St. Thomas Gets Go-Ahead on $100M Expansion

ST. PAUL-The city council approved a deal between the University of St. Thomas and neighboring residents that will allow the school to begin a $100-million campus expansion. A compromise ends a battle between the 119-year-old Catholic university and its affluent neighbors on the city’s most elegant avenue–at least with regards to its expansion plans.

The deal allows St. Thomas to go ahead with plans to add student apartments, a child development center and two large academic buildings south of Summit Avenue. The university agreed to cap enrollment at its St. Paul campus and preserve two more Summit Avenue houses than previously proposed, a concession to neighbors.

St. Thomas also agreed to buy 30 rental houses in the Merriam Park and Macalester-Groveland neighborhoods over the next 12 years. The school will renovate the homes and sell them to buyers who promise not to turn the houses into rental properties.