(October 9, 2006)

The University of St. Thomas is redeveloping two Summit Avenue blocks that were added to its St. Paul campus in 2004.

The project allows St. Thomas to replace substandard facilities for several academic programs, support long-term efforts to increase the number of undergraduate students living on campus from 40 percent to as high as 60 percent, and increase the amount of parking on campus.

Redevelopment of the blocks bounded by Summit, Cleveland, Grand and Cretin avenues is governed by requirements in a Conditional Use Permit approved August 11, 2004, by the St. Paul City Council. See conditions for details.

St. Thomas anticipates at least three phases in the project:

• A Child Development Center and Student Residence on the northwest corner of Grand and Finn Street. The center, which enrolls 66 children, opened April 13, 2005. Seventeen St. Thomas students live on the second floor work or volunteer in the center.
  
• A new business education building (see business building) on the southwest corner of Summit and Cleveland, on the site of the former Christ Child Hall. Construction began May 23, 2005 on the three-story, 75,000-square-foot McNeely Hall, and a 121-vehicle underground parking garage. Construction is complete, faculty and staff have moved in and the building opened for classes in September 2006.
  
• A second academic building on the southeast corner of Summit and Finn, housing on the north side of Grand between Cleveland and Finn, and underground parking. This phase will occur after 2010 and will provide housing for 125-150 students and up to 180 parking spaces.

The Conditional Use Permit approval ended five years of discussions and came after negotiations among representatives of St. Thomas, the Macalester-Groveland and Merriam Park community councils, Neighbors United and the Summit Avenue Residential Preservation Association (SARPA). City Council member Jay Benanav, who represents the area, brought together the five groups.

St. Thomas has envisioned redeveloping the two-block site for two decades. A St. Paul Planning Commission study in 1985 and the city's land use plans in 1990 and 2002 identified the two-block site as an appropriate location for campus expansion. The original Special Condition Use Permit approved by the city in 1990 also identified the site in this manner.