Building History and Use
Simpson Housing Services has provided emergency shelter and supportive services in South Minneapolis for more than 40 years. For much of that time, the organization operated out of the former Simpson United Methodist Church at 2740 First Avenue South, a 141-year-old building that had served as an emergency shelter for four decades. As the need for services grew and the building aged, Simpson and its development partner Project for Pride in Living recognized an opportunity to replace the aging structure with a modern, dignified facility designed from the ground up to meet the needs of people experiencing homelessness.
Demolition of the former church began in fall 2023, and the project broke ground on June 12, 2024. The new Simpson Community Shelter and Apartments includes 72 shelter beds and 42 units of deeply affordable housing, along with a commercial kitchen, a clinic space for Health Care for the Homeless, and extensive on-site services. The upper floors, owned and operated by Project for Pride in Living, provide permanent supportive housing apartments, with 30 units specifically designated for people experiencing chronic homelessness in Hennepin County. General contractors Watson-Forsberg and TRI-Construction built the project, with LHB serving as architect.
The facility welcomed its first shelter guests in January 2026, completing a years-long effort by Simpson, PPL, and a wide network of public and private partners to replace one of Minneapolis’s most important community assets with a facility fit for the next generation of service.
Why Geothermal?
For a facility serving people who are experiencing homelessness or working toward stable housing, long-term operational affordability is central to the mission. Lower and more predictable energy costs directly support the organizations’ ability to direct resources toward services rather than utility bills, and a mechanical system that is easy to operate and maintain reduces the ongoing burden on facility staff.
Darcy was selected to install the geothermal system at 2740 First Avenue. The urban site in the Whittier neighborhood presented constraints that ruled out conventional HVAC approaches. The building footprint and surrounding context left no room for a traditional closed-loop wellfield. Two Darcy groundwater wells deliver 183 tons of cooling capacity and 696 MBH of heating from a compact installation that fits seamlessly within the built environment of the development and provides straightforward access for long-term operations and maintenance.
Design and Construction
The geothermal system was integrated into the new construction of the five-story building, with the two-well installation sited to minimize disruption to the surrounding neighborhood while remaining accessible for ongoing system management. The system serves the full building, providing consistent, efficient climate control across both the shelter floors and the permanent supportive housing units above.
The broader project was financed through a coalition of partners including JPMorganChase Community Development Banking, the City of Minneapolis, Hennepin County, the State of Minnesota, and numerous private and philanthropic contributors, reflecting the scale of community investment that made the project possible.
Shelter, Housing, and a Sustainable Foundation
The Simpson Community Shelter and Apartments represent a new model for what emergency and transitional housing infrastructure can look like, where comfort, dignity, and long-term operational sustainability are built in from the start rather than treated as luxuries. By choosing groundwater geothermal for a facility of this purpose and scale, Simpson Housing Services and Project for Pride in Living made a decision that will benefit the people who live and work in the building for decades to come.