The riverside St. Paul mansion that has housed University of Minnesota presidents for the last 62 years is being converted to a rental.
Gov. Tim Walz and his family plan to move into the 10,000 square-foot Eastcliff mansion on July 1 while the Governor’s Residence is renovated.
The U’s Board of Regents on Monday unanimously approved the arrangement, in which the state will pay the U just $4,400 per month. The lease runs through September 2024, with three one-month options for extension, in case the renovation takes longer than expected.
“This is an opportunity to serve the public interest, support the University’s mission and foster positive relationships with our state partners,” said Myron Frans, senior vice president of finance and operations.
The state previously arranged for Walz to rent a home on Sunfish Lake for $17,000 a month, a number criticized by some lawmakers. It’ll cost the state $51,000 to break that lease, but they’ll save money over the life of the Eastcliff deal.
Eastcliff soon will be available because President Joan Gabel is leaving in June to become chancellor at the University of Pittsburgh.
Regents at the same meeting Monday set the timeline for choosing an interim president.
A website accepting applications opened Monday and will close at noon next Monday, May 1.
Regents will meet soon after that to select one or more finalists to be interviewed during the week of May 8, with their hiring decision soon to follow.
It’s possible that Walz will be the last public figure to live at Eastcliff.
The U in December announced its foundation staff would study the feasibility of funding an endowment with a $15 million campaign to pay for ongoing maintenance and operations of the mansion. If it’s not realistic to raise that kind of money, the U could sell the property donated by the Edward Brooks family in 1958.
“This lease agreement will allow us additional time to study and determine the best future for Eastcliff,” a U spokesman said Monday.
Regent Darrin Rosha called Eastcliff an “amazing resource” for relationship building, but it’s seen relatively little use as an event center under Gabel, due in part to the coronavirus pandemic.
“I really hope we’ll be able to put it back into the toolbox for the university,” Rosha said, adding that having a governor stay there for a time only “adds to the mystique of the facility.”
