This lot at 1800 North Highland Avenue and 1425-1625 Maplewood Drive is where the Dreamville housing development is scheduled to be build upon. Hope Housing Foundation President Alvin Johnson said they need to secure more funding before the project can begin construction.

NEW ULM — It is said good things come to those who wait. For proponents of the Hope Housing Foundation’s (HHF) Dreamville housing development, they will have to wait a little longer.

Since being approved in September of 2022, the proposed location for the development at 1800 North Highland Avenue and 1425-1625 Maplewood Drive has laid vacant. Dreamville is set to consist of 6 townhomes on the east side of the property, 8 twin homes fronting Maplewood Drive, and two four-story apartment buildings behind the twin homes with 48 units in each for a combined total of 118 living units. Of those units 88 of them are classified as workforce housing. The total cost to construct is estimated to be $24 million.

City Planner John Knisley said currently the city has not received a building permit application from HHF. Not having these plans in hand means construction will likely not start anytime soon.

“We typically would get a blueprint or a design but so far we don’t have any,” Knisley said. “If it is going to be constructed it will take a while because usually we would have those plans well in advance. We have had a fair number of calls recently from people who want to see it happen. I can’t see any dirt being moved before winter. At the earliest I guess it would be able to start next year.”

Knisley said there have been no complaints from a zoning or planning perspective, and as soon as HHF are ready the project can still go forward.

New Ulm City Manager Chris Dalton said the reason plans have not come in and construction hasn’t started is due to funding issues.

“When they had initially proposed the project there were lower interest rates,” he said. “Now with higher interest rates they are looking for some more funding to pull the project through. We’ve known for about six months there has not been enough funding.”

Dalton said the project is still in it’s infancy, but HHF are committed to seeing the project through. HHF President Alvin Johnson agreed on the foundation’s commitment, and described the struggles that have impeded them.

“We have been actively trying to secure funding for this project,” he said. “Last summer when the capital markets changed and interest rates went up it pushed a lot of projects out of being funded. We are actively pursuing lenders for financing this project. Of the projects that were to be built last summer, 50% could not because of the interest rates going up.”

Johnson said he wants the project to go through and workforce housing to be available to the citizens of New Ulm. This includes pursuing other avenues besides being the sole developers.

“There have been several developers in the area wanting to partner with us or buy this property and we have entertained that,” Johnson said. “We are not looking to impede progress; if someone wants to partner with us or buy the property we are open to that.”

For those unsure or leery of the project’s future, Johnson urged the people of New Ulm to keep the faith and believe in the project’s potential. HHF are in negotiations with several lenders and hope to find a funding situation as markets stabilize.

“We have seen the markets go high and low. When we are trying to do something of this magnitude in a smaller market it is more difficult,” he said. “That doesn’t mean it can’t or won’t happen. We are looking for the right lenders to make it happen. We hope the interest rates will settle and everything stabilizes so we can get financed and start building next year. That is my hope and I believe we can get there.”