The St. Paul City Council approved four measures on Wednesday that pave the way for Minnesota United to build their stadium on the Midway bus barn site. The Council also approved the Midway site plan which will allow Midway Center owner Rick Birdoff and his company, RK Midway, to go forward with their redevelopment plans on the 25 acre ‘superblock’ site.
“Today marks a huge milestone for Saint Paul and the entire region,” said St. Paul Mayor Chis Coleman. “We are one step closer to seeing incredible redevelopment in the heart of the Twin Cities – made possible by the catalyst of this proposed stadium – and one step closer to bringing Major League Soccer to Minnesota.”
The first measure before the council on Wednesday was one to allow the city to approve an outdoor sports and entertainment facility in a traditional neighborhood called a T-4. It generated the majority of conversation amongst the council members. The Midway Center ‘superblock’ was recently changed to T-4 to make way for a transformation of the 70s style strip mall to a transit-oriented development with mixed use buildings.
“I feel this action today is rushed and premature,” said Councilmember Jane Prince. “This stadium is a single-purpose stadium that will be used for soccer only and 20 major league games per year along with high school and college tournaments.”
Prince asked if they knew enough about the situation to guarantee that it wouldn’t be a feast or famine situation for the development of the site. “I’m just not here yet,” she said. “It would be irresponsible for me to vote to advance the master plan today.”
St. Paul City Council President Russ Stark expressed his optimism for the redevelopment and stadium even though he lives closer than any other council member. Pointing his comments towards Prince he said, “The master plan is really exactly that — it’s a plan for the overall site,” explaining that changes could be made if needed. “I’m really excited about this master plan. I live two blocks from this site. It’s going to be a good opportunity to see some reinvestment in an area of the city that has needed it for quite a while.”
Councilmember Rebecca Noecker had previously voted against the stadium and had recently asked Birdoff and team owner Bill McGuire to prove there was actual interest in the redevelopment of the site. Today she expressed a more balanced view. “Frankly, I still feel really torn about this,” said Noecker. “What’s there now is not what we want for the future. I really believe the devil we know in this case cannot be worse than the devil in the future.”
Councilmember Amy Brendmoen said that the hearing on the stadium and site plan two weeks ago didn’t garner a lot of comments or interest from soccer fans because nearly 65,000 of them were gathered that night at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis for a game. She said that her constituents love soccer and was asked the next day if she had attended the match.
The resolution passed 5-1 with Prince dissenting.
The resolution to approve the Snelling-Midway Redevelopment Site Master Plan and the preliminary plat for the Snelling-Midway Redevelopment also passed 5-1.
The last resolution which introduced benefits to the community and was created by Ward 1 Councilmember Dai Thao, was passed unanimously and praised by Prince. That resolution asks Minnesota United to appoint a liaison to work with the community as the stadium is built. It also provides opportunities for low income housing in the superblock redevelopment.
“The vote today was a big step for Ward 1 and for the city of St. Paul,” said Thao after the meeting. The stadium and superblock redevelopment site is in Thao’s ward. ”Today we sent a strong message that we’re excited about Minnesota United FC, we’re open to development, and we also want the state to get the tax exemption for the property passed. I also ask those who opposed the stadium and development to be patient — the buildout won’t get done overnight, but I believe in five to ten years from now the city will look back and say, we did the right thing.”
Previously, Jonathan Sage-Martinson who is the city’s planning and economic development director stated that once the city council OKed the plan the team could move forward.
“Once that site plan is approved, the team, from a technical standpoint, will need the complete design based on that site design, and then they can pull a permit from the city of St. Paul and begin construction,” said Martinson.
Monte Hilleman of the St. Paul Port Authority who is overseeing the EPA cleanup of the bus barn site said in a previous interview with FifityFive.One that he believed the team would still need a tax exemption bill passed by the Minnesota State Legislature before they could move forward with construction and cleanup. But sources close to the situation said they believe ground work will begin this fall even if a special session does not happen which is looking more and more likely.
“The first thing you have to do is earthwork and in Minnesota, after October, earthwork gets incrementally expensive. The moisture, the sunlight, frozen soil all adds to the expense,” said Hilleman. He explained that work in November and December is cost prohibitive but shouldn’t be presupposed. “It can be done but it all depends on the cost.”
The general contractor for the stadium, Mortenson, is expected to do the cleanup concurrently with construction phases of the project because of their accelerated timeline to finish the stadium as early as possible in 2018.
It is possible that the team will start with clean-up of the site as well as demolition of the Rainbow foods with a hole being dug. Actual construction of the stadium would most likely have to wait until next year’s legislature approved the tax exemption for the team and city. That could mean another year at an alternative site for Minnesota United which is expected to be TCF Bank Stadium.
On Friday Minnesota United will be holding a press conference at CHS Field in St. Paul’s Lowertown to announce their entry into MLS in 2017. MLS Commissioner Don Garber, Minnesota United owner Dr. Bill McGuire, Gov. Mark Dayton and St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman will all speak at the event.
TCF Bank Stadium will be an upgrade from the National Sports Center Stadium where the team now plays and sells out at about 9,200 fans. It’s also more centrally located and urban which has been a goal for the team for several years. The U of M football stadium is also on the Green Line LRT, so soccer fans would get used to taking the same train they would take to the Midway soccer stadium once it’s completed.
FiftyFive.One reported last week that Prime Therapeutics, now located in Bloomington and Eagan, is eyeing the Midway center redevelopment site as one of three potential locations for a company headquarters and would need from 400,000 to 700,000 square feet of office space. A building of that size would likely employ between 2,000 to 3,000 employees.
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