The St. Paul City Council has approved $10 million in general obligation bonds to fund the purchase of the shuttered Hillcrest Golf Course on the city’s East Side.

The St. Paul Port Authority recently finalized the purchase of the 112-acre site at Larpenteur Avenue and McKnight Road. Steamfitters Pipefitters Local 455 has owned it since 2011. The golf course closed in 2017.

The bonds will be paid back through the taxpayer-supported Port Authority levy at roughly $700,000 per year for 25 years, adding roughly $5 in annual property taxes to a median-value St. Paul home.

The goal is to take the site through a master planning process with the surrounding community and prepare it for sale to commercial and housing developers.

Council Member Dai Thao, who sits on the Port Authority executive board with Council Member Mitra Nelson, said he is confident the Port Authority will fully redevelop the site.

Council Member Kassim Busuri, who represents the neighborhood, said the purchase would lead to “the largest financial investment in St. Paul’s East Side in modern history.”

Busuri added, “We should be optimistic, knowing the site has capacity to bring 1,000 good-paying jobs and 1,000 housing units. … Currently, the site generates $500,000 per year in tax revenues.”