St. Paul City Council rezones Grand Avenue properties
The St. Paul City Council has approved a St. Thomas request to rezone a Grand Avenue property, which is for sale as part of an effort to redevelop three parcels for owner-occupied housing.
The council held a public hearing and approved the rezoning of 2076 Grand from B-2 (community business) to RM2 (medium-density, multi-family residential) to create uniform zoning along with the houses at 2080 and 2084 Grand.
St. Thomas uses a maintenance garage at 2076 Grand to repair and store equipment, and will continue to do so as a legal nonconforming use until the property is sold. Students live in the house at 2080 Grand, and new faculty and staff use the house at 2084 Grand as interim housing.
The university agreed, as part of its 2004 conditional use permit, to sell the three properties by Aug. 11, 2009, with a restrictive covenant that they subsequently would be used only for owner-occupied, nonstudent residential purposes. The sale will mean St. Thomas no longer will own any property on the south side of Grand between Cleveland and Cretin avenues.
The properties could be sold separately to different owners, but St. Thomas believes the maintenance garage parcel would be more attractive to a developer if it also could raze the houses at 2080 and 2084 Grand and redevelop the entire site for townhouses or condominiums. Tanya Hietpas of Edina Realty, (651) 690-8405, is marketing the properties.
