Minneapolis Duplex + Attic Unit under 2040 Plan

[Mike Porttiin]

Hello all, 

First post here. Currently in an inspection period on my first duplex in South Minneapolis. The property is in decent shape, but I'm having concerns about a small unit located in the attic. Currently the property is zoned as a duplex, with a 1BR 1BA unit on the first floor, 2BR 1 BA Unit on the second, and a finished attic "studio" apartment with a kitchenette and half bath. The first floor has its own electric meter, the second floor and attic are on the same electric meter. I've called the city of Minneapolis to determine whether or not the attic work was permitted, and all I have found is a permit pulled in 1986 to convert the SFH to a duplex. My assumption is due to the zoning at that time, the attic was finished while the house was being converted to the duplex.

Here is my question:

Under Minneapolis' new 2040 Plan, ADU's are allowed in SF + duplex residences without the need for owner occupancy. Has anyone seen attic units in Minneapolis before? If so is a stairway as a means of egress to the outside required? (currently, the attic has stairs leading down to the second unit, along with an egress window and fire escape ladder right next to it). To me the value add for this property is converting the attic to a separate unit/ADU to increase the cash flow, but I am concerned about running into code issues.

Any comments/advice is greatly appreciated.

Thank you in advance and let's have a great 2020!

Mike

[Bruce Runn]

@Mike Porttiin

@Evan Kraljic

The real wrinkle for any internal ADU is the city is considering the ADU as a 3rd unit for building code compliance so you do have to meet IBC (3+ units) instead of IRC (1-2 units) going forward. The difference between a duplex+ADU versus a triplex is the ADU is retrofitting another unit inside or more likely a separate detached option so you can have two buildings on the same lot (but not R1 and R1A for non owner occupied at this point) This is a change in interpretation from some of the initial owner occupied ADU's that were legalized for owner occupied conversions early on.