244 Apartments Proposed Along County Road 74; Public Hearing Set for June 9th

(KNSI) – A St. Cloud church wants to turn a chunk of its commercial-zoned land into hundreds of new apartments, and residents will get their first chance to weigh in next week.

Jubilee Worship Center is asking the city to rezone 45.9 acres at 3125 and 3143 County Road 74 from a buissnes district to residential to make way for a 244-unit apartment development called The Flats on 74th. The plan would clear the way for five apartment buildings while keeping the congregation’s existing church on its own lot.

The land is currently zoned for highway commercial use, but city planning staff say the appetite for stores and offices has cooled since the pandemic, while the need for housing has climbed. Planners argue the spot, hemmed in between Highway 15 and County Road 74 with limited access, is now a better fit for apartments than the retail or office space once envisioned there.

The five buildings would stand three stories tall with sloped roofs and a mix of brick and siding. Plans call for tuck-under garages on three of the buildings and 499 off-street parking spaces split between surface lots and garages. Residents would share a playground, a sport court, and a dog run near the center of the complex, along with a small rental office near the County Road 74 entrance.

The church’s 18,000-square-foot worship center, built in 2006, would stay on its own 8.8-acre lot. A single-family home on the neighboring parcel would be torn down to make room for the apartments.

Much of the property’s southern end would be left alone. The site includes a cattail marsh and an oak woodland that the city has flagged as environmentally sensitive, and the plan keeps construction at least 20 feet from both.

If the project moves forward, the developer would owe the city more than $201,000 in park dedication fees, $121,968 for one group of buildings and $79,200 for another, before the plat could be recorded.
Traffic is expected to grow with the new residents. The complex would add roughly 1,327 vehicle trips on an average day, and a regional study found County Road 74 has the capacity to handle it. The only entrance to the apartments would line up with Stone Gate Drive across County Road 74.

City planning staff are recommending approval, pointing in part to the city’s 2024 housing assessment.

The St. Cloud Planning Commission will hold a public hearing on the rezoning and plat when it meets Tuesday, June 9th at 6:00 p.m. inside city hall. The commission’s recommendation will then go to the City Council for a final decision.

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