Like other area residents, Julie and Jesse Harms say they want to see the former Hillcrest Golf Club redeveloped to include housing and jobs for lower-income families.
But they'd sure like it if the 112-acre site next to their backyard also preserves the neighborhood quiet they've come to cherish. And building a few single-family homes to better blend in would be nice too, they said.
"Putting medium-density housing right outside my window is a huge change to the nature of the neighborhood," Jesse Harms told the St. Paul Planning Commission on Friday during a public hearing on the project's master plan.
Later, in an interview, he said, "Is there a healthy way they can transition to that?"
The Hillcrest site, at St. Paul's far northeast corner, is one of the city's biggest redevelopment targets. The St. Paul Port Authority, which bought the site for $10 million, wants to build 1,000 units of housing there while also attracting businesses to provide 1,000 jobs.
On Friday, thePlanning Commission held a public hearing on the project's master plan, including a rough layout of where housing, light manufacturing, a 5-acre public park, streets, trails and pedestrian paths would go.
According to Luis Pereira, planning director, the Planning Commission is expected to make a recommendation in April, with a City Council hearing and vote to come in May and June.
Just a few acres smaller than the former Ford plant site in St. Paul's Highland Park, now called Highland Bridge, Hillcrest's mix of housing and jobs is riding on what the Port Authority is able to build and attract.