If they build a professional soccer stadium in St. Paul's Midway, will the city find money to complete Ayd Mill Road?
Judging by their joint television appearance, St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman will likely face no opposition from Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges over his efforts to lure a Major League Soccer stadium. From the sounds of it, Hodges appears only too happy to hand the whole package off to St. Paul -- despite some statements to the contrary Friday on Twin Cities Public Television's current affairs show, Almanac.
"I'm very excited about the prospect of having a soccer stadium in Minneapolis," said Hodges on Friday, with absolutely no excitement in her voice at all. She explained that her hang-up isn't soccer, per se, but the degree of public involvement.
And what degree might that be?
Without cracking a smile, the Minneapolis mayor said a working group of city officials has been convening on her side of the river, and she'd leave the tough questions about the city's potential role in any stadium deal to them. "That's the point of the working group," Hodges said.
While Coleman's efforts to lure MLS across the river probably won't be hampered by Hodges, they may yet be hurt by her logic. A few months ago, the Minneapolis mayor put out some strong, vocal, written arguments against getting in bed with big-moneyed professional sports team owners for a Minneapolis stadium deal. And those arguments could readily apply to St. Paul, with some caveats.
We don't yet know exactly what Minnesota United and its owners, including Bill McGuire, will ask for in terms of public funding. Nevertheless, in a lengthy blog post last April, Hodges went on the offensive against any proposal that would seek public subsidy, or even tax forgiveness, for a privately-owned stadium.
Her statements, which could have come straight from the mouth of John Oliver, came out well before Hennepin County got publicly involved in Minneapolis' planning efforts this month, but they remain prominent on her blog.
Hodges wrote:
"We are currently, and wisely, investing $130 million to renovate Target Center and keep it competitive for the next several decades. Why would we turn around and give away taxpayers’ dollars to compete with ourselves?"
She added later in her blog:
"And let’s also remember that the public has already financed two soccer-ready stadiums in Minnesota: the new indoor Vikings stadium is built for soccer, and the outdoor TCF Bank Stadium at the University of Minnesota has already hosted professional soccer matches. A third, truly privately-financed soccer stadium may be welcome; but we do not need a third, publicly-subsidized one."
It's not just the tax money or land value in question that Hodges has trouble with. It's Big Money in general, from the sound of her April blog post.
The McGuires of the world, like the Pohlads and Taylors, have plenty of cash, the Minneapolis mayor noted -- and all three families are part of the soccer stadium partnership group:
"Even if they choose to build a third soccer stadium, the ability of these owners to pay their own way is obvious: this remarkably high-powered ownership group, perhaps the largest ever assembled in Minnesota, can easily pay for their facility without any public assistance."
It may be a good thing for Minneapolis soccer boosters (including a couple members of the Hennepin County board) that Hodges is one voice among many in Minneapolis, where the modified "weak mayor" system undermines her ability to unilaterally decide whether the city should play ball with Minnesota United team owners.
Nevertheless, her lack of enthusiasm leaves a big opening for St. Paul.
On Almanac Friday, Coleman and Hodges came across sounding like ying and yang. An upbeat Coleman reiterated his previous enthusiasm for a potential MLS stadium deal, with the St. Paul mayor calling it "catalytic" for the stalled redevelopment of the Midway area around Snelling and University avenues.
Mudonna the St. Paul Saints mascot cheers the possibility of a soccer stadium in St. Paul (we think).
Coleman correctly noted that the Metropolitan Council's vacant "bus barn" property off Snelling and University avenues in St. Paul has been off the tax rolls for decades, and hasn't drawn the kind of private sector investment that city leaders had hoped for.
"We think its an ideal site, but the fact of the matter is, it's a site that needs a stimulus, it's a site that needs a catalyst," Coleman said. "These are regional assets, and you have to look at where would it have the most regional impact."
The shorthand is, a soccer stadium would be light years better than a vacant plot of land, even if it pays no taxes. And as it now stands, the vacant "bus barn" property hasn't paid taxes in generations. There's even the possibility that a package deal could be "catalytic" for the long-proposed makeover of the neighboring Midway Shopping Center, though skeptics have long challenged the notion that sports stadiums inspire much in the way of economic development other than new parking lots.
Heck, others have pointed out that this being St. Paul, any development that materializes on the blighted corner will come calling for public subsidy, or at the very least infrastructure assistance (think roads, parking, sewer and environmental clean-up). Housing or retail would be no less eager to suck on the public teat, at least at the start-up phase.
"You want to put another professional sports stadium where?!"
And the Scoop would point out, if it comes down to a soccer stadium versus a generic Big Box store, at least the stadium will build up pride in place for kids from the neighborhood, many of whom are immigrant refugees or the children of refugees, instead of putting smaller retailers on Snelling, Selby and University avenues out of business...
The St. Paul City Council on Wednesday will take up a resolution that affirms the council's openness toward keeping the 10-acre Snelling/University parcel off the tax rolls, provided that Minneapolis United funds stadium design and construction with private money.
The resolution is sponsored by Council Members Dai Thao, who represents the neighborhood, and Chris Tolbert.
Now what would John Oliver have to say about that?
The post St. Paul, Minneapolis mayors talk soccer on TPT's Almanac. You'll never believe what happened next... appeared first on City Hall Scoop.