Questions remain for Rochester's proposed Center Street shelter project

Oct. 31—ROCHESTER — Residents in Rochester's Eastside Neighborhood continue to ask questions about the decision to propose opening a nightly

homeless shelter on East Center Street.

"We have been excluded from the very beginning," said Mary Jo Majerus, who lives near the Residences at Old Town Hall. She said she's not necessarily opposed to the project, but wants more information.

The apartment complex at 607 E. Center St. was identified in September as the proposed site for a new Olmsted County Housing Stability Center, if its request for $10 million in state funds is successful.

Dave Dunn, the county's housing director, said he understands the neighbors' desire for answers but added it's still unclear whether the plan to open an 80-bed shelter with services and affordable housing in the same building is viable.

"We're in a spot where it's a little bit of wait and see, which can be challenging," he said. "The fear of the unknown is true, and I understand that. As soon as we have additional things we can work with the neighborhood on, we will, and that's our intention."

Word on potential funding is expected in December.

Neighbors have voiced concerns about the sudden announcement of the location, which came less than a month before the county was required to submit its application for a portion of $100 million in shelter funds that were approved by the Minnesota Legislature this year.

County commissioners, who also serve as seven of the eight members on the local Housing and Redevelopment Authority, have said the grant's time constraints and requirement to secure a site made timing for community engagement short.

Dunn met with

current residents of the apartment complex on Sept. 11,

shortly after a decision to enter a $5 million purchase agreement for the building was made. A public announcement came a day later, and he met with the Eastside Neighborhood Association on Sept. 14.

It left neighbors wanting more, but Dunn said there is little to offer for certain at this point, but the neighborhood and others will be involved if the project moves forward with the potential of opening the center in 2025.

"It is our intention to work with the neighborhood, the Rochester Police Department, our Housing Stability Team, people with lived experience, a bunch of people in the community to really work with them on the site design, construction and operations of the facility, if the site is funded," he said, adding: "It is our intent to move forward collectively and collaboratively with the neighborhood."

One set of answers he can provide is the site-selection process.

Since early 2022, Rochester and Olmsted County staff, along with other community partners, have been working on a list of shelter priorities in an effort to identify potential needs, but the search for a site didn't begin until it was authorized by county commissioners during a June 23 retreat this year.

During that meeting, commissioners agreed a shelter should have the capacity for 80 to 100 people and be close to downtown. They pointed to a desire to renovate an existing building, rather than starting from scratch.

"If there is something downtown that is sitting vacant and makes economic sense, we need to do that versus finding a greenfield and building new," commissioner Michelle Rossman said.

Dunn said the first sites reviewed following the June meeting were county-owned and included replacing the existing Rochester Community Warming Center building at 200 Fourth St. SE. or building a new structure on a county lot behind The Landing MN day center, 426 Third Ave. SE.

Replacing the warming center would require finding a temporary location for up to two years, which Dunn said was problematic.

The decision to pass on the site behind The Landing became the focus of some concern after a Rochester City Council member Kelly Rae Kirkpatrick shared a conversation she had with an unidentified Mayo Clinic representative. During a neighborhood meeting and an Oct. 23 council meeting, she said the representative told her Mayo Clinic officials discouraged using the site.

"What I was told was: 'We don't want to tell people they can't get on the bus,'" she said during a council discussion of the city's proposed rapid transit project, which will pass by The Landing on Third Avenue.

"I physically had to prevent my jaw from dropping open when I heard that comment," she added.

Deputy City Administrator Cindy Steinhauser, who worked with county staff on looking at the site, said she was unaware of any Mayo Clinic influence in the selection process and doubted the ridership concern.

"I would find it very hard to believe that Mayo would be willing to write a check for millions of dollars a year, if they didn't want this to be a system that all could use," she said, referring to Mayo Clinic's agreement to fund operations to provide fare-free service on the transit system expected to launch in 2026.

Steinhauser said the main concern was related to potential public safety conflicts if the proposed shelter and existing day center were on the same block.

Dunn said other county housing staff were involved in initial discussions, but a final recommendation to county commissioners included three other potential sites: the selected Center Street location, a city-owned traffic operations building at 24 Civic Center Drive and a parking lot at the intersection of Civic Center Drive and Silver Lake Drive.

He said the city building could not be efficiently renovated for shelter use and the parking lot came with environmental concerns that would need more time to review.

While not part of a public meeting, commissioners landed on the Residence at Old Town Hall site as a preferred location, since it offers the option of providing emergency shelter, as well as affordable housing and services, in an existing building.

He said purchasing the building had been discussed in the past, but the county needed to find a project and funding source that would provide a good fit. With the proposal to provide services beyond emergency shelter, he said the proposed project is a good opportunity.

"It allows us to do housing and services together to create a larger opportunity to impact people's lives," he said.

Neighbors and other community members have questioned why other locations weren't selected, offering a variety of potential options.

Dunn said many don't meet the defined needs or they are out of the county's reach.

He said suggestions that the county use the former Lourdes High School or vacated big box stores aren't feasible, since the buildings aren't for sale.

"In order for development of any kind to happen, you have to have a willing buyer and a willing seller," he said.

The city has been looking at the former Mister Muffler site at the intersection of Third Avenue Southeast and Fourth Street as a temporary overflow site for the winter months, but it's not available for long-term use, since plans for redeveloping the site are already in the works.

While some residents have proposed building something near the county's east campus, Dunn said the distance from downtown is an issue.

"We really want to have a location that's near downtown," he said. "The services people utilize, whether it's the Salvation Army, The Landing, the library or the government center, those are all locations that are in downtown. Having a shelter that would be 1.5 to 2 miles away just negatively impacts the population."

Also suggested was building the center in industrial or commercial areas away from residential neighborhoods, but Dunn said that wouldn't meet the county's goals related to providing services for its residents.

"These are members of our community and they deserve to be treated with dignity and respect and not necessarily pushed off into the corners where there are not other people living and there's not transportation," he said.