Center City Housing Receives Unanimous Approval from St. Cloud’s Planning Commission for Low Income Apartments at the Former YMCA Site

(KNSI) – The St. Cloud Planning Commission Tuesday night, unanimously approved the construction of a low-income apartment building on the former YMCA site.

Center City Housing is now one step closer to building 40 one-bedroom apartments on the vacant lot on Northway Drive. The property is currently zoned commercial and needs to change its planned unit development to allow for housing. The land was approved for a grocery store, but that project couldn’t move forward.

During a public hearing, three people spoke in favor of the proposal. One person, who works near the site, wasn’t against the idea but had concerns over the safety of their clients and staff. One person spoke against the project, fearing it would harm property values.

CCH Executive Director Nancy Cashman told KNSI News after the vote, she believes the project will make a difference toward combating the homelessness issue. “It’s really important to get people off the streets. It’s a really hard place to make change in your life. And I think, when we bring another 40 people off the streets and out of emergency shelter in St. Cloud, it’ll be noticed by a lot of people.”

She added that the building isn’t just a crash pad, and they take an individualized approach. “We really just sit down with each of the tenants and sort of try to help us understand what we can do to help them move towards long-term housing stability, because that’s really our one number one goal.”

CCH is no stranger to the city, having operated the River Crest apartments since 2011 and the adjacent River Heights facility on Lincoln Avenue Southeast since 2023. Those buildings and the proposed new Elm Ridge apartment will use trauma-informed and harm-reduction housing models to get people suffering from drug addiction, mental illness, and other disabilities into permanent housing.

The plan will go before the city council at one of their next meetings. If the plan passes, CCH will move on to the next phase, but it will be two or three years before the building opens.

The land was the home to the St. Cloud Y until 2017, when a new facility opened across the street and the old building met the wrecking ball.

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