North Shore Community Radio

Local housing organization Hamilton Habitat has a busy year ahead. As they wrap up their current builds, they, along with the Cook County Housing Redevelopment Authority (HRA), announced on March 3 the receipt of grant money from the Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Board (IRRR) for the next Hamilton Habitat homes.

Brand is in line to replace Jason Hale, the HRA’s first executive director, who resigned at the end of last year, but agreed to serve as interim director through January. That extension was in part in order to help with the search for his replacement. Brand has experience in local and state government. This has included serving as a city councilor for the City of St. Peter, Minn., where he currently lives, and serving as State Representative for District 18A in the Minnesota House of Representatives.

August was a busy month for housing in Grand Marais. Between the rejection of the Bjorkberg project by the city council and the launch of the Gunflint Vue website for rental applications, there has been a lot of public discourse about the type of housing that residents hope to see in town.

The July Housing Redevelopment Authority (HRA) board meeting included updates on a range of housing projects. HRA Executive Director Jason Hale spoke with WTIP after the meeting.

June included a major groundbreaking for the Housing Redevelopment Authority (HRA). The Gunflint Vue housing project in now officially underway, but when Executive Director Jason Hale spoke with WTIP following the HRA board’s Jun. 19 meeting, the focus was on the other projects that the HRA is still working on.

After two years in the making, the Cook County Housing Redevelopment Authority (HRA) has officially broken ground on its first housing project, a 51-unit mixed-income apartment complex in Grand Marais.

“It’s a bit of a sigh of relief that it’s actually happening,” Executive Director of the HRA Jason Hale said during the June 14 groundbreaking ceremony. “I am very happy for the community that this is actually happening.”

Jason Hale is hesitant to celebrate too early. But as he marks two years in his role as executive director of the Cook County Housing and Redevelopment Authority (HRA), he has to acknowledge the progress that the group has made on a slew of projects, as well as a couple of recent wins.

The Cook County Housing Redevelopment Authority (HRA) is already off to a busy year. The board met on Jan. 17 and on the agenda were a collection of updates on funding for several of the group’s projects. In an interview with WTIP, HRA Director Jason Hale talked about those updates and explained the next steps for the developers of The Heights, planning at Cedar Grove, and the HRA’s own efforts to encourage sustainability.

The Cook County Housing Redevelopment Authority (HRA) met on Dec. 20 to discuss the status of the ongoing HRA projects. The projects range from supporting renovations of existing buildings, to brand new builds, and span a wide range of planning stages as 2023 comes to an end. HRA Director Jason Hale spoke with WTIP about what progress the HRA made on the proposed projects, and what other issues were raised at the December meeting.

Minnesota State Sen. Grant Hauschild represents Cook County and a large section of northern Minnesota at the Capitol in St. Paul.

He was in Cook County this week to meet with local leaders and community members and discuss a variety of topics, including housing, childcare, Minnesota’s regulatory branches of government, healthcare, and other topics relevant to the local community