Meet the former mayor of St. Paul who is committed to making homeownership affordable for families

There is life after being mayor of St. Paul. Six and a half years after he last occupied the third-floor corner office at City Hall, Chris Coleman has begun a new career as president and CEO of Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity.

Although the job is not as demanding as that of mayor, which Coleman held for 12 years, opening the doors to homeownership is incredibly fulfilling, he said. Habitat is beginning construction on 147 owner-occupied single-family, duplex, three-family and four-family homes in The Heights, a mixed-use development on the 112-acre former Hillcrest Golf Club on the northeast corner of the city.

Eye On St. Paul recently visited Coleman at Habitat’s Midway headquarters to talk about life after the mayoral election and Habitat at The Heights. This interview has been condensed for space.

Q: How is this job different from being mayor?

A: (Laughs) Very different. First of all, I have my weekends, for the most part. I have my evenings, for the most part. You know, Mr. Mayor, it’s just everything that takes up your time. It’s just 24/7. You can’t get away very often. I was thinking about this recently because we were in Glacier National Park and my wife and I did a three-day backpacking trip where we didn’t take our phones, we had no contact with the outside world.

And it was the same hike I was on in 2007 when a ranger knocked on my tent and told me the bridge (I-35W) had collapsed. And so within three hours I was on a plane back to the Twin Cities. My wife drove the kids home.

A: Well, I get to lead an incredible team, a fantastic group of people who are really committed to helping people buy their own home. The great thing about this job is that you make a difference in people’s lives. And you do it in such a profound way that it not only impacts the people you work with today, but also their children and grandchildren.