cities.” — Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak
2006 AIA Minneapolis Merit Award
Excellence Beyond Design
2004 Business Journal “Best in Real Estate” Winner
Community Impact Category
Description
Challenging perceptions of public housing for seniors, Heritage Commons is the Minneapolis Public Housing Authority’s first new building for seniors in 32 years.
This low-rise overlooks a park and pond inside the Heritage Park redevelopment area, the former site of the oldest public housing in the state of Minnesota.
All 102 apartments have the same universal design features, allowing residents to age in place. Seniors who require assisted-living services aren’t segregated in a wing or on a separate floor of the building. While this approach is unusual in senior design, it’s by request of seniors already living in the city’s public housing.
Heritage Commons has indoor and outdoor gathering spaces, resident gardens with raised beds, a rain garden, beauty salon, café/store, library/classroom, second-floor open balcony, exercise room, great room with fireplace, nurse’s station, on-site social services and high-speed Internet access. Design encourages a sense of community within the building, and relationships with the Heritage Park neighborhood.
Profile:
Type: Supportive
Total Units: 102
Total Square Footage: 94,000
