The city of St. Paul plans to acquire a Marshall Avenue rooming house with the goal of renovating it to house the designated clients of the city’s new “Familiar Faces” initiative — homeless individuals who have become far too familiar to St. Paul Police, emergency rooms and social service providers.

The St. Paul Police Department recently ended its embedded social worker program, a behavioral mental health unit known as COAST, which launched in 2018. Instead, the city has secured some $3.8 million in state and federal grants, as well as another $6 million from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, to build and run a service-oriented facility for repeat clients of emergency services.

Located near St. Paul College, the 70-unit structure at 268 Marshall Ave. has been owned and managed by Catholic Charities Twin Cities, offering single-room occupancy, dorm-style housing for residents who might otherwise be homeless. The city plans to purchase the building, expand living quarters and reduce the occupancy to 30-35 individuals.

A conditional use permit application filed by Catholic Charities Twin Cities indicates the city would add an individual bathroom to each unit, renovate a shared serving kitchen and upgrade the elevator, among other improvements.

The city would hire an intensive care management team featuring case managers and outreach and behavioral health professionals, keeping 15 staffers on site during normal business hours and at least four to six during nights and weekends, according to the permit application.

“The use proposed by the city is in alignment with how the building has been operated by Catholic Charities,” reads the permit application. “The same population will be served; however, the way in which they will be served will be more supportive.”

Under city zoning rules, a conditional use permit is required for a supportive housing facility with more than 16 residents in a multi-family zoning district.

In addition, Catholic Charities is requesting a modification of the minimum separation distance requirement of 1,320 feet between supportive housing facilities with more than six residents. Arrigoni East, a state-backed supportive housing facility at 255 Summit Ave., serves men who have completed a residential substance abuse or mental health treatment program.

The Familiar Faces facility at 268 Marshall Ave. would be co-ed and it would not be deemed a treatment center.

The conditional use permit application will be reviewed by the St. Paul Planning Commission’s zoning committee.

A spokesperson for the mayor’s office said the city hopes to sign a purchase agreement this fall and to close on the building in the first quarter of 2025.

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