By Connor Zielinski
Commentary
This past summer, the Smurfit Westrock plant in the St. Anthony Park neighborhood closed after more than 100 years of operation.
The closure of the recycled paper mill, along with the nearly 200 jobs it supported, is a huge loss for the neighborhood. While the future of the property is uncertain, there is significant potential for reimagining what this space could look like.
Considering the housing shortage that Saint Paul is experiencing, it would be an opportunity wasted to not prioritize housing in the future of the site.
In 2024, Saint Paul issued 80% fewer new housing permits compared to the average number of annual permits between 2020 and 2023. This is cause for concern, especially as the Twin Cities, like many other metropolitan regions in the United States, is struggling to sustain the housing construction needed to slow down rising housing costs.
To account for expected population growth through 2030, it is estimated that 18,000 market-rate housing and 2,090 affordable housing units need to be built each year in the seven-county metro area.
Alleviating pressure in the strained metropolitan housing market will require more than building single-family housing in the ever- expanding suburbs or multifamily housing in downtown areas.
The St. Paul City Council recognized this, voting in 2023 to update the city’s zoning code to eliminate single-family exclusionary zoning and support greater housing density and access to affordable housing. Much of the city’s land is still devoted to single-family homes though, leaving limited space to construct denser housing.
One solution has been to redevelop vacant industrial land, like at the former Ford plant site in Highland Park.
With the closure of Westrock, there is further potential to redevelop industrial land for housing. The plant sprawls across 40 acres of land in St. Anthony Park’s industrial south, just north of Interstate 94. Much of the immediate area hosts an array of industrial uses, initially spurred by the neighborhood’s development as a railroad suburb in the late 1800s.
More recently, the neighborhood has undergone a transformation following the opening of the Twin Cities’ light rail Metro Green Line in 2014.
The construction of the Green Line displaced studios and other creative businesses in the neighborhood. In response, the St. Anthony Park Community Council formed the Creative Enterprise Zone (CEZ) in 2009, an initiative to support impacted businesses and safeguard the area’s growing creative presence.
The CEZ, both a non-profit and a city-recognized district, has since become a center for diverse commercial and industrial uses, as well as a bona fide underdog in providing the housing St. Paul desperately needs.
Between 2014 and 2024, the CEZ added 1,951 new housing units, including hundreds of affordable units. This increase in housing represented 16% of all new units added in St. Paul over the same period. The CEZ is just 3.1% of the total land area in the city, so it has punched well above its weight in supplying housing through new construction and repurposing existing structures.
I am a resident of the CEZ myself, having moved into an apartment in the repurposed Chittenden and Eastman furniture warehouse building along University Avenue in 2022.
Like many of my neighbors, I benefit from the CEZ’s central location between the downtowns of Minneapolis and St. Paul, relative affordability, access to transportation options and a growing chorus of cultural and commercial amenities.
Constructing housing at the Westrock site would facilitate continued residential growth, leading to more customers for local business and attracting future investment.
Entities like the Saint Paul Port Authority, however, are keen on seeing the space redeveloped for light industrial uses, with the hope of creating jobs and generating new property tax revenue to offset the shrinking downtown tax base.
But the Westrock site is not the only industrial land available in the city, let alone in the neighborhood. A quick search on LoopNet reveals nearly 400,000 square feet of industrial property available for purchase or lease in the CEZ alone.
There is no lack of industrial land here, but there is a high demand for rental units, with the vacancy rate citywide staying below 5% since 2012.
New housing at the Westrock site would increase property tax revenue while addressing the local housing shortage, benefitting both current and future St. Paul residents. Additionally, developers could pursue a mix of uses alongside housing to add to the vibrant character of the neighborhood, like parks, retail space or even light manufacturing closer to the highway.
As a resident, I can attest to the benefit of recent residential growth in the CEZ: stronger support for local businesses, increased investment in multi-modal transportation and lively green spaces that support recreation and community gatherings.
As we say goodbye to Westrock, let us create an opportunity to welcome new neighbors into the neighborhood. 
Connor Zielinski lives in south St. Anthony Park and serves on the board of the St. Anthony Park District 12 Community Council.