Moving the proposed location of a homeless shelter and low-income housing away from Minot’s busiest thoroughfare might not be easy, but some Minot City Council members believe it may be worth a look.

Council member Paul Pitner raised the issue of location during discussion on an agreement with Lighthouse Management Group to transfer the South Broadway property to the city. Using National Disaster Resilience dollars, the City of Minot is investing $2.74 million in the family shelter and just over $3 million in the affordable housing portion of Broadway Circle, which also includes space for a food pantry and other services.

The city previously entered agreements with Lutheran Social Services Housing for the six-unit family homeless shelter and 17 units of low- to moderate-income rental apartments at 1901 S. Broadway. In January, Lutheran Social Services North Dakota and its subsidiary, Lutheran Social Services Housing, ceased operations. Lighthouse Management Group is overseeing the handling of the assets.

Pitner suggested the city obtain and sell the prime real estate property to a developer and use proceeds to acquire a more pedestrian-friendly property for the project. He identified the nearest crosswalk as three blocks away, recounting the loss of life that occurred last year when a pedestrian was struck crossing Broadway.

“Lack of a controlled intersection, I think, is possibly a safety hazard, especially with most of the essential services of banks, grocery stores on the western side, opposite of where this proposed site is located,” Pitner said.

John Zakian, National Disaster Resilience program manager for Minot, said if the city regains control of the site and is able to sell it for a price that recovers all costs incurred to date, relocation would be an option.

Zakian said there are companies still owed money for work on the site. The city has no obligation to pay them because that was an obligation of Lutheran Social Services Housing.

“However, it would get really messy if we didn’t make a good faith effort to pay them,” Zakian said. “If we do move forward and pay them for the work they did, then the cost we have to recover from this site goes up, about another $350,000 to $400,000.”

The cost already into the project is $1.34 million.

Zakian explained Lighthouse had the options of returning the city’s money and keeping the property to sell or conveying the property back to the city, which is the alternative being pursued. The council voted Monday to terminate the subrecipient agreements with Lutheran Social Services Housing and acquire the property.

Zakian said he will have full information about costs and the appraised value of the Broadway property at a future council meeting. The council took no action Monday but left open the option to look at other locations at a later time.

“I’m not asking for taxpayers or the city to take a bath or take a loss on it,” Pitner said. “But if we can break even and or maybe even make a little bit of money and get to a more pedestrian-friendly site for a family homeless shelter, I think it’s a worthwhile thing to look at.”

Council member Mark Jantzer said his concern with relocation is whether the city will be able to find another partner for the development. The original concept for Broadway Circle included leased business space that worked to help support other aspects of the project, he said.

Zakian responded three nonprofit entities have expressed serious interest in partnering with the city. The city cannot enter discussions on subrecipient agreements until it owns the property.

Zakian also reported the city’s current efforts to proceed with the project are in compliance with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s rules in the NDR program.