City Council Approves Rezoning of Property for Proposed Downtown St. Cloud Office Building

ST. CLOUD - The plan for a new $19 million downtown St. Cloud office building is moving forward, despite a lot of opposition from neighborhood residents, and from some city council members. During their meeting this (Monday) evening, the council approved a request to rezone the property along 5th Avenue. However, the council declined to take a vote on the PUD for a General Development Plan, or whether to vacate 3rd Street South.

Resident Mary Matthews is one of several people who have concerns about the proposal to close 3rd Street South.

Councilman George Hontos says he also has several issues with the project, including how the project would impact the future use of city hall.Hontos also has an issue with the plan to close 3rd Street, and the amount of public subsidy the project would have.

City planning director Matt Glaesman says it's far from a done deal, and this is just the second step in a very long process.

Inventure Properties wants to build a four-story 60,000 square foot office and retail building at the intersection of Highway 23 and 5th Avenue South.