November 5, 2026 Business, Housing & Zoning Committee

The Minneapolis Business, Housing & Zoning Committee met on November 5, 2026. Procurement and funding actions included approving a resolution to carry forward just over $70 million in unused 2026 tax-exempt housing revenue bond entitlement for affordable rental housing next year, and approving acceptance of a $47,000 Federal Transit Administration planning grant for station-area planning related to the Metro Blue Line Extension. The committee also approved extending Sherman Associates’ exclusive development rights through November 1, 2027, and establishing development rights for the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board through November 1, 2028, for separate affordable-housing and recreation-center projects in Cedar-Riverside. Sherman’s project previously received a $920,000 city Affordable Housing Trust Fund award. A Minneapolis Convention Center security contract with Best Crowd Management, selected from 10 RFP respondents, was forwarded without recommendation after members requested further discussion before full Council consideration.

The committee approved its consent agenda, including several referrals and public-hearing settings, and approved a 2 a.m. liquor-license application for Memoire’s. It heard a proposed commercial-tenant ordinance requiring written leases and prohibiting retaliation for requesting one; the transcript records a roll call but does not capture the final result. Data-center zoning amendments were forwarded to the Committee of the Whole without recommendation for further discussion; the proposals included limits on where and how data centers could operate, while an amendment concerning renewable-energy requirements was also discussed. The committee received a legislative research report on autonomous vehicles. No contract award was made on that item, and the report identified coordination, data sharing, and workforce impacts as issues for future consideration.