/ Modified mar 1, 2019 3:48 p.m.

Developer on Decision to Turn Monastery Into Temporary Shelter

Ross Rulney eventually plans to build high-end apartments on the property.

Benedictine Monastery owner Ross Rulney said a chance meeting with Catholic Community Services led him to open the monastery's doors to its volunteers. He explained more about his decision, as well as his eventual plans for the property.

"I have the space and I don't have a use for it right now. I've made it available to other choir groups just to bring life into the property while I don't have any real benefit or economic benefit to it. If there was ever a need or a use for it, this has got to be right up there," Rulney said.

Rulney said his agreement with Catholic Community Services to operate the shelter extends through May. In the meantime, he is going through a rezoning process so he can build high-end apartments on undeveloped areas of the property. He would like to turn the monastery into a public space that could include a mix of residential and retail space.

"I imagine the chapel will absolutely be a public space that people can come in throughout the day and maybe the evening … where it's really just an active, warm, lit-up environment," Rulney said.

Arizona 360
Arizona 360 airs Fridays at 8:30 p.m. on PBS 6 and Saturdays at 8 p.m. on PBS 6 PLUS. See more from Arizona 360.
By posting comments, you agree to our
AZPM encourages comments, but comments that contain profanity, unrelated information, threats, libel, defamatory statements, obscenities, pornography or that violate the law are not allowed. Comments that promote commercial products or services are not allowed. Comments in violation of this policy will be removed. Continued posting of comments that violate this policy will result in the commenter being banned from the site.

By submitting your comments, you hereby give AZPM the right to post your comments and potentially use them in any other form of media operated by this institution.
AZPM is a service of the University of Arizona and our broadcast stations are licensed to the Arizona Board of Regents who hold the trademarks for Arizona Public Media and AZPM. We respectfully acknowledge the University of Arizona is on the land and territories of Indigenous peoples.
The University of Arizona