The Midway area of St. Paul is largely seen as a diamond in the rough, and a number of entities are working to give it the kind of sparkle that might attract a major new company – maybe even a certain gargantuan online retailer.

That was the topic of a Tuesday panel discussion hosted by the Midway Chamber of Commerce, and while panelists and attendees humorously made a point of not mentioning Amazon by name, they think that the area might have what it takes to attract businesses big and small. The Seattle-based retail giant plans to build a second headquarters in North America.

Midway, sometimes called Hamline Midway, is officially known as District 11. According to the Hamline Midway Coalition, the area is bounded by University Avenue to the south, the railroad tracks just north of Pierce Butler Route to the north, Lexington Avenue to the east and Transfer Road to the west.

The area is in the process of what could be called a renaissance. The former bus barn site north of Interstate 94 at Snelling Avenue will soon be the home of the Minnesota United FC professional soccer team, and the adjacent, aging Midway Shopping Center is to be redeveloped in the process.

Meanwhile, the 3-year-old Metro Green Line has spurred residential and commercial development along University Avenue as it ferries an average of 37,000 riders every weekday to destinations between the downtowns of St. Paul and Minneapolis. Its name is based on its midpoint location between the two major cities.

Still, some of the same factors that make the Midway area a bit unsexy could also help keep the current momentum going, some panelists maintained. While its infrastructure and building stock are dated, Midway has an unusual combination of quick access to freeways, heavy rail and airports that might be enticing to a company that deals in lots of freight.

Those things, however, are just part of the stew that incoming businesses want. Danette Parr, director of business development for the city of St. Paul, said such factors as crime rate, recreation and climate are down the list.

That means an area like Midway – which encompasses about 75,000 residents and 50,000 workers – must be extra aggressive and precise as it courts businesses. “When a site selector comes to town, they’ve probably done their research and know what’s here when it comes to properties,” Parr said. “The only way to let them know exactly what’s available is to have an ongoing relationship with them.”

Parr said that also on the shopping list for incoming companies are skilled and unskilled labor pools, training support and access to financing. Shauen Pearce-Lassiter, director of Greater MSP’s Center Cities Competitiveness Initiative, said cultivating and keeping talent might be the top challenge in the quest to attract new business to Midway.

“We have to have a network among our agencies, including chambers from both cities and both counties, that reflects the demographics of Midway’s workforce,” Pearce-Lassiter said.

“We need to connect our students to training opportunities,” added Jon Commers, founder and president of the urban data consultancy Visible City. “That’s how an area’s workforce grows organically.”

Pearce-Lassiter also underscored the importance of accelerating capital investment and streamlining the process of reaching out to prospective businesses. “If it takes 12 to 18 months to do a deal, we don’t want to spend the first 12 months figuring out if we’ll be able to move forward.”

Beth Bartz, a principal with SRF Consulting specializing in transportation and environmental planning, encouraged chamber members to educate themselves on the building blocks of wooing businesses, such as transportation infrastructure, land use policy and rules regarding environmental review.

“They’re all interrelated,” she said. “If a company comes to you with an initiative, you need to see to it that their vision aligns with the city’s regulatory framework. If it doesn’t, you have some work to do.”

Bartz added that the attractiveness of Midway’s access to transportation infrastructure is tempered by the bottlenecks that tend to plague I-94 between the downtowns.

“That problem will only grow when the soccer stadium is completed,” she said. “MnDOT (Minnesota Department of Transportation) knows that, and is trying to enhance mobility in that area.”

Nonetheless, Commers said, Midway could have enough unusual features to woo any new business – even you-know-who.

“Smaller business spaces are becoming more viable, and in everything from tech to distribution, location has never mattered more,” he said. “With this intermodal transportation facility in our backyard, we have an outstanding area to offer companies.”