ESSENTIA HEALTH
Pre-Development Services, Feasibility, Market Engagement
CLIENT: ESSENTIA HEALTH /
THE BENEDICTINE SISTERS OF THE
ST. SCHOLASTICA MONASTERY
CITY: DULUTH, MN
SIZE: PARTS OF 16 CITY BLOCKS
CHALLENGE:
Essentia Health is dedicated to transforming its practice in order to improve health outcomes in the Northland. It has invested $850M in a new hospital on the Central Hillside of downtown Duluth. By building up, not out, this new investment has freed up parts of 16 underutilized city blocks owned by Essentia Health and the Benedictine Sisters of the St. Scholastica Monastery of Duluth. The new hospital will anchor Downtown Duluth as the region’s largest employer and a region-serving healthcare facility, bringing 7,500 visitors to the site daily, creating a catalyst for the redevelopment of a well located, but economically challenged, area of Duluth.
APPROACH:
• Conducted a market study to determine the demand for all types of real estate products.
• Create a master plan that will allow for the phased development of a mixed-use district, including a full range of housing products, hospitality, employment.
• Use of thoughtful programming and great design to create places where people want to be.
• Create a public / private partnership that will allow Essentia to lead the development of its excess land without engaging in vertical development.
