Downtown Duluth Inn to be Converted into Permanent Housing
As the need for housing the homeless grows in the Northland, multiple organizations are now coming together to convert a motel downtown into a new housing facility.
DULUTH, Minn. – As the need for housing the homeless grows in the Northland, multiple organizations are now coming together to convert a motel downtown into a new housing facility.
The Downtown Duluth Inn will soon be converted into housing for the homeless after a $2.6 million purchase agreement was signed on Tuesday. The motel itself was used throughout the pandemic as a shelter but now will be a permanent space for housing for those facing homelessness.
The Duluth HRA is contributing $250,000 while CHUM is giving $100,000 for the project.
St. Louis County is putting in a million dollars from the CARES Act while other financial partners are taking it to their boards of directors and are in the approval process.
The Greater Minnesota Housing Fund will be working with these groups to determine where more funding comes from.
“I’m in the school that agrees with Eleanor Roosevelt that housing is a human right and so to be able to do that for anyone is makes me glad,” said Lee Stuart, the executive director for CHUM.
43 units of the property will be used for housing while the other two units will be used for telehealth and telecourt.
Leaders say that they are doing their best to make sure it’s fully operational as soon as possible after documents are finalized.
County Commissioner Patrick Boyle says he’s excited about the project and the ways it will service the community.
“With the pandemic and the CARES dollars that passed after that, we were able to capture this and bring it forward,” said Patrick Boyle, a county commissioner for St. Louis County. “It’s a win-win, being at the right place at the right time but having those goals set in front of you.”
County Commissioner Ashley Grimm says that there is a high demand for housing and this is a great step towards making that a reality for those who need housing the most.
“I do think that this project is one of the most exciting that’s happening in the area,” said Ashley Grimm, a county commissioner for St. Louis County. “We need to add probably over a thousand units to probably meet demand for people in our area but this is an amazing start.”
The Downtown Duluth Inn is located on West 2nd Street. Leaders from CHUM say that the goal is to get to a close on the building in the next 60 days.
