Soccer Stadium in Minneapolis (cancelled)

[Didier]

Like I said, I'm assuming the wording in the tweet is wrong and the bill is actually for public ownership of the stadium.

[mplsjaromir]

I guess it begs the question, why would the serial fraud committer pay $100 million fee for a business he claims won't be profitable without property tax exemption?

[MNdible]

Good article on their efforts:

http://www.southwestjournal.com/voices/ ... m-proposal

Just read this now. It's by far the most-balanced and best-reported story on the topic.

Yeah, I really wish that David Brauer would go back to full time reporting. He's just so good at this kind of writing.

[Didier]

Like I said, I'm assuming the wording in the tweet is wrong and the bill is actually for public ownership of the stadium.

Apparently she actually is proposing public ownership of the team.

http://www.startribune.com/state-rep-ph ... ion=sports

In other words, she's wasting everyone's time.

[HiawathaGuy]

Like I said, I'm assuming the wording in the tweet is wrong and the bill is actually for public ownership of the stadium.

Apparently she actually is proposing public ownership of the team.

http://www.startribune.com/state-rep-ph ... ion=sports

In other words, she's wasting everyone's time.

I was going to say, she was the one who changed the language of the Hennepin County tax authorization 2 years ago, to make sure they couldn't spend any extra tax money collected for the Twins Stadium on anything else, which passed. So I couldn't think of why she would be proposing something like this - since she's very anti-tax for stadiums.

[HuskyGrad]

Like I said, I'm assuming the wording in the tweet is wrong and the bill is actually for public ownership of the stadium.

Apparently she actually is proposing public ownership of the team.

http://www.startribune.com/state-rep-ph ... ion=sports

In other words, she's wasting everyone's time.

Sorry. Had to.

[Didier]

The new Los Angeles team looks like it will start in 2018 now, not 2017, which means MN United could very likely move up to MLS in 2017. I had figured Target Field might be an option for 2017, but Adam Voge on Twitter says the team instead would upgrade the National Sports Center.

Of course, the legislature. So who knows?

[mullen]

so LA get's a rendering of their stadium and a plan. we get fuzzy details about a possible stadium and bungled PR campaign to lobby legislators. he hasn't even officially secured the land yet has he? (mcguire) they don't want to release it because it's still far from a done deal.

and we're supposed to enter the league in 2017. nothing will come out of this legislative session. so what's the plan? get something from the city now and then wait until next year for things the state has to approve. i guess that's the plan. so still dependent on a hostile legislature. wake me when it's over.

[acs]

http://m.startribune.com/local/minneapo ... ion=/local

Looks like this is much farther along than you may realize. Looking at the known terms it's hard to see this as anything but a win for the city. Also, if the legislature goes to a special session ( it will) wouldn't that give the city more time to get the state on board?

Side note: of course Frey takes the lead on this over Blong Yang. That guy has higher office written all over him.

[Didier]

so LA get's a rendering of their stadium and a plan. we get fuzzy details about a possible stadium and bungled PR campaign to lobby legislators. he hasn't even officially secured the land yet has he? (mcguire) they don't want to release it because it's still far from a done deal.

They have an option on the land, so that's not an issue. I'd like to see a more specific plan too, but at this point the political negotiation definitely feels like more of a when than an if.

[go4guy]

This doesn't seem like a normal proposal where we see renderings for years to try and drum up financial support. This would be a privately built stadium, so the proposal really doesn't need to be released until the send it to the city council for review. They are basically just getting something similar to TIF.

[xandrex]

http://m.startribune.com/local/minneapo ... ion=/local

Looks like this is much farther along than you may realize. Looking at the known terms it's hard to see this as anything but a win for the city. Also, if the legislature goes to a special session ( it will) wouldn't that give the city more time to get the state on board?

Side note: of course Frey takes the lead on this over Blong Yang. That guy has higher office written all over him.

The recent funding plan certainly has warmed me to the idea.

And yeah, Frey seems to have been born to be a politician. I could see him as mayor when Betsy steps down.

[acs]

From a fiscal standpoint I don't see how the city loses anything. If the current details hold true:

1. The city still keeps getting the same amount of property taxes as it always has on the stadium site
2. Likely gets a lot more in property taxes when the surrounding area is developed
3. Collects even more sales taxes from the stadium and surrounding development when the beverage and hospitality tax is extended to this area.

The only thing that could be a fiscal negative is if the Farmer's market is expanded to take up a larger footprint, but I am of the opinion that it's worth it.

[David Greene]

Side note: of course Frey takes the lead on this over Blong Yang. That guy has higher office written all over him.

Blong seems a little P.O.-ed about the coverage of this in the Strib. He's starting to get called out as not being proactive enough by some long-time ward resident-activists. Still seems to have support from most residents but there are some rumblings. I don't claim to know everything he's been working on but from the outside it does seem like he's just a little too laid back.

[mattaudio]

Too bad we didn't have a "laid back" CM from that ward when it came to a stadium deal three years ago.

[David Greene]

Too bad we didn't have a "laid back" CM from that ward when it came to a stadium deal three years ago.

To clarify, the calling out, while brought about by this article, was not limited to the stadium. It seemed like more of a general frustration at being somewhat invisible.

[moda253]

I'm so thankful there are so many citizen activists with great concern for the wellbeing of pro sports business owners. Reassuring to know that if Lester Bagley or Bill McGuire can't quite get everything their companies need, then others on UrbanMSP will step up to the plate and demand more from the public.

Wait Lester Bagley is a sports team owner?

[mattaudio]

Yes. Of course.

[grant1simons2]

But what if St Paul got it instead?

http://www.minnpost.com/politics-policy ... um=twitter

[nfschauer]

That would be awesome! I'd be all for it, the fact that we like to consider ourselves the Twin Cities means we should show just as much love to STP than MPLS. I think Mayor Coleman and the city council members over there would be much more welcoming as well, so I feel it should have no problem passsing.