By Scott Carlson

Luther Seminary said today (Tuesday) its board of directors has voted unanimously to sell its entire campus site in St. Anthony Park and “begin shifting to a more flexible model.”

       In a news release, seminary representatives said, “Luther Seminary will initiate a process to seek new space in the Twin Cities area that aligns with its needs going forward and helps maintain the seminary’s enduring commitment to ensuring Christian leaders.”
       “Our mission to educate leaders for Christian communities remains as vital and necessary as ever,” Luther Seminary President Robin Steinke said in a statement. “To remain sustainable over the long term, how we fulfill this mission will be transformed going forward. Seeking new space and shifting to a more nimble model will allow us to steward our resources more effectively and serve students and learners from all walks of life.”
       Luther Seminary anticipates remaining on its current campus, which abuts Como Avenue, through the 2026-2027 school year and intends to find new space that will better meet its needs around teaching, learning, scholarship and community—including an ongoing commitment to strategic, periodic in-person learning.”

         The seminary’s announcement today is the latest in a several-year saga by the religious institution to try and reconfigure (Tuesday) its space needs to a declining on-campus student enrollment.

The seminary’s board of directors first approved a future sale of the 15-acre Lower Campus in May 2018 as part of an overall campus redesign, with the goal of reinvesting the proceeds from the sale to support the seminary’s mission.

But since then, at least two different redevelopment plans have stalled with one disrupted, in part, by changing general business market conditions stemming from the Covid-19 pandemic.

Most recently, the seminary contracted to sell its lower campus parcel to Edina-based developer Lifestyle Communities.

Lifestyle Communities is a developer of multifamily, active-adult, and senior housing and is well known to St. Anthony Park. It previously built the Zvago Cooperative in St. Anthony Park, an active-adult community located next to Gullixson Hall at the east end of the seminary campus.

Asked how today’s announcement affects the seminary’s current discussions with Lifestyle Communities, spokeswoman Rachel Farris said, “At this time, we don’t anticipate that today’s announcement will impact plans for the Lower Campus.” 

Scott Carlson is managing editor of the Park Bugle.