Future of Taller Downtown Buildings Discussed at Duluth City Council

City councilor Zack Filipovich wants to see more high density development brought to the downtown area

DULUTH, Minn. – Duluth city councilors discussed what the future landscape of downtown Duluth should look like when it comes to buildings.

City councilor Zack Filipovich wants to see more high density development brought to the downtown area. Tonight, he proposed a resolution asking council to look at the idea of adding more multi–story buildings to help address the housing shortage in Duluth.

Filipovich wants to bring more discussion about what city will look like moving forward and says building up will be less expensive than building out.

“I think this is a way to get the density that Duluth wants, get the population that Duluth needs without having to encroach on our environmental resources, and not have to expand our infrastructure,” said Filipovich.

Filipovich’s idea was met with some disagreement from a few other councilors. Noah Hobbs and Joel Sipress both expressed their concern with the resolution. The two agree the city should look at more than just addressing taller buildings to grow the downtown area.

“I’m a little leery about passing a resolution that says the way we will promote high density development is to relax our height restrictions in the city,” said Sipress. “People in Duluth are very sensitive and very concerned about building heights and rightfully so.”

Hobbs and Sipress offered an amendment to remove the references to building heights and say the city should also focus on developing vacant lots and looking at building more townhome developments.

Duluth’s director of planning and construction Keith Hamre says the zoning height of 120 feet (11 to 13 stories) downtown will not change but agrees the city should continue to look at ways to maximize its space.