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CAC breaks ground on new emergency, workforce housing development in Faribault
By Chloe Kucera, Faribault Daily News
August 8, 2025
After years of planning and countless partners and supporters coming together, the ground has been broken for the Community Action Center’s Ridgeview Heights, a workforce and emergency housing development.
The organization held a groundbreaking ceremony at the future site of the apartments on First Street and First Avenue on Wednesday in Faribault.
Many people gathered to witness the monumental milestone, marking the moment of bringing the project to reality.
Faribault Area Chamber of Commerce Director of Operations Casie Steeves shared a few words about the importance of celebrating the occasion.
“Ridgeview Heights is more than just a housing development, it’s a reflection of what’s possible when a community comes together with a shared vision for the future,” she said. “Projects like this strengthen our local economy, support our workforce, and build the kind of stability that benefits every organization, every business, and every family.”
Faribault Mayor Tom Spooner spoke about the importance of affordable housing in the city.
“The city of Faribault will always be committed to housing,” he said. “It is and will continue to be one of the greatest challenges that will face our city almost forever. We are greatly excited about this project with the Community Action Center. This will begin to fill a void that is greatly needed in our community. Whether it’s eight units or 100 units on the south end of town, Faribault is committed to housing.”
Spooner shared his hopes for the development.
“This project here is going to be the cornerstone of downtown that is going to fill a housing need that we greatly need to work on,” he said. “It is my hope that this type of housing will lead to other types of housing similar to this, and it will begin to fill what I call the cycle of housing, where someone can live here, whether it be a short time or medium, but they could get their feet under themselves and move on to own their own home, move to an apartment, whatever it may be to begin moving on to bigger and better homes. This is where we can start.”
Spooner extended gratitude to the CAC and city staff who have helped work on Ridgeview Heights.
CAC Community Resource Manager Becky Ford acknowledged how the development was made possible by people joining forces to tackle the issue of housing.
“This project is the culmination of bringing together everyone in our community to know the needs, name the challenges, and explore how we can all be part of a solution right here in Faribault,” she said.
Ford gave some background on the history of the project.
“Three years ago, the desire for solutions around housing was strong in us, but a clear path was unknown,” Ford said. “A multitude of caring and compassionate partners were repeatedly discussing the experiences of families and their barriers to stable housing, but much like those families, we felt stuck with low vacancy rates and rising housing costs on our minds, we asked each other, where could we possibly go with this together?”
They were able to identify what might help these families.
“Through careful listening and thoughtful consideration, we determined that more temporary emergency options were needed to support our neighbors experiencing a crisis,” Ford said. “This was a gap in our community’s continuum of housing, and it was important for solutions to start there.”
Seeing the need for more emergency housing, the CAC knew that they needed help to make a difference.
“Community partners, we are indebted to you for shining a light on these stories and revealing our path forward,” Ford said. “Moving from talk to action required a decisive turn on this new path, and building emergency housing alone couldn’t be our destination. We would need resources, further guidance, and additional partners to create something both accessible and sustainable for years to come.”
Ford thanked the city of Faribault, the Minnesota Department of Human Services, Minnesota Housing, Community Resource Bank, the Capital Campaign committee members, and the CAC Advocacy Council for their joint efforts bringing Ridgeview Heights to fruition.
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