Bakery expected to move to St. Paul Port Authority land

The St. Paul agency has made arrangements to sell a parcel of land on the East Side where Baldinger Bakery, which has been in business in St. Paul since 1888, plans to build a production facility.

By CHRIS HAVENS, Star Tribune

Last update: October 20, 2009 - 11:34 PM

The St. Paul Port Authority is poised to sell another plot of land for redevelopment on the city's East Side.

The agency has reached a deal to sell about 9 acres of a former foundry to be turned into a 130,000-square-foot commercial baking facility between Phalen Boulevard and Johnson Parkway.

K and B Real Estate Holdings will pay the Port Authority $450,000, and longtime St. Paul company Baldinger Bakery will construct, occupy and operate the new building. In all, Baldinger is set to make a $30 million investment between real estate and equipment.

A committee of the Port Authority Board on Tuesday recommended approval of the sale. The committee also recommended approving a purchase agreement to sell 4 acres of the old 3M Co. headquarters to Health East Medical Transportation, a proposal that was announced earlier. The full board will vote Oct. 27 on whether to sign off on both deals.

If approved by Port Authority commissioners, the Baldinger deal could close this fall, and construction could begin in January and wrap up in 2011.

Baldinger has been in business in St. Paul since 1888. The company is at full capacity at its 46,000-square-foot operation on the West Side and needs to expand to bring in more customers, according to a Port Authority memo.

"This is a wonderful story because this company had one foot out of St. Paul," said Port Authority President Louis Jambois.

Port Authority officials had gotten a tip that the bakery was planning to move to Eagan, and staff worked to persuade the company to stay in St. Paul.

The company plans to spend $20 million on equipment that will automate production and eliminate some employees. The company currently has 125 full-time positions, but that number will be reduced at the new location. The agreement with the Port Authority says there can be no fewer than 72 employees, and Baldinger has pledged to add at least 40 more full-time positions over the next 10 years.

Baldinger employees earn between $14.50 and $24.85 per hour, and the company must pay at least $11 per hour, according to Port Authority requirements. The company also has agreed to try to make sure 70 percent of new hires live in St. Paul.

The Port Authority bought the property, which has been vacant since the 1940s, in 2006. The land had been used for industrial purposes dating to the 1800s. Environmental problems have been fixed, said Bill Morin, director of real estate and development for the Port Authority.

The proposed building would be the largest built on Port Authority land in the past five years.

Both proposed land deals could breathe life into a part of the city that has lost many of its major employers over past decades.

Chris Havens • 612-673-4148