Two restaurants, a brewery, a bank and the Minnesota Wild hockey team are lined up to move into the vacant Macy’s department store in downtown St. Paul, if and when the city’s Port Authority lines up a master developer.

The Port Authority, which purchased the empty, block-long property in January 2014, has received eight letters of intent from potential tenants. While the letters are not binding, Port Authority President Louis Jambois said they are the latest evidence that the commercial market is warming to downtown St. Paul and the Macy’s site in particular.

“With the Wild, a commitment with them is not done yet,” said Lee Krueger, senior vice president of real estate development with the Port Authority. “We’re very, very close. But it is dependent upon a commitment from a developer, and we’re very close with (securing) a developer. There are actually two I’m talking with.”

“The project doesn’t happen without the Wild,” Krueger added. “We’re not ready to announce a deal with them yet.”

Despite some promising conversations last year, the Port Authority struggled to find a developer willing to knock the building down and construct anew. The prospect of demolition was eventually abandoned.

Jambois said an enclosed rooftop practice facility for the Wild is in the cards, and that has made all the difference in attracting retailers.

“We’ve been working to get commitments on as much of the space as we possibly can,” Jambois said. “I firmly believe that it is the presence of the Wild that has made the building attractive to many of these other prospective users. There’s an excitement about being co-located with the Wild.”

The covered rink would replace part of the department store roof and the top of the adjoining parking garage. The surface layer of an existing 15-inch slab would be scraped and reinforced, with sand added on top of the new material.

If the facility comes together, it would also be available for public rental to youth and adult leagues or partners such as the Hamline Pipers’ hockey teams, though no agreement with Hamline University has been finalized. The Wild would be the rink’s primary tenant.

“The project is gaining momentum. We can verify that,” said Jamie Spencer, vice president of new business development with the Minnesota Wild. “We’re meeting with the Port regularly. We’re waiting for a few key pieces to fall in place.”

The eight letters of intent represent commitments on about 125,000 square feet of the property. Jambois estimated the building will have a total of 180,000 square feet of leasable space once the building is redeveloped — so about 55,000 square feet is still available.

Jambois declined to name any of the prospective tenants, though Walgreens was identified this summer as one of the retailers. The Port Authority could sell the Macy’s building to a developer or develop the building in partnership through a joint venture, thereby reducing risk for the private partner.

The building would not be home to residential units such as condos or apartments. Macy’s closed up shop in downtown St. Paul in March 2013, leaving downtown without a major retailer for the first time in 130 years.

In Lowertown, a number of new restaurants have opened near CHS Field, home of the St. Paul Saints. Jambois hopes that a Wild practice facility would have the same impact on retailers.

The Port Authority cannot begin planning construction work without signing a master developer, he said.

“The closer we get to full lease-up, the more attractive our building looks to a master developer,” said Jambois, noting there is no official deadline in place. “The sooner, the better, of course.”

The Wild clearly won’t be using the practice rink all the time, and the Port Authority has a strong negotiating tool in its corner to secure other ice users — the federal distaste for Freon.

The Hamline men and women’s Piper hockey teams currently practice at the Oscar Johnson arena off Energy Park Drive in St. Paul. The rink will be required to upgrade its cooling system, as all rinks will, within two years because the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is phasing out chemical Freon.

Ramsey County has put together a task force to determine which rinks within the county will be upgraded and remain in use, “and we are not sure yet whether Oscar Johnson will be among those that stay,” Hamline spokeswoman Gail Nosek said in an email.

Frederick Melo can be reached at 651-228-2172. Follow him at twitter.com/FrederickMelo.