Good Counsel Hill Redevelopment

From its first constructed building in 1912 until today, the Our Lady of Good Counsel property, perched high above the Minnesota River Valley in Mankato, MN has stood the test of time and acted as a beacon of hope, community, compassion led by the activities of the School Sisters of Notre Dame. The property includes many contiguous and separate buildings featuring a history-filled chapel with one-of-a-kind pipe organ, conference space, office space, and housing designed to meet the life cycle of its residents. Also, part of the property includes a water tower, apple orchard, community gardens, previous animal pasture and much green space. The buildings themselves, feature well-maintained corridors and living spaces, as well as special features such as marble, tile, statues, stained-glass and more, representative of the time and purpose in which the buildings came to be.

Today, the buildings sit vacant, waiting for their new life and residents. This exciting and complex work is not new to our team. Southwest Minnesota Housing Partnership’s vision is to breathe new life and purpose into these treasured spaces and continue to offer them for community enjoyment and benefit for decades to come. Specifically, we envision a mixed use approach to include event space for conferences, retreats, weddings and other religious and cultural community events; commercial space for entrepreneurs, small businesses, nonprofits and other professionals to meet their goals in an affordable locale; other commercial opportunities that are yet to be explored; and many types of housing to meet the life cycle needs of the region, including healthcare, workforce appropriate, affordable, cooperative and market housing, with options for rental and homeownership.

We have big picture plans, and welcome your ideas, connections and partnerships too as we launch this multi-year development project. We invite you to join us as we continue on this journey to humbly continue the legacy and vision of our friends and partners, the School Sisters of Notre Dame, to maintain the Good Counsel campus as a community jewel, and create new opportunities for people to experience its splendor!

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