St. Paul's Planning Commission approved a permit allowing a proposed apartment building at the historic Hamm's Brewing complex to rise up to 71 feet, clearing a key hurdle for a 110-unit affordable housing project on the East Side. The vote came at the commission's meeting on August 14, and commissioners appeared favorable toward the project throughout the discussion, according to a Documenters observer at the meeting.
The building, proposed by developer JB Vang Partners, would sit on the east end of the historic Hamm's brewing property and include 110 units classified as affordable housing, with planned income and rent limits ranging from 30% to 60% of the area median income, according to a MinnPost Documenters report by Jackie Renzetti. The approved permit concerned the height requirement specifically; a separate concern about sidewalk frontage, where initial design drawings show the frontage more opaque than regulations permit, was unrelated to the height variance granted at the meeting, per the same report. That sidewalk issue and other elements of the design remain part of the site plan review, which is scheduled within the next month and is anticipated to come before the Planning Commission again on August 28.
The meeting drew eight representatives from JB Vang Partners, seven city staff members, and Jane McClure of MyVillager, the Documenters report noted. City staff and JB Vang Partners representatives left after the Minnehaha conditional use permit was approved, according to the report.
A Multi-Phase Master Plan for the Historic Brewery Site
The 110-unit building represents just one piece of a much larger redevelopment effort at the former Theodore Hamm's Brewing Company complex. The master plan calls for roughly 180 to 196 total affordable housing units across the site, split between 86 to 89 units inside restored historic buildings and 110 units in new construction, according to the City of Saint Paul. An earlier plan for an indoor marketplace has since been dropped in favor of open green space and outdoor events; initial 2022 proposals had envisioned 259 total units alongside a 56,000-square-foot commercial market before community feedback and design revisions narrowed the scope.
The Housing and Redevelopment Authority of Saint Paul unanimously selected JB Vang Partners as the tentative developer for the city-owned portions of the Hamm's site back in January 2023, following a competitive request-for-proposals process, the city's economic development office notes. JB Vang Partners is a family-owned, Saint Paul-based development firm led by President J. Kou Vang that has operated for more than 40 years, with a local affordable housing portfolio that includes Twelve22 Apartments on University Avenue and The Parkway on East Seventh Street, per the Hamm's Eastside Complex project site. The firm is also the tentative developer behind a separate 60-to-80-unit affordable housing project on Jackson Street, as Hoodline previously reported.
Tax Credits, Tenant Pushback, and a Century-Old Vacancy
Founded in 1865, Theodore Hamm's Brewing Company grew into the fifth-largest brewery in the United States before shutting down its St. Paul plant in 1997, leaving the sprawling site, estimated at between 4.8 and 14 acres, largely vacant for nearly three decades. Multiple redevelopment attempts failed over the past 25 years due to the complex layout and repair costs of the brick structures, according to CBS News.
The Saint Paul City Council voted unanimously on November 5, 2025, to designate the historic complex as a Heritage Preservation Site, a status expected to unlock up to $30 million in federal and state historic tax credits needed to bridge the high costs of restoring century-old structures, the station reported. That designation process drew public opposition from Saint Paul Brewing owner Rob Clapp and other business owners within the complex, who alleged that municipal support improperly favored a single developer over existing commercial tenants. Saint Paul Brewing and 11 Wells Distillery together occupy 130,000 square feet across four private buildings within the former brewery site, the same report noted.
Rebuilding an East Side Economy Hit Hard by Plant Closures
The 1997 shutdown of Hamm's capped a wave of major industrial plant closures on St. Paul's East Side, including 3M and Seeger/Whirlpool Refrigeration, that together eliminated thousands of middle-class jobs and devastated the neighborhood's economy, according to the East Side Freedom Library. Community organizations including the Dayton's Bluff and Payne-Phalen district councils have since prioritized restoring jobs and housing on former industrial parcels across the area.
The redevelopment's broader design includes public outdoor plaza spaces and dedicated trail connections linking future residents directly to Swede Hollow Park and the Bruce Vento Trail, according to project architect Pope Design Group, which is working alongside landscape architect Damon Farber on the site plan. The Planning Commission's August 14 meeting also approved a separate measure creating a commercial development district around the intersection of University and Snelling avenues, which enables the city to grant additional and expanded liquor licenses in that area, per the Documenters report.
A Regional Affordability Gap Driving the Push
The Hamm's project lands amid a wider regional push to close a stark affordability gap. In July 2025, the Ramsey County Board of Commissioners and its Housing and Redevelopment Authority approved $18.4 million in local and state housing funds for 29 projects, supporting the creation or preservation of more than 1,400 affordable housing units across the county, according to Ramsey County.
That funding push reflects a widening gap between wages and rents in the metro. A Twin Cities worker must earn an hourly housing wage of $32.40, or $67,400 annually, to afford a modest two-bedroom apartment at fair market rent, according to the Minnesota Housing Partnership's 2025/2026 report, which also found that more than a quarter of Minnesota households spend over 30% of their income on housing. The report further notes that six of the top ten most in-demand occupations in the state fail to pay a wage sufficient to afford even a one-bedroom apartment.
With the height variance now approved, the next test for the Hamm's project comes at the Planning Commission's August 28 meeting, where the remaining site plan details, including the sidewalk frontage question, are expected to be reviewed. The proceedings were documented through Twin Cities Documenters, a program that trains and pays community members to take notes at local government meetings.
