The COVID-19 crisis was just heating up in April when LS Black Development was officially launched.

Bad timing? Not necessarily, say founders Michael Hudson and William Boulay. LS Black Development, the development arm of St. Paul-based LS Black Constructors, has a strong focus on affordable housing — and the need for those homes isn’t going away.

“Once [LS Black Constructors] had kind of that confidence that their specific business lines weren’t going to be interrupted, they were ready to go,” Hudson said. “And to be honest, we think everything that’s going on now is probably going to make the need for affordable housing even greater.”

In the following interview, Hudson and Boulay talk about how they got into the affordable housing business, what’s on their plate these days, and what policymakers can do to grease the skids for more affordable shelter.