![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/STP-L-jea-02-LES_BOLSTAD_GC-0711.jpg\")
The University of Minnesota Les Bolstad Golf Course in Falcon Heights on Friday, July 11, 2025. (John Autey \/ Pioneer Press)<\/p>\nWhen the University of Minnesota cast its net last year for developers to purchase and redevelop its 141-acre Les Bolstad Golf Course in Falcon Heights, the request for proposals included five pages of goals and guiding principles assembled by the city\u2019s visioning committee.<\/p>\n
Falcon Heights has called for a mix of townhomes, duplexes, apartments, single-family homes and patio homes, in addition to shops, cafes, office space and light industrial development dense enough to fundamentally alter the landscape of a tree-lined destination that has seen little change since shortly after it opened in 1916.<\/p>\n
Once developed, the city\u2019s population of 5,000 residents could, in theory, double in the years ahead.<\/p>\n
Over the objection of golf enthusiasts, naturalists and some nearby residents, the increasingly cash-strapped U is currently evaluating five responses to its solicitation, raising the possibility of a major transformation near St. Paul\u2019s relatively serene northwest border. The golf course, which closed last year, sits on both the north and south sides of Larpenteur Avenue, spanning dozens of acres of land abutting the St. Anthony Park neighborhood and the U\u2019s heavily agricultural St. Paul campus.<\/p>\n
The University of Minnesota Les Bolstad Golf Course in Falcon Heights on Friday, July 11, 2025. (John Autey \/ Pioneer Press)<\/p>\n
At the same time, Luther Seminary announced this month that it is physically divesting from its 157-year-old campus along Como Avenue in St. Paul and looking for a new home, putting another 26 neighboring acres up for grabs to developers. Beyond that, HealthPartners is building a new facility on former Luther Seminary property<\/a>, across the street from its long-standing clinic at 2500 Como Ave., and it\u2019s unclear what exactly will become of its soon-to-be-vacant clinic building.<\/p>\n The current site will be sold, and the parking adjacent to it will not be used for the new space, said a spokesperson for HealthPartners.<\/p>\n Golf course site<\/p>\n U of M officials have declined media interviews around the particulars of the Les Bolstad Golf Course sale, but they did share statements indicating they will make an announcement once they\u2019ve come to an agreement with a developer.<\/p>\n Despite ample usage, \u201cthe golf course did not generate funding needed for the extensive repairs and upkeep that would ensure its ongoing viability,\u201d reads an unsigned written statement, issued May 11, in response to a reporter\u2019s inquiry. \u201cThe University is in a constrained economic environment and must ensure every investment is core to our mission. In unpredictable times, it\u2019s more important than ever to be clear about who we are and strategic in how we deploy resources.\u201d<\/p>\n The process has raised questions in the minds of nearby residents, who feel kept in the dark. The golf course property covers more area than the two largest development projects in St. Paul in recent memory: Highland Bridge<\/a>, which occupies the former Twin Cities Assembly Plant campus in Highland Park, and the Heights<\/a>, which will replace the former Hillcrest Country Club on the East Side.<\/p>\n Those acres, which were privately owned, drew up to 10 years of municipal master planning, rezoning and community discussion, a public vetting process some residents fear will be given short shrift, given the limited public outreach to date. They also entailed months of extensive soil removal and environmental remediation.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think the university has been reaching out to anybody,\u201d said Jon Schumacher, a former member of the St. Paul school board and former executive director of the St. Anthony Park Community Foundation, who lives in a condominium overlooking the course. \u201cRight now, everything seems to be up in the air, and there\u2019s not a lot of communication.\u201d<\/p>\n The course itself isn\u2019t the only sizable property in the area up for redevelopment. Luther Seminary, which has shifted in large part toward online learning, has been trying for years to sell both its upper and lower campuses, spanning a total of 26 acres in St. Paul and Lauderdale. Some back-to-back deals with residential developers have fallen through, but Lifestyle Communities now has a purchase agreement to build senior housing on the lower campus<\/a>, which straddles both cities and includes the 6-acre Breck Woods in Lauderdale.