Luther Seminary's board of directors has unanimously approved the sale of its historic Upper Campus in St. Paul's St. Anthony Park neighborhood, with the school set to relocate to a new downtown Minneapolis location in summer 2027. Under a leaseback agreement, the seminary will remain in its current buildings through the 2026-2027 academic year before making the move. The seminary says buyer Valerian Como LLC intends to use existing buildings as an educational facility.
According to KSTP, the seminary will continue educational activities on the St. Paul campus through the end of the current school year, keeping the Olson Campus Center, Bockman Hall and Gullixson Hall in use in the meantime. Several residences and the Old Muskego Church will also remain in use during that stretch. Luther Seminary confirmed the sale and leaseback structure in a September 18 announcement. Bockman Hall and Old Muskego Church are listed on the National Register of Historic Places; Gullixson Hall is also part of the campus.
A Sale Years in the Making
This isn't the seminary's first divestment. In spring 2025, Luther Seminary signed a purchase agreement to sell its separate 16-acre Lower Campus in St. Paul and Lauderdale to Edina-based developer Lifestyle Communities, which has proposed a 223-unit residential project there, according to the Park Bugle. Between the Lower Campus and now the Upper Campus, the school is stepping away from roughly 26.6 acres it has occupied in the area, with the Lower Campus property including Breck Woods.
The shift traces back to how Luther Seminary's students actually attend class these days. As of June 2025, about 70% of its roughly 370 enrolled graduate students were taking coursework primarily online, per MPR News. That trend prompted the seminary's board to vote in June 2025 to sell the campus and pursue a smaller footprint, a transition that the same MPR News report noted would require laying off approximately 10% of the school's staff.
Leadership Frames It as Strategy, Not Distress
Luther Seminary leadership has been careful to characterize the move as a deliberate strategic pivot rather than a sign of financial trouble. Carlos Peña said the move reflects changes in theological education rather than financial strain, according to KSTP's reporting. The seminary points to reduced operating costs and a growing endowment as evidence the institution remains financially sound even as it sheds real estate.
Luther Seminary offers full-tuition scholarships for every student.
What Stays Behind on the Historic Grounds
Among the buildings tied to the property is the Old Muskego Church, a log structure built in 1844 near Wind Lake, Wisconsin, that holds the distinction of being the first Norwegian Lutheran church built in the United States, according to Luther Seminary's own archives. The church is among the existing buildings the buyer intends to use.
Luther Seminary is affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA).
The Move to Minneapolis
Luther Seminary is negotiating a multi-decade lease at a downtown Minneapolis property, per KSTP, with construction and renovations expected to begin this winter and spring ahead of the summer 2027 relocation. To house students who still want an in-person experience, the seminary has arranged a housing partnership with Augsburg University. Augsburg, an ELCA-affiliated institution in the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood, sits about a mile from the seminary's planned downtown Minneapolis site, meaning Luther Seminary will offer residential housing without building or buying its own dormitories in the new location.
