Nicolle Newton, the director of St. Paul’s Department of Planning and Economic Development, bid a tearful goodbye to the St. Paul City Council on Wednesday as she announced she will step down from her role this month. Newton, who married last year, said she and her husband — who moved to the Twin Cities from Atlanta — will take some time for leisure travel before considering the next steps in their professional careers.
Newton, who joined the city in 2020 from Oklahoma City during the early days of the pandemic, served as the lead staffer and public face of the city’s Housing and Redevelopment Authority and many of the city’s housing, planning and economic development efforts.
“We led the nation in eliminating parking minimums … (and) exclusionary single family zoning,” Newton said, noting the city also has seen planning or development progress at the Hamm’s Brewery, Farwell Yards, The Heights and Highland Bridge. “All of these things are hard, and there’s pushback, and they’re complicated, but they’re moving, and I feel good about those things.”
On the horizon, she said, is the future redevelopment of the former St. Joseph’s Hospital campus in downtown St. Paul, “great outcomes” for housing down payment programs like the city’s Inheritance Fund, and future development at downtown Central Station and United Village by Allianz Field.
In the HRA’s 2026 budget proposal, PED intends to invest in promoting emergency rental assistance, small scale development projects on HRA-owned land, office-to-housing conversions and a menu of pre-approved plans to jumpstart investment in accessory dwelling units.
Over the years, Newton said she restructured PED to create new job titles and career ladders. “When I arrived five years ago, this department was very flat,” she said, noting there were four internal directors, each overseeing 20 employees apiece, which left little opportunity for advancement.
Of the 80 employees in the department, 35 have been hired since July 2020, and 40% of those new hires are people of color, Newton said. “I feel really good about that,” she said.
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