Build a ballpark and nearby development will come, they say

Aiming to avoid unfulfilled promises after the Metrodome is built, the team and the Ballpark Authority are working to enhance the nearby North Loop.

By HERÓN MÁRQUEZ ESTRADA, Star Tribune

Last update: August 1, 2008 - 7:46 AM

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At Minneapolis City Hall, the area where the Minnesota Twins' new ballpark is being built is known as "the Cut," in part because it divides the struggling North Loop neighborhood from the vitality of the Warehouse District.

But as the ballpark nears completion in 2010, there is a great deal of optimism that the stadium will be an economic magnet and the focal point of redevelopment.

"What the ballpark does is heal that cut between the Warehouse District and the North Loop," said Dan Kenney, executive director of the Minnesota Ballpark Authority.

Toward that end, both the Twins and the Ballpark Authority, which is building the $412 million stadium, are working with neighbors and developers about future growth.

The Ballpark Authority has authorized spending $1 million for artwork, signs and other amenities to give the area a distinctive identity. The group authorized the spending of the first $200,000 late last month.

"We just want to be good neighbors," Steve Cramer, chairman of the Ballpark Authority, said Thursday. "What we are going to do is improve a no-man's land."

That would be quite a switch from what is there now: surface parking lots, railroad tracks, unused buildings, warehouses and loading docks.

"It does look like a cut or a wound," said Chuck Leer, a Minneapolis developer who is helping the city, the Twins and others figure out how to develop the area. "The ballpark is supposed to fill in the cut."

Everyone takes it as a given that the ballpark project, with a total cost of about $517 million, will be an economic and aesthetic success.

The only question for neighbors and developers seems to be how much of an economic magnet the stadium will prove to be for the downtown area.

"We hope to attract a lot of people," said Twins spokesman Kevin Smith. "We're hoping that when people see how successful we are that they will want to be a part of that."

Déjà vu?

If the sentiment sounds familiar, it is. That promise of economic development was part of the selling point for the Metrodome when it opened 26 years ago in the struggling Downtown East district.

That promise has never been fulfilled. As the Twins prepare to vacate the Metrodome next year, it is still uncertain that the team's new ballpark will truly transform the North Loop.

"This is really a work in progress," said Leer, who has been meeting monthly with interested parties since spring. "There's all kinds of magical ideas floating around. What we are hoping this leads to is a vital, dynamic neighborhood."

Some of the ideas involve turning the area into a pedestrian-friendly zone where people will be able to walk from the theater district on Hennepin Avenue through the Warehouse District bars and restaurants all the way to the Target Center and ballpark.

Leer said there already are plans for some high-rises within walking distance of the ballpark. Also, the Ballpark Authority has development rights above parking structures across the street from the stadium that could be used for commercial or residential purposes.

Leer and others said the area could be like Wrigley Field in Chicago, which is surrounded by a thriving neighborhood.

Another model is the LoDo (Lower Downtown) District in Denver near Coors Field, where numerous warehouses have been converted to residential and commercial uses.

Regardless of what happens, Ballpark Authority officials are convinced that this won't be a repeat of the Metrodome.

"The reason we're gong to see the development that we didn't see at the Metrodome is that there is already existing housing stock," Cramer said. "We want to see development and see where that takes us."

Heron Marquez Estrada • 612-673-4280

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