City Council OKs $400M Minneapolis Redevelopment Project

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — The Minneapolis City Council recently unanimously approved the conceptual framework for Ryan Companies" $400-million redevelopment of Downtown East, in partnership with the city of Minneapolis, the Metropolitan Sports Facilities Authority and the StarTribune.

“The council's unanimous vote sends a very strong signal that city hall is proceeding full-steam ahead on this game-changing development,” Mayor Rybak said.

The development proposal
Ryan Companies" proposed $400-million redevelopment leverages the already-existing requirement in state law that a new parking structure be built for the new stadium, as well as significant ongoing investments in transit in the area, to build:

• Two office towers totaling approximately 1.2 million square feet of Class A office space, approximately the size of the IDS Tower, to house 5,000—6,000 workers.
• A new, 1,328-stall parking structure.
• Three-hundred to 350 residential housing units.
• Retail space totaling 40,000 square feet.
• Skyway connections between the downtown core and new stadium.
• “The Yard,” a new two-block park that provides a physical and visual connection between the downtown core and the new stadium.

The proposed development would add $3.5 million in property taxes in the first year, including $1 million to the city of Minneapolis. Over 30 years, the proposed development would generate $30—50 million in property taxes to Minneapolis, even before options for future development were exercised.  The project would also create more than 1.4 million hours of construction work for 2,000—2,500 workers in the building trades.

The office towers, parking structure and The Yard would be built on five blocks in Downtown East that are owned by the StarTribune.

StarTribune Publisher and CEO Michael Klingensmith said, “While we"re very proud to have enjoyed decades of success on Portland Avenue, it's equally true that, as our business continues to evolve, these headquarters are no longer ideally suited to our current business.  For some time now, the StarTribune has aspired to move our headquarters to a new space in Minneapolis that more properly reflects the mission and capabilities of a 21st-century news organization. But it has also been of paramount importance to us that we do so in a way that affirms our commitment to the future of our city.

Today, thanks to the exciting and thoughtful plans being put forth by Ryan Companies and the city of Minneapolis, all of our interests are now aligning with the plans for the new stadium and pointing toward a dynamic and vibrant future for Downtown East and the greater Twin Cities area.”

Next steps
Turning the proposal into reality is contingent on Ryan's winning the Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority's contract to construct the state-mandated parking ramp and various city approvals.  Following the completion of those steps, Ryan would complete environmental review by the end of November, purchase the land from the StarTribune by the end of 2013 and break ground in spring 2014. The office towers, parking ramp and The Yard would be delivered in phases between late 2015 and early 2016, several months in advance of the opening of the new stadium.