<\/p>\n Together, the Les Bolstad, Luther Seminary and HealthPartners sites total roughly 170 contiguous acres across three cities, raising questions with residents and nearby property owners about future development near the bucolic intersection of Lauderdale, Falcon Heights and St. Paul.<\/p>\n Potential changes ahead<\/p>\n It\u2019s not just golfers and condo owners who have taken notice of the potential changes ahead.<\/p>\n Naturalists note the golf course\u2019s rolling hills host burr trees, cross country skiing trails, coyote paths and other scenic draws. They\u2019re centerpieces of a greenspace corridor that begins, arguably, with the Midland Hills Golf Course in Roseville, if not the Gross National Golf Club and Washburn-McReavy Hillside Cemetery north of Interstate 35W in Minneapolis, and extends down to Breck Woods.<\/p>\n Unlike the old Hillcrest and Ford sites, which were privately owned, the prospect of a \u201cmassive transfer from quasi-public land to private land\u201d has alarmed Ann Juergens and other members of the Friends of Breck Woods, who are among those calling for St. Paul, Lauderdale and Falcon Heights to work more closely together to advocate for a balance of responsible development and conservation.<\/p>\n \u201cWe need housing. We do,\u201d acknowledged Juergens, who lives in the Zvago Co-Op, a senior cooperative next to Luther Seminary. \u201cBut the Breck Woods in Lauderdale is a huge spot for migratory birds because it\u2019s high. If (government agencies) don\u2019t talk to each other, they\u2019re going to have a short little half-mile trail here and there, instead of a two-mile trail. People have used those trails for decades.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI would say HealthPartners is doing its best to stay under the radar, and Luther Seminary is doing the same,\u201d added Juergens, who noted the woods are small enough that other conservation groups have ignored them. \u201cNow it\u2019s very hard to find out what is going on. And the university has been very close to the vest. They haven\u2019t had a public vetting of the proposals they\u2019ve received, and they don\u2019t have to. We will find out when the regents find out what proposal they recommend.\u201d<\/p>\n Nearby residents who have reached out to the U, individual regents and Luther Seminary say they\u2019ve received limited additional information, though HealthPartners did make a presentation to the St. Anthony Park District Council this month. There are calls for St. Paul, Falcon Heights, Lauderdale and Ramsey County officials to create a public sounding board across municipal boundaries.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019ve got HealthPartners, and the seminary, and the folks looking to develop there, and the university, who are all not necessarily talking to each other, as far as I can tell,\u201d said Schumacher, who takes in sweeping sunset views over the Les Bolstad course from the balcony of 1666 Coffman, his age 55-plus condo building.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is a huge production, and it would make sense to have some coordination,\u201d he added. \u201cThe lack of understanding of the community relations piece, the idea that you might be in touch with the community, that\u2019s what\u2019s concerning, the sense that everything will come down as a fait accompli. They seem to be a little bit distant to the community.\u201d<\/p>\n Falcon Heights girds for change<\/p>\n The golf course spans about 124 acres north of Larpenteur Avenue and about 16 acres south of Larpenteur, all of it directly bordered by Roseville, Lauderdale and historic Gibbs Farm. Once the university sells the property, it would automatically revert to R-1, or residential single-family zoning, according to the city of Falcon Heights.<\/p>\n It may not retain that zoning for long.<\/p>\n Since last June, when the U announced its planned sale, Falcon Heights has launched a city visioning committee consisting of two city council members and three members of the Planning Commission. They laid out principles for development, alongside the city\u2019s 2024 \u201cLarpenteur and Snelling Corridor Development Study,\u201d which also predicted a potential sale of the course.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Met Council directs that we have an average of 25 units per acre,\u201d said Falcon Heights City Council Member James Mogen, in an email Thursday. \u201cAt 141 acres, less approximately 30% for parks and streets, that means it\u2019s not hard to hit 2500 new units. But that also assumes the project would only have residential development, and I am advocating for a mix of uses and a diversity in our tax base.