Catholic Charities to expand housing for homeless in Minneapolis

Catholic Charities is acquiring a building near downtown Minneapolis to replace a housing facility in need of major repair.

A new $65 million development in Minneapolis will help more people who are chronically homeless.

The nonprofit organization is acquiring the Augustana Health Care Center in the Elliot Park neighborhood. It's now a nursing home.

“This is a significant addition of capacity near downtown Minneapolis, which desperately needs it,” said Tim Marx, CEO of Catholic Charities of St. Paul and Minneapolis.

Catholic Charities will renovate the building so that it can accommodate about 200 people in need of a place to stay. That's twice as many people who are served at the current building, located next to St. Olaf Church in downtown Minneapolis.

“It will be a mix of single-room occupancy units, very similar to college dorm rooms,” said Marx. “Some efficiency apartments. And then some simpler rooms for people who are released from hospitals who have no place to go other than the shelter or the streets.”

The $65 million project is expected to open by the fall of 2021.

Partners include Hennepin County, the city of Minneapolis, the state Housing Finance Agency and Dominium, the Plymouth-based housing and development company.

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