St. Paul City Council approves more changes to rent control ordinance
More changes are coming to St. Paul's rent control ordinance after a lengthy debate and divisive vote in the City Council.
The slim 4-3 majority approved expanding the exemptions for capping rents to all units in properties built after 2005, while also eliminating any delayed enforcement on new construction.
"The goal is to build housing at affordable rates," Councilwoman Anika Bowie said before voting in favor of the changes. "This policy is about creating a foundation for meaningful investment."
Indeed, the early returns on rent control's impact on new construction reflect many of what rent control opponents worried about: from 2012 to 2022, Saint Paul averaged about 1,014 new units every year. Since 2023, when the ordinance took effect, the yearly average has been slashed in half to roughly 500 (only 220 came online so far in 2025).
"I also represent a ward that had one of the largest commercial corridors and it now lays dormant," Bowie added. "It has lost nearly a billion dollars of tax revenue that's now on the backs of those property owners. That gap is felt by people."
Nearly 53% of city voters in 2021 said yes to a ballot measure capping rent increases at 3% in a 12-month period.
Nelle Rivers, a St. Paul resident and tenant, said she feels "betrayed" by the council's recent move to expand the exemptions.
"We've already voted to pass this and we've had to do a lot to get this enforced," Rivers lamented. "When I decide to move to somewhere newer for better housing conditions, I'll be priced out. It's just going to drive everything else up."
Andrea Suchy-Schinn, who owns and rents out several properties in St. Paul, countered that the city council didn't go far enough and should just get rid of the entire policy.
"If they're not giving the same respite to the mom and pop landlords, you're just going to have the big landlords," she warned. "Nobody wants that."
