What's Twins ballpark property really worth?

It's Minnesota's World Series of land condemnation battles. And at a hearing Monday to determine the worth of 8 acres needed for the Twins' proposed ballpark, the two sides were a tape-measure blast apart -- $48 million apart.

Daniel Rosen, an attorney representing Land Partners II, the group that owned the land the county has condemned and claimed, told a packed courtroom that the land is worth about $65.38 million. That's nearly four times the $17.23 million that the county is believed to be offering for the 20-year-old Rapid Park parking lot.

County officials also say the lot is worth only half that $17 million.

"A squeeze play that even [Twins manager] Ron Gardenhire would admire" was the way attorney Byron Starns, representing Hennepin County, described the land owners' tactics. "The land owners deserve every penny they're entitled to," Starns said. "The land owners are not entitled to a windfall at the expense of the public."

The hearing, involving the Twins' open-air $522 million ballpark, could last as long as a month. The argument over the land represents, in terms of the money involved, the largest land-condemnation hearing in Minnesota history.

Before a three-member court commission that included retired Judge Robert Schumacher, Rosen acknowledged the parking lot's proximity to the county garbage incinerator, but said the site is still enticing because of its closeness to the core of downtown Minneapolis, Target Center, the entrance to Interstate Hwy. 394, and to the Cedar Lake bike trail.

Proximity to LRT

Most appealing, he said, is the proximity to the Hiawatha light-rail line and to the future Northstar line.

Texas-based Hines Interests Inc., which holds purchase option agreements on several land parcels east of the stadium site, has a development plan for the 10.95-acre lot, 8 acres of which Hennepin County has claimed for the ballpark.

Hines' plan includes 20-story high-rises with condominiums, apartments, hotels and commercial space. Hines is working with Land Partners II, Bruce Lambrecht's limited liability partnership.

"The fact that it is a transit hub makes any buyer brake for this property," Rosen argued.

He went on to say that the property's location would appear to be more appealing than the four blocks near the Metrodome that Vikings owner Zygi Wilf recently purchased from Avista Capital Partners, owners of the Star Tribune, for a reported $45 million. Those four blocks are actually valued at $17 million, Rich Pogin, an associate of Lambrecht, said outside the courtroom.

Starns, the county's lawyer, countered that the Rapid Park lot has remained a parking lot for 20 years for good reason. Because the lot is sunken, its only value is as a parking lot or for a stadium, said Starns, who works for the Minneapolis firm Leonard, Street & Deinard. He said the lot has been appraised twice -- recently at $13.35 million -- and would be valued at about $8.98 million by the Hennepin County tax assessor.

The supposed land value of which Rosen spoke in his opening court statement was based purely on a developer's speculation, Starns said.

"The true judgment of value is not what people say they will pay, but what they pay," he said.

Packed courtroom

Rosen told a courtroom filled with lawyers, appraisers and county officials -- but no Twins officials, players or uniform-clad fans -- that the two sides were "not as far apart" as numbers indicate.

He said he calculates that the county will eventually value the land at $26.5 million and that the Land Partners group could use a formula to reduce the land value to $55.1 million. But that's still a difference of $29.6 million.

The cost to taxpayers could rise another $10 million -- for legal fees -- depending on the length of the hearing and the outcome, Pogin said.

Before the attorneys opened their arguments, the court heard from Ed Hunter, project manager of the Minnesota Ballpark Authority, the ballpark's governing group. He reiterated that stadium construction would begin in mid- to late August. It's expected to open for the 2010 season.

Paul Levy • 612-673-4419 • plevy@startribune.com