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The work on Snelling Avenue is not complete! After the State Fair wraps up, the road will be resurfaced and the median crossings brought up to Americans with Disability Act standards. Next year, trees will be planted in the boulevards, and the mulched medians will be planted. You can learn more about ongoing A-line Rapid Bus station construction and timeline here.
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Congratulations to Jonathan Oppenheimer and
Midway Murals on their great achievement in strengthening community ties to
several immigrant-owned North Snelling businesses, and bringing color, life,
and vitality to what had been a dreary stretch of “Minnesota’s Main Street.”
Jonathan and Gene Gelgelu of African Economic Development Solutions (who are
promoting the “Little Africa” District) and other organizers hosted a wonderful
neighborhood celebration August 29 that I was honored to be a part of. Their work is a great testament to what
neighbors and businesses coming together can accomplish. The murals include pieces by local artists
Lori Greene, Greta McLain, Eric Mattheis, and Yuya Negishi, which were created in consultation with the
business owners.
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Huge kudos go to the Union Park District Council, the Friendly Streets Initiative, and commercial property owner Gail Winegar for developing St Paul's first on-street "parklet" at Snelling & Selby. They tested it out during July's Bastille Day celebration, and now have it out again for a few weeks until September 10. It replaces a parking spot with some seating for people and makes the sidewalk feel much wider and removed from traffic. Check it out! |
Last week, I voted to support a City
Council resolution that outlines the conditions under which the City would
agree to seek property tax exemption from the State of Minnesota for a possible
soccer stadium on the site. I wanted to explain my thinking about this
and where I believe the issue stands.
You can view the
approved resolution here (make sure you’ve clicked on the “text” tab).
I have heard from many
of you who support this concept and many of you who oppose it. Whether we
agree or not, I think it’s important that I share my thinking about this
topic. I also very much appreciate the work that the Union Park District
Council did hosting a community meeting about this a couple of weeks ago to
give neighbors a chance to weigh in with their hopes, dreams, fears and
concerns about the concept and the site. The Executive Summary of the feedback
they received at that meeting can be seen here (link to a PDF). One thing that nearly everyone I have
spoken with about this agrees on is that the current conditions are
unacceptable for this location, as it is an important gateway into the western
half of the City of St. Paul, and particularly the Hamline-Midway, Como, Union
Park, and Mac Grove neighborhoods. But neighbors have also expressed
concerns about the traffic and parking implications of a possible stadium on
the site, pointing out that Snelling and I-94 is an area that already
experiences traffic congestion.
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I think it’s important to put the issue of the possible property tax exemption in context:
- The “Bus Barn” site has been tax exempt for decades as it has been owned by the Metropolitan Council.
- Both the Xcel Energy Center and CHS Field “deals” included state approved property tax exemptions.
- The City, the Met Council, and the owners of the Midway Shopping Center –RK Midway—recently undertook a joint assessment of the development potential for the entire thirty five acre superblock site, versus just the “Bus Barn” site. The Snelling-Midway SmartSite TOD Development Strategy Report (a link to which can be found here) concluded that in today’s market, any private development on that site would require substantial public subsidy for new streets, storm water management systems, a park, and other public infrastructure, plus additional public monies to pay for some shared structured parking. In other words, there does not seem to be a scenario in which the whole area gets redeveloped solely with private funds anytime soon.
- If the stadium is to happen, it will involve either a purchase or lease of the land from the Metropolitan Council at Fair Market Value, and those proceeds will support the operations of the Met Council, likely going right back into support the region’s transit operations.
To me, if the property tax exemption is needed to make a soccer operation work on the site, then I am willing to support it IF the team owners pay the entire cost of building the stadium and IF the stadium can be a catalyst for seeing significant investment and improvement to the Midway Shopping Center site. I believe the future of the Bus Barn Site is very much tied to the status and future of the Midway Shopping Center. It’s hard to imagine quality transit-oriented development (some combination of office, retail, housing and public spaces) being built between the freeway and the outdated Midway Shopping Center. Because of this Catch-22, the future of the site, in my mind, depends on what can be done with the entire 35 acres bounded by Snelling, Pascal, University Avenue, and St. Anthony Avenue.
In this context, I believe that a soccer stadium might possibly make sense if it means that we would also get a high quality redevelopment of the Midway Shopping Center. If the stadium required a parking ramp, that ramp could also serve the retail, office, or other uses on the remainder of the site during the day and anytime there was not a game or event at the stadium. Soccer patrons who would pay for parking in a ramp could be an important source of financing the construction of such a ramp, which could help support redevelopment of the shopping center.
In addition, the site clearly needs a public park or public gathering space. While redevelopment along the Green Line is well underway, we still need that public gathering space/destination in the area where people would want to spend time and linger. In any scenario, these public improvements will require some level of City and public investment. Despite the great location, real estate in the Midway simply isn’t “hot” enough for development to pay for all of these costs. Therefore, in my mind, if a soccer stadium could be packaged with and accelerate a redevelopment of the whole site, then it could be a great thing for the Midway and St. Paul.
On the downside, much has been written about the limited economic development/spin-off benefits of professional sports stadia. One real economic impact is the jobs at the venue itself and the spike in business for nearby restaurants and bars. But unlike the St. Paul Saints who play 50 home games per season, an MLS team would only have 17-20 home games per year. While the direct economic benefits of a new stadium are limited, a full redevelopment of the 35-acre superblock would be much more impactful. A quality development at this key gateway to the Midway could have many economic benefits in terms of attracting additional investment, businesses, jobs, tax base, and housing to the area.
For all of these reasons, I supported this very preliminary step toward a possible stadium on the site. I believe that if the stadium deal can be coupled with a reasonable plan for how to finance high-quality public infrastructure improvements; if it can be used for other purposes including amateur and youth soccer; and if it can attract or coincide with a lot of private investment on the remainder of the 35 acres, such that the overall site adds to the economic vitality of the Midway and St. Paul, then we should pursue it further.
Another important consideration is the degree to which the 35 acres will contribute further to the City’s property tax base, and how soon. If Tax Increment Financing were to be used to pay for public improvements on the site – new streets, parking, etc., then the first 20 years or so of increased property taxes would be “captured” to pay for those improvements (this is how TIF works). On the other hand, those public improvements will be needed one way or the other and the only other sources of financing are other taxes (citywide property and sales tax proceeds) and/or assessments to the property owner(s).
Enriching the wealthy owners of the soccer franchise is definitely not a goal of mine. However, any development on the site will only occur if there is a profit to be made (with the exception of government or non-profit buildings which would be property tax exempt). For me to support the development of a soccer stadium on the site, I will need to be convinced that the benefits to St. Paul and the neighborhoods around the site outweigh the costs, and that public monies are only being spent on infrastructure improvements that have clear public benefits.
Whether or not the soccer stadium idea progresses, improvements to the 35 acre site are a top priority and the City should continue to focus on ways of getting the best possible redevelopment with the most public benefits. Good-paying jobs, quality public spaces, needed stores and services, new housing options, significantly improved access and circulation for people walking, biking, riding transit, and driving cars, and an appealing, well-maintained development are all characteristics I will be looking for.
I look forward to hearing your feedback on these thoughts and to working together to continue to improve the Midway and St. Paul. I recognize and respect that many of you will disagree with my stance on this issue. Whether we agree or disagree, I pledge to continue to stay engaged and truly listen to your perspectives, arguments, concerns, and hopes. My only priority is to end up getting the best possible outcome for our neighborhoods and the City of St. Paul.
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