On June 1, 2022, the Saint Paul City Council approved the Hillcrest Master Plan and associated actions (rezoning, zoning code amendments, and Comprehensive Plan amendment).

The Master Plan outlines future land uses and a new street network for the 112-acre former golf course on Saint Paul’s East Side. The Department of Planning and Economic Development (PED) worked alongside community members, consultants and the Saint Paul Port Authority to develop the Master Plan, and engaged residents throughout the process to determine how to build opportunity and community wealth on the site, now known as The Heights.

The overarching goals of the plan are to bring more housing, jobs and public amenities to the East Side of Saint Paul. The adopted vision will facilitate the creation of a vibrant jobs center with approximately 1,000 jobs, the potential for more than 1,000 housing units (including options affordable to low- and moderate-income households) and the development of new parkland.

Subsequent to the master plan process, an environmental review of the project is being conducted (see below).

Next Steps

The Master Plan will guide the work of the Saint Paul Port Authority, the owners and developers of the site, in bringing the project to life.

Four community engagement workgroups, focused on urban design, sustainability, outside spaces and housing, are underway and will collaborate with the Port Authority to inform decisions in alignment with approved Hillcrest Master Plan.

Basic site preparation, including platting and remediation, could begin during 2022.

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Environmental Review

The City of Saint Paul is in the process of conducting an environmental review for the proposed redevelopment of the Hillcrest site.

As the Responsible Governmental Unit (RGU), the City of Saint Paul is noticing the availability of the Draft Alternative Urban Areawide Review (AUAR) and its appendices for the Hillcrest redevelopment site (Draft Hillcrest AUAR). An AUAR is a planning tool for local governments to collect and analyze information to understand how different development scenarios will affect the environment of a community before development occurs. The State of Minnesota requires environmental reviews on proposed developments of a certain size and scale.

The 30-day public comment period on the Hillcrest Draft AUAR and its appendices ran from Tuesday, July 5 to Thursday, August 4, 2022.  The comments received will be analyzed and responded to as part of the final AUAR document.

About the Hillcrest Draft AUAR

The AUAR study area encompasses the 112-acre former Hillcrest Golf Course in northeastern Saint Paul. The property is located south of Larpenteur Avenue, west of McKnight Road, north of Ivy Avenue and east of Winthrop Street. 

Three development scenarios are proposed for study in the draft AUAR, all of which are consistent with the Hillcrest Master Plan that was approved by the City Council on June 1, 2022:

  • The Comprehensive Plan scenario includes 708,000 square feet of light industrial and 960 units of multi-family residential housing;

  • The Master Plan scenario includes 840,000 square feet of light industrial and 960 units of multi-family residential housing; and

  • The Master Plan Max Intensity scenario includes 1,000,000 square feet of light industrial housing and 2,615 units of multi-family residential housing.

Community Advisory Committee

From October 2019 through December 2021, the Hillcrest Community Advisory Committee (CAC) met monthly to provide feedback to City staff and consultants on the master plan process. Early in the process, after the first round of community engagement, they affirmed community priorities to guide the master plan's creation (alongside other considerations). In their final meeting, they approved the contents of a letter that conveys their opinions on the staff-recommended draft master plan.

View materials from the CAC meetings

Last Edited: August 9, 2022