Washington County officials are moving forward with plans to build an emergency housing shelter on the grounds of the Washington County Government Center in Stillwater, and they’re asking the state to chip in.

The $12 million shelter, which is expected to open in the fall of 2025, would provide short-term emergency shelter to individuals over the age of 18. The average stay is expected to be around 90 days, said Jennifer Castillo, the county’s director of community services.

Plans call for the 30,000-square-foot emergency homeless shelter to be built on 1.5 acres on the southeast corner of Washington County’s main campus in Stillwater; the campus is about 29 acres total.

The project — the first of its kind in the county — would “add critical shelter infrastructure to support individuals experiencing homelessness,” Castillo said. “As housing costs rise, more people are left without stable homes, and we are faced with creating emergency housing options to combat the growing homelessness crisis.”

The two-story building will have 30 private rooms — four on the first floor and 26 on the second floor — with 24/7 staffing to provide people experiencing homelessness a place to stay while county officials help them find an array of “wrap-around” services, including connections to permanent housing, workforce development, public health, legal help, social support and economic support, she said.

The county is using $7 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds to fund the project and is asking the state of Minnesota to contribute $5 million, Castillo said.

‘County remains behind’

“Despite the increase in emergency housing capacity for individuals post-pandemic, Washington County remains behind for individuals when compared to other Minnesota counties,” according to its legislative request. “Due to lack of adequate emergency housing in Washington County, more than 70 of our residents had to seek shelter in neighboring counties.”

Washington County does not have any permanent emergency housing capacity for adults without children; Dakota County, in contrast, has 45 rooms, and Anoka County has 66 rooms, according to the county’s legislative request.

“We have private providers doing a lot of these services, but if they decided tomorrow not to do this, we would not have a facility for people,” Castillo said.

During the “Point in Time” count in January, an annual count of those experiencing homelessness on a single night across the United States, 46 households in Washington County were identified to be residing in emergency housing or outside, emphasizing the ongoing and pressing need for comprehensive support in addressing homelessness, county officials said.

The Washington County Community Development Agency will be the developer of the project, which will be owned by Washington County. Residents would be referred to the shelter by the county’s Washington County Homeless Outreach Services Team and would have to meet eligibility criteria, Castillo said.

Pets allowed

The project will offer 23 singles and seven rooms will be set up as doubles. Residents can stay with partners, regardless of gender, and each room would have its own bathroom. “It’s very similar to a modest hotel room,” Castillo said. “They will have space to keep their belongings safe.”

Another key consideration: pets will be allowed in the shelter, Castillo said.

“A pet is a natural support and an integral part of so many people’s lives,” she said. “We did a lot of work understanding other programs — what’s working, what’s not working. More importantly, we’ve talked to the people who are being served or who have refused to be served in the past. ‘What are your barriers to housing? Why are you choosing to sleep in your car?’ It comes down to a lack of safety, not being able to bring their belongings, not being able to bring their pets, not wanting to be separated from a partner. We’ve really designed this with the understanding of the people who are experiencing homelessness and what’s preventing them from reaching out for support or from being successful.”

Among the other amenities: A commercial kitchen will be located on site to provide meals and snacks; a computer lab; a large gathering space, and a meditation/quiet room.

Although the average stay is expected to be 90 days, some residents may need to stay longer in order to secure permanent housing, she said. “This program is about the long game,” she said. “We are working on removing those barriers (to housing) so people move on to permanent housing and don’t have to return.”

Local support

Stillwater officials have been supportive of the plan, said Tim Gladhill, the city’s community development director.

The site is located in the public administrative offices district, which allows residential uses with a conditional-use permit, he said.

“We definitely know that there is a need for this type of housing for individuals experiencing homelessness,” he said. “It’s not always visible, but we know that it does exist. We think that the Government Center is an ideal location for this facility, and I think Washington County would be a great partner to create this project. This seems to be a longer term, more sustainable, solution to the need.”

County officials have generally contracted with hotels in the county to secure rooms to provide emergency housing. Last spring, the county board approved a contract with Coratel Inn and Suites in Stillwater for a “do-not-exceed amount of $450,000” to secure rooms to provide emergency housing to people experiencing homelessness; the contract ran from May 22 to Dec. 31. The county also has contracted with Woodspring Suites in Woodbury and Stillwater Inn and Suites in Stillwater to provide emergency housing to people experiencing homelessness.

Using hotel rooms was really a response to COVID, Castillo said. “The idea of using private rooms to mitigate the virus … was really one of the silver linings of COVID. It helped us advance new ways of providing emergency housing in a way that we hadn’t been able to gain traction on before.”

But placing people in hotel rooms temporarily “is not a sustainable long term solution,” Castillo said. “We do not have adequate funding … and we aren’t able to bring in the wraparound services, so it’s really us being able to operate the program in the way that we want.”

The county is working on several major projects to provide more than 200 units of affordable housing in the county in the next 18 months or so, said Melissa Taphorn, executive director of Washington County Community Development Agency

New projects include: Red Rock Square, a 51-unit, $17.3 million project at the northeast corner of Maxwell Avenue and Rock Rock Crossing in Newport that has an expected opening date of December 2024; Bluestem Apartments, a 52-units, $16.3 million project at the southeast corner of Hemingway Avenue South and 79th Street South in Cottage Grove that has an expected opening date of September 2025, and Oakdale Commons, a 168-unit, $48.8 million project at 1135 Hadley Ave. in Oakdale with an expected opening date of December 2024, Taphorn said.

The Washington County board will receive an update on the plan at a workshop on Tuesday.