Sunshine Ministries, a homeless shelter in North St. Louis, is working with a land developer to find a new address and transform itself into a center for longer-term housing and training.

If the idea takes form, a Sunshine official said, the charity will consider selling its shelter at to developer Paul McKee’s company, which has several land developments on the near north side of the city. The shelter is two blocks from a main approach to the new bridge being built over the Mississippi River.

Sunshine Ministries has been in the same location since 1988 but has served homeless and poor people since 1903. It wants to build a new center eight blocks away, to serve selected clients with housing and education rather than drop-ins seeking overnight shelter, Sunshine’s associate director says.