Council Votes Down 40-Unit Supportive Housing Complex in St. Cloud

(KNSI) – The St. Cloud City Council has rejected a proposal to build a 40-unit permanent supportive housing complex on 25th Avenue North, ending the project at that site.

The council voted 4-3 Monday night to deny an amendment to the St. Anthony Catholic Church Planned Unit Development that Duluth-based Center City Housing needed to build the three-story Elm Ridge Apartments. The site sits behind Walgreens and across the street from Central Minnesota Montessori School.

Council members Karen Larson, Scott Brodeen, Mike Conway and Mark Johnson voted to deny the request. Dave Masters, Hudda Ibrahim and Tami Calhoun voted in favor.

The meeting ran nearly four and a half hours, with almost all of the discussion focused on the complex. 13 people spoke against the project and six spoke in support.

Brodeen, the first council member to say he could not back the project, told KNSI News there’s a difference between a need and a demand. “We might have the demand for more homeless housing, but that’s not what the city needs. What we need is to be bringing in businesses and not chasing out residents.”

Amanda McGowan, who lives in the neighborhood, said she left city hall relieved. “It is the right idea, but the wrong location. Our neighborhood is very vibrant. I love living there.” Her main concern was safety for her children and those on her street. “They deserve to be able to play outside in their yard without listening or seeing things that they shouldn’t.”

Calhoun, who voted in favor, said her vote was shaped by what she had seen at Center City Housing’s existing River Heights property. “I don’t see visually that they’re vagrants,” she said. “They’re in their home. They’re excited to be in their home and be settled.”

The apartments would have served extremely low-income people who have experienced homelessness or who are living with mental health conditions, chemical dependency or other disabilities. All 40 units would have been studio apartments with full kitchens and bathrooms, and the building would have been staffed around the clock.

According to Center City Housing Executive Director Nancy Cashman, only a handful of the people living in supportive housing hold jobs, with most on government assistance. She told the council the average time people live in the units is around five years.

Before the vote, city staff compiled additional information at the planning commission’s request. A St. Cloud Police Department review of calls for service at 78 multi-family properties found River Heights had the most calls in 2025, at 77. Center City Housing has said many of those were tied to a single resident who has since been evicted.

It was Center City Housing’s second attempt to build the Elm Ridge Apartments in St. Cloud. The organization received council approval in June 2025 for a complex at 1530 Northway Drive, on the site of the former St. Cloud Area Family YMCA, but scrapped that project in January 2026 after a state grant fell through.

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