Minneapolis relaxes parking requirements on new multifamily buildings

The Minneapolis City Council voted recently to ease parking requirements for new multifamily buildings.

The council cut the number of spots required for large developments by half. It also will accept plans with no parking spaces for buildings of fewer than 50 units if they are located no more than a quarter-mile from transit with pickups at least every 15 minutes.

The new standards could spur more construction of small apartment buildings, and, supporters hope, lower rents in some areas of the city.

“Too often we see a whole building designed around a concrete structure to store cars, instead of the people who are living in the building, or walking by it, or living nearby,” City Councilor Lisa Bender told the Minneapolis StarTribune. “It will allow more flexibility in design.”

The rule is expected to reduce the cost of building multifamily structures by eliminating the need for underground parking garages.

One of the hardest decisions multifamily developers and their design teams have to make is what mix of amenities they’re going to put into each project. A lot of squiggly factors go into that decision: the type of community, the geographic market, local recreation preferences, climate/weather conditions, physical parameters, and of course the budget. The permutations are mind-boggling.

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