The St. Paul Casket Company located at 1222 University Ave in St. Paul, was the most significant casket manufacturer in Minnesota for almost 30 years. Its home, built in 1922, was designed with Modern Gothic details by architect Allen H. Stem. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in April 2021. The building is an example of vertical manufacturing, as each floor supported a step in the casket manufacturing process. It has open floor areas, terrazzo floors, a spiral staircase with ornate railings, mushroom cap columns, and the prominent 104-foot tall central tower that houses a water tank and clock face University Ave.
The 4-story building was purchased in 2019 by local developer JB Vang with the goal of renovating the property into an affordable housing development. The team will preserve the historic integrity of the building, while creating a new 55-unit multifamily apartment development utilizing Low Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC) and Historic Tax Credits (HTC).