One architect’s vision for a transformative new NBA arena in downtown Minneapolis

When architect and designer Bill Baxley heard the new owners of the Timberwolves and Lynx wanted a new arena, he and his colleagues started discussing location.

One Styrofoam model later, they had an idea: Build the arena kitty-corner from the teams’ current home, Target Center, on a block and a half of land near the Warehouse District/Hennepin Avenue light-rail stop.

Their conversations went beyond the where. The arena could be embedded deeper into the ground to integrate the concession level with surrounding streets. An extended roof would cover those, creating a public market of sorts. Incorporating that transit station and adding a rooftop park would make the project more than just a sports venue, and building high-rise developments next door could help monetize it all.

Right now, it’s all just a vision that’s years and millions of dollars away from becoming reality. But the prospect of a new professional basketball facility in the Twin Cities has developers and fans alike excited.

Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez became majority owners of the NBA/WNBA franchises in June, doubling down on their long-stated desires for an arena anchoring an entertainment district that could funnel revenue back into the teams. As public- and private-sector leaders in Minneapolis look to reimagine downtown to meet the post-pandemic era, a new arena could present one of the most seismic opportunities to transform the urban core.

Baxley knows this well as a design principal in the Minneapolis office of Gensler, a global architecture firm that’s designed and renovated professional sports facilities across the country.

The goal of the modeling exercise, he said, was to spark conversations and encourage visionary thinking around the future of the facility. The idea is purely conceptual, and neither the teams nor developers commissioned it.

The land between 1st and Hennepin avenues and 4th and 6th streets is the focus of Gensler’s model.

One version of the concept would displace the historic Masonic Temple, now known as the Hennepin Center for the Arts, as well as the Cowles Center for Dance & the Performing Arts. Same with Gluek’s Restaurant and Bar, a downtown mainstay. Alternatively, the plan could reverse and shift half a block to instead take the place of long-running nightclub Gay 90s.

Baxley, who serves on the Minneapolis Planning Commission, acknowledged gaining control of those sites and permission to redevelop them would be a massive and challenging undertaking in and of itself. But for the purposes of this exercise, he said, imagine there was a plan to relocate the businesses and reuse the Masonic Temple’s facade.

The city would then face an opportunity to rethink a part of downtown that’s struggled with crime and mostly housed parking for years.

Baxley points to the University of Texas at Austin’s Moody Center, which Gensler helped design, as an example of a sunken arena that flows into a public plaza. The firm also helped design the Milwaukee Bucks’ Deer District, a mixed-use neighborhood outside the team’s new Fiserv Forum that includes a public plaza, entertainment venues, restaurants and retail.

“This idea really starts with: We’re going to design the urban experience first, and the arena is going to fit within that,” Baxley said.

Working within urban confines forces architects to be creative, he added, which can yield the sort of eccentricities that make historic venues like Boston’s Fenway Park and Chicago’s Wrigley Field memorable.

The Gensler concept also features a publicly accessible roof, which could contain green space or additional entertainment experiences, as well as high-rise development that could serve whatever function the market demands — perhaps a mix of housing and offices, Baxley said.

Its location would also link all three Minneapolis professional sports venues — including the Vikings’ U.S. Bank Stadium and the Twins’ Target Field — directly along the light rail, perhaps with a new indoor station.

What Baxley’s brainstorm doesn’t address is the future of Target Center, which the city owns. If the teams build a new facility, officials will have to consider whether to find new uses for the current arena or demolish it to make way for new development.

The arena is the second-oldest in the NBA and has one of the smallest footprints, a fact that limits renovation possibilities. A lack of loading space makes it harder to attract touring concerts, while comparatively low premium seating capacities represents a lost opportunity to boost revenue.

Fans and real estate developers have speculated about several other potential sites near and around downtown, from the Minneapolis Farmers Market to City Center to an extension of the arena’s current footprint.

A spokesman for the Wolves and Lynx declined a request for comment. In an interview last month, the teams’ new CEO Matt Caldwell said he expects the process of finding a site and building a new arena to take at least five years.

Lore and Rodriguez, who have said they’re prepared to finance the venture privately, have not committed to keeping the arena downtown or even in Minneapolis.

A spokeswoman for Mayor Jacob Frey said the mayor met with Caldwell to express his strong desire to keep the teams in the urban core. Erik Hansen, director of Community Planning and Economic Development (CPED), said the city is in “the earliest stages” of exploring the feasibility of sites as preparation for when the teams are ready to engage.

Dario Anselmo, the coalition’s president who until recently owned the neighboring Fine Line music venue, said he thinks Gensler’s model is “an incredibly innovative and cool design.”

That said, from the perspective of a venue owner, he thinks of the ripple effects such a project would have on the neighborhood, including effects on parking and traffic. The Renaissance Coalition has discussed other ideas for part of those blocks that could also activate the area in new ways, he added.