St. Paul vies for stadium over Minneapolis 

Minnesota loves its sports teams. With professional hockey, football, basketball and baseball teams, the metro area is teaming with sports fans who are eager to cheer on their favorite team. Many around the Twin Cities are not hoping to add professional soccer to the list of teams in the area.

For many months, Major League Soccer has been trying to come to an agreement to bring a team to Minneapolis. Originally, the plan was to develop a stadium at the former farmer’s market site in Minneapolis near Target Field. However, concerns over taxes have led the discussions to turn to Saint Paul.

Specifically, Saint Paul is pushing for the stadium to be built in the Midway neighborhood. The neighborhood’s central location and access to existing public transportation makes it an ideal spot, the city says. The city is proposing that the stadium be built on a 10 acre parcel of vacant land that use to house Transit Authority busses. The old “bus barn” is located right off Interstate 94 near both Snelling and University Avenues.

The redevelopment of this area into a stadium has been given a lot of local support in Saint Paul. In fact, the Ramsey County Board and the Saint Paul City Council have already passed resolutions promising support. More recently, officials from MLS have also stepped out to officially support the Midway project site.

However like any commercial real estate development project, there are some reservations. It is unclear at this time if the state will support tax breaks for the site. Additionally, Minneapolis officials remind the public that their deal is still a possibility.

Commercial real estate development deals often have a lot of moving pieces that need to be considered before the deal can reach the construction phase. From negotiating a land deal, to finding financing and accepting bids, developers need to understand their legal rights and how each decision effects their bottom line.

Source: Pioneer Press, “MLS backs St. Paul soccer stadium site for Minnesota United,” John Shipley and Frederick Melo, Sept. 22, 2015

Image Source: TwinCities.com