Ecumen and Luther Seminary have partnered on a senior housing development in North St. Anthony Park. Many community members have become involved in this project. To provide a neutral forum to develop and express ideas about the development, the Land Use Committee has created this page for neighbors to comment on the development. At this point, Ecumen and Luther plan to move forward with the senior housing co-op separate from their other two developments.

ECUMEN PROPOSAL UPDATE: SAPCCDecember V2

Ecumen has come to the last several months of meetings to answer committee and community questions and give an update on their progress. At the December 3rd Land Use Committee meeting, Ecumen asked for a general letter of support. The Land Use Committee voted in favor of that letter of support (7 yays, 2 nays, 3 abstentions). The motion will go to the Board for consideration on Thursday December 10 (7:00-9:00pm at Jennings 2455 University Ave). All Board meetings are also public meetings. You can read the minutes from the past few months of Land Use Committee meetings here:

Land Use Sep. 2015

LandUse Oct. 2015

LandUse Nov. 2015

We will post the December minutes when we have approval from the Land Use Committee.

Would you like to add your voice to the conversation? We want to hear about any options you would like the Land Use Committee to consider in the Ecumen development. The Land Use Committee envisions this forum as a constructive space to give feedback as this project unfolds. What ideas would you like the Land Use Committee to consider as they engage with this project? To add a post to this forum, please email cailin@sapcc.org. Staff will add your post to this page in the order in which they are received. Posts may be edited for clarity or length.

COMMUNITY COMMENTARY

Land Use Committee:

This development would be the largest our neighborhood has experienced in decades. It proposes a senior cooperative located at Como Avenue and Luther Place as well as affordable to market-rate apartments and a “living with services” building at Como Avenue and Eustis Street. Neighbors have expressed great interest and a desire for input on how this development should proceed.

The Land Use Committee of the St. Anthony Park Community Council recognizes and appreciates the efforts Ecumen has made to listen and respond to the neighborhood’s concerns about the proposed development of property currently owned by Luther Seminary. This development would be the largest our neighborhood has experienced in decades. It proposes a senior cooperative located at Como Avenue and Luther Place as well as affordable to market-rate apartments and a “living with services” building at Como Avenue and Eustis Street. Neighbors have expressed great interest and a desire for input on how this development should proceed. READ MORE: LandUsePublicLetter

Glen Skovholt:

Dear Mr. Blanchard, I am writing you as a long time neighbor of Luther Seminary, having lived for 48 years just a few houses down the alley from the Seminary president’s home.  I am also a lifetime member of Saint Anthony Park Lutheran Church, having been baptized in Bøckman Hall when our congregation worshiped in the Seminary’s chapel. I have an interest in seeing that Saint Anthony Park has sufficient housing so that seniors living in the community can remain here when they find it necessary to move out of their home.  It is for that reason that I chaired the board of the Luther Place Housing Corporation that constructed the Luther Place condominiums. READ MORE: Gus Blanchard letter

Erin Berg: 

Dear President Steinke and the Board of Directors of Luther Seminary, I am writing to share with you my views on the proposed development on the Luther Seminary campus near the intersection of Como Avenue and Luther Place. I have worked in the field of historic preservation for the past twenty years, and have been with the Preservation Alliance in Minnesota since 2008. I am also a member of St. Anthony Park Lutheran Church, have two children who are current students at Murray Middle School, and my family’s ties to St. Anthony Park span five generations. Like many others in this community, I feel that I have a lot at stake with the proposed development. READ MORE: ErinBerg–HistoricPreservationPerspective

Douglas and Jane Koons:

Dear Neighbors, Luther Place is only one block long.  It is bordered by a middle school, a seminary, a church, a condominium building, and homes.  It is lined and draped with mature oaks, maples, lindens, and pines.  Overflow parking on both sides of the street provide hospitality to all of these neighbors and their guests.  The street also welcomes students from the University of Minnesota whose limited budgets can use the free parking it offers.  Customers for the businesses at this end of our village also need those parking spots on Luther Place.  This one small block in St. Paul has all the density it can handle. Koons Letter

Transition Town All St. Anthony Park:

Transition Town-All St. Anthony Park, as many Bugle readers know and to which many have contributed, works toward a positive, local response to climate change. We applaud Ecumen, OneTwoOne Development and Kaas Wilson Architects (the team) for their willingness to work with the neighborhood on their threefold design on two parcels of the Luther Seminary campus: senior cooperative housing for active, independent living; apartments that include affordable rental rates; and a senior-care facility. READ MORE TTASAPLetter

Ellen Watters:

Dear St. Anthony Park Community Council, As a resident of South St. Anthony Park for 25 years, former chair of the Community Council, former chair of a senior housing and services organization (Episcopal Homes of Minnesota) and consultant in economic and community development, I am writing to urge support for Ecumen’s proposal for senior co-op housing. READ MORE EllenWattersLetter