After more than two years of anticipation and attempts at deal-making with various developers, the home of the last major retailer in downtown St. Paul is poised to become a whole lot of parking.

Because of a number of challenges associated with the former Macy’s site, the St. Paul Port Authority hasn’t been able to sell the urban square footage as an ideal spot for apartments or even high-end office space.

Instead, the organization’s most recent plan for the giant, windowless facility includes converting well over half the space — about 360,000 square-feet — into parking stalls. The rest of the building is slated to include a rooftop NHL-standard hockey rink, a medical clinic, a brewery, a Walgreens and a handful of other to-be-determined tenants. All of the deals are still tentative.

About 180,000 square feet of the facility was used for parking back when Macy’s was in business.

That the site’s entire 540,000-square-foot site isn’t becoming a parking ramp is measured as a success by Port Authority president Lee Krueger. Some city officials and residents also said the plan is likely as good as it gets for a sprawling cement block of a building with zero light penetration. They also said more parking is needed downtown.

In addition to competitive market conditions, other obstacles to redeveloping the building include its position on a slope between Wabasha and Cedar streets and its outdated interior, Krueger said. Razing the building and starting over from scratch was ruled out because of the high cost of demolition and no developer interest.

“The private sector that was looking at buying this was looking at turning it into a parking ramp and cold storage… and it’s just too good of a site for that,” Krueger said. “We wanted more, and we’re getting more (with this plan.) … But what we are making out of it is a challenge, because this isn’t really what the building wanted to be … it wanted to be parking.”

John Mannillo, chair of the downtown district council and a member of St. Paul Strong — a coalition of city hall critics — said that given what the Port Authority “(had) to work with, they have done a decent job.

“I am not saying I love it. … There are a few things I wish they could have done differently, but it’s probably the best we could hope for,” Mannillo said. “The economics have to make sense to a developer and … the building is so large, and you have so much interior space without windows… so parking is probably the best thing you can do with that… putting an ice sheet on the roof is also kind of an interesting and creative idea.”

He added that he would like to see renovations to the building’s exterior include “decorative touches” beyond the Port Authority’s plan to add windows along Wabasha Street. He also said he wished public subsidies, in this case tax-increment financing, didn’t have to be a part of the deal.

A spokesman for St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman said the mayor is pleased with the parking to retail ratio.

“The mayor believes the Port is taking a balanced approach to redevelopment of the former Macy’s site — and one that will not only create additional vibrancy for this part of downtown, but will address a need for additional parking,” Tonya Tennessen said. “While he was opposed to earlier projects that were primarily parking, he believes this one strikes the right balance.

NEW DEVELOPER DEAL

After the Port Authority’s Board of Commissioners approved entering into a joint venture agreement with Hempel Companies Tuesday, asbestos abatement and interior demolition on the $60 million redevelopment project could begin in May. Port Authority officials hope to have the building ready for tenants by September of 2017.

The Port Authority had worked with Oppidan Investment Co. on the project until opting for Hempel.

Much needs to happen between now and the project’s tentative opening date, including lining up prelease agreements with more parties than those already in the pipeline.

The Port Authority and Hempel are hoping to soon finalize agreements with the Wild — who are expected to use the rooftop rink as their home practice site — as well as Loony Bin Brewing and a medical clinic. It already has a deal with Walgreen’s, which is moving from its spot across the street to expand into 25,000 square feet of retail space inside the building. It’s not yet known what will move into the existing Walgreen’s.

Tentative floor plans for the entire building include:

Lower sublevel: Minnesota Wild locker rooms and team training and conditioning area; a contract with the team is still pending

Upper sublevel: Potentially a team kitchen for the Wild; other to-be-determined leasable space; parking

Street level on Cedar Street: Loony Bin brewery; other tenants to be determined

Street level on Wabasha: Walgreens and other to-be-determined tenants. Restaurants, a fitness center, credit unions and an industrial bakery all have expressed interest in the space.

Second level: A medical clinic and other to-be-determined leasable space (a couple of other restaurants and an event-catering company have expressed interest); parking.

Third level: About 25,000 to 35,000 square feet of leasable space; the rest of the level would be parking

Fourth level: A rooftop ice rink to be used by the Minnesota Wild as the team’s practice rink; the contract with the team is still pending. Groups could rent the rink’s leftover ice time, about 5,000 hours a year.

Krueger said the building plan is about 90 to 95 percent firm at this point, and looks nothing like initial iterations for the site.

A GOOD START

St. Paul City Council member Rebecca Noecker said she thinks the site is off to a good start but hopes the final package will go “further” than what has been reported so far.

“I have heard again and again from people who live and work downtown that our biggest failing is not having a place for someone to go buy a gift or a shirt… An expanded Walgreens is a step in that direction but I think we can do a lot better, especially on the street level on Cedar,” Noecker said.

She’s most excited about the potential the ice rink has as a public amenity in downtown, she said.

Krueger and others said they are hopeful the rink will serve as a new draw to the downtown core. Pee Wee hockey tournaments and intramural leagues, for example, could use it.

Terry Mattson, president of Visit St. Paul, echoed that sentiment.

“Anything we have there is better than nothing, and this is a big anything,” Mattson said of the proposed plans. “More retail is of course very welcome … and I think the Wild will be very popular. … So this is good for them, and it’s good for downtown.”

Tom Erickson, another member of the downtown district council, said he thinks the parking plans at the Macy’s building will be a boon for business.

“I believe a shortage of parking is constraining the growth potential of downtown St. Paul. … It’s a huge advantage suburban areas have over (us),” said Erickson, a longtime downtown resident who also owns a building there. “Hundreds of parking spots in downtown St. Paul … have been taken out in the last several years, in the Lowertown area in particular. So … anything that puts parking lots in downtown (I) look at as an advantage to bringing businesses back here.”