\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cI personally expect the proposal from the eventual developer to be closer to 1500 residential units, which could result in about 3000-3500 new neighbors,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Falcon Heights hired a planning consultant from engineering firm Bolton & Menk to assist with a master planning process, with the goal of forming two advisory bodies \u2014 a Technical Advisory Committee and a Community Advisory Committee<\/a>. The TAC will likely include representatives from partner agencies such as Ramsey County, the Metropolitan Council and local watershed districts.<\/p>\n The CAC, which will include city and community representatives, will work with the university and the developer on rezoning, among a long list of infrastructure questions that will need to be addressed, said Falcon Heights City Administrator Jack Linehan. Those zoning controls likely offer the city some leverage.<\/p>\n \u201cTo be able to build on that site, for a developer there\u2019s a lot of steps they have to do \u2014 everything from comprehensive plan amendments, rezoning, planning for infrastructure, getting sewer, water, stormwater needs,\u201d Linehan said.<\/p>\n Environmental factors<\/p>\n Before infrastructure is installed, the site will have to be brought up to modern environmental standards, which are especially stringent for residential development.<\/p>\n At the Heights in St. Paul, removing over 110,000 tons of contaminated soil primarily containing mercury from the former Hillcrest Golf Course took five months.<\/p>\n At Les Bolstad, two applications used to control weeds and fungus were halted in 1993, but remnants of toxic mercury and an herbicide containing toxic arsenic likely run several feet deep, said Judy Helgen, a Falcon Heights resident and retired research scientist with the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. Preliminary soil analysis from Braun Intertec, included with the U\u2019s RFP, found arsenic in all samples and mercury in 10 of 19 tests, with five of the 10 mercury samples exceeding standards for residential development.<\/p>\n \u201cSoil will likely have to be excavated down to 2.5 feet to meet residential standards and hauled away to a designated landfill,\u201d said Helgen, who is opposed to future development on the golf course. \u201cIt\u2019s a greenspace in an area that really doesn\u2019t have a lot. It\u2019s a treasure. I can\u2019t understand it.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2018These opportunities are really huge for us\u2019<\/p>\n The university has been weighing options around the Les Bolstad Golf Course since at least 2019, when conversations with donors and potential development partners fell flat. The U estimates it would cost upwards of $10 million to \u201creplace failing infrastructure and modernize outdated facilities,\u201d reads the latest statement from university officials. \u201cIn the current financial environment, we must focus philanthropic engagement on areas with greater mission alignment and donor interest.\u201d<\/p>\n The U first offered the land for sale to Falcon Heights, Ramsey County and the state, but got no takers<\/a>, officials said. Still, Ramsey County\u2019s Community and Economic Development team has been monitoring discussions, said Ramsey County Commissioner Garrison McMurtrey, who represents Falcon Heights and St. Anthony Park.<\/p>\n \u201cThese opportunities are really huge for us,\u201d McMurtrey said. \u201cWe\u2019re the second-most densely populated county, but geographically, we\u2019re the smallest, and we\u2019re fully developed. In Ramsey County, 14% of our properties are tax exempt. That\u2019s more than any other county in the seven-county metro.\u201d<\/p>\n While St. Paul, Falcon Heights and Lauderdale are the ultimate land-use authorities for development within their boundaries, McMurtrey noted that the county has access to important funding, such as an Environmental Resource Fund that could help with environmental cleanup, a Critical Corridors fund that could back business development, federal Community Development Block Grant funds and housing dollars.<\/p>\n Several properties will not be included in the sale, including the John W. Mooty Golf Facility and the adjacent outdoor short-game training area used by the U\u2019s men\u2019s and women\u2019s golf teams, as well as the Elizabeth Lyle Robbie Stadium, used by the women\u2019s soccer team. The KUOM radio tower also is not included.