When it comes to development near the future Major League Soccer stadium in the Midway, St. Paul planning officials envision something like the newly built five-story Vintage apartments at Selby and Snelling — high-density construction that rises up almost as much as out.

But Midway Shopping Center principal Rick Birdoff, a principal with the New York-based real estate firm RK Midway, wants the project to emulate the squat new Goodwill store at University and Griggs Street — allowing for more parking space.

Between two levels of retail space and surface parking, the Goodwill shop’s