Highland Bridge is a 122-acre parcel of land in the Highland Park neighborhood in Saint Paul, MN. In 2018, Ford Motor Company listed the property, and Ryan Companies (Ryan) was the successful bidder. Ryan received its required approvals and closed on the property in December of 2019. 

As part of the City of Saint Pauls Ford Site Master Plan, 20% of the projected 3,800 housing units to be developed over 15+ years must be affordable at various income levels. Fifty percent of these units must be affordable to households with incomes at 30% AMI or below. Ryan has set aside 10 parcels at Highland Bridge for future affordable housing development, with five developments to be constructed by Project for Pride in Living (PPL) and five by CommonBond.  

CommonBonds first Highland Bridge development site, Lot 2, Block 3, was purchased in February 2020 by CB Ford Site I, LLC, with CommonBond Communities as its sole member. The project, called The Lumin, is a proposed 58,000 SF, 60-unit affordable housing development that will be restricted to senior households aged 62 and over.  

The Lumin will include 48 one-bedroom units and 12 two-bedroom units. Units will be rent and income restricted to senior households with incomes of 30 percent of the AMI or below. All 60 units will benefit from project-based vouchers, seven of which will be further restricted to formerly homeless seniors. The building will include a lobby, on-site management offices, an activity room, a community room with kitchen, bike storage, and surface parking tucked behind the building. The project will adhere to necessary performance requirements including the Minnesota overlay to Enterprise Green Communities standards as well as the Saint Paul Sustainable Building Overlay which, contains several B3 guidelines including the SB2030 energy performance standard.  

The Lumin will be financed with a LMIR First Mortgage from Minnesota Housing and 4% Tax Credits. In addition, the project was awarded 60 Project Based Vouchers (PBVs) from the St. Paul Public Housing Agency, along with $4.5M in Capital Improvement Bond financing from Ramsey County. The City of St. Paul has also established a TIF district and the project will benefit from the increment generated by both the market rate and affordable buildings at Highland Bridge.