<\/p>\n Proceeds from the sale will be directed into \u201careas more directly aligned with our core mission of teaching, research, and service,\u201d reads the U statement. \u201cFinal decisions will be made through the appropriate governance and budget processes, but our focus is on supporting long-term institutional priorities, with a focus on the St. Paul campus.\u201d<\/p>\n Luther Seminary Upper Campus<\/p>\n Founded in 1869, Luther Seminary enrolls just 400 students, many of them taking their courses primarily online rather than on the 26-acre campus. Most of its active academic buildings sit off Fulham Street between Hendon Avenue and Como Avenue, while several buildings on the lower campus toward Lauderdale are no longer used by the campus community.<\/p>\n As of now, the seminary is officially looking for a new home in the Twin Cities metro, one offering nearby student housing.<\/p>\n \u201cLuther Seminary is in the process of divesting from our current physical campus, which no longer serves our mission as effectively as it once did,\u201d reads a written announcement this month to community partners. \u201cWe are actively engaged in a process to identify new space that aligns with our needs going forward.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cLuther Seminary will remain an accredited, degree-granting graduate school of theology and ministry with a physical presence\u201d in the metro, according to the statement.<\/p>\n The timing of the sale of the upper campus \u2014 which includes the Olson Campus Center off Hendon Avenue, as well as Bockman Hall and Gullixson Hall off Como Avenue \u2014 \u201cis still to be determined,\u201d according to the seminary. Bockman Hall sits on the National Register of Historic Places, as does the wood-frame Old Muskego Church, built in Wisconsin in 1844.<\/p>\n \u201cFor the main campus, I know the seminary got offers, but they didn\u2019t get offers they thought were reasonable to accept,\u201d said Sherman Eagles, who sits on the St. Anthony Park Community Council\u2019s land-use committee.<\/p>\n \u201cThe lawn in front of Bockman Hall that stretches down to the corner of Como and Luther Place, that\u2019s really treated as a park by the neighborhood, and there\u2019s a lot of concern about losing the greenspace in that corner,\u201d Eagles added.<\/p>\n Luther Seminary Lower Campus<\/p>\n The lower campus spans Stub Hall, Northwestern Hall and Breck Woods in Lauderdale. The seminary hopes to close on the sale this year of the lower campus to Lifestyle Communities, an Edina-based developer that specializes in properties for ages 62 and up. A concept plan presented to the Lauderdale City Council last fall for the \u201cArtessa\u201d included a senior cooperative within Breck Woods, as well as small condominium buildings and single-family homes in St. Paul. They totaled some 230 residential units or more, including about 68 units within the woods itself.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen we receive the necessary approvals to move forward with the project, we will be able to start taking reservations for the co-op,\u201d reads the Artessa website<\/a>, which is already accepting contact information from prospective residents.<\/p>\n Lauderdale City Administrator Heather Butkowski said the city is currently reviewing the proposal, which must adhere to a special zoning category that calls for a mix of high-density residential units surrounded by conservation land. In addition, the city maintains a 2-acre conservation easement around a large stormwater pond.<\/p>\n Lifestyle Communities, founded by chief executive officer Tim Nichols, previously partnered with Ecumen to develop the Zvago Cooperative in St. Anthony Park, which is located next to Gullixson Hall. Efforts to reach Lifestyle Communities for comment were unsuccessful on Wednesday.<\/p>\n McMurtrey, the Ramsey County commissioner, has encouraged Lifestyle Communities to explore adding more affordable housing, which the county\u2019s Housing and Redevelopment Authority could potentially back financially through its housing fund.<\/p>\n \u201cThe last time I spoke with folks from Lifestyle, one thing I had proposed and gotten them connected to was Habitat for Humanity,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re trying to do our due diligence to bring in all the right players.\u201d<\/p>\n HealthPartners<\/p>\n![\"Jon](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/STP-L-DEVELOP-0517_02.jpg\")
Jon Schumacher, who lives next to the closed University of Minnesota Les Bolstad Golf Course, talks about challenges for the development of the 141-acre site in Falcon Heights on Wednesday, May 13, 2026. (John Autey \/ Pioneer Press)<\/p>\n