Dive Brief:

• The city of St. Paul, MN, has approved an $18.4 million infrastructure investment in conjunction with the proposed Minnesota United Major League Soccer stadium, according to the Star Tribune.
• The city will help pay for storm sewers, landscaping, lighting, parking, sidewalks, streets and plazas, with grants covering approximately $1.5 million of their financial commitment. The city will use revenue from tax-increment financing to fund the remaining $16.9 million.
• The Star Tribune reported that the $150 million stadium is just one piece of a 34.5-acre mixed-use plan that will feature plazas, retail, offices, a hotel and housing.  

Dive Insight:

The team’s original plan was for a Minneapolis location, but city officials did not provide a property tax exemption that the developers wanted. Similarly, the St. Paul stadium deal is contingent on property tax exemptions for the 10-acre stadium site and a construction materials tax exemption.

Although the St. Paul council approved the funding, as well as other development agreements for the stadium site, some members cast dissenting votes and warned that the council was moving too fast on a deal that left a return on the city’s investment in doubt.

Team owners announced in December that they had selected Mortenson Construction to build the 20,000-seat United stadium. Mortenson has extensive experience building sports facilities, including the Xcel Energy Center for the Minnesota Wild NHL team, the Target Center for the Minnesota Timberwolves NBA team and Target Field for the Minnesota Twins MLB team.

Mortenson is also in progress on the new Minnesota Vikings stadium. Mortenson and the Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority were locked in a change order disagreement until last month when architects and the MSFA agreed to put several million dollars in escrow to cover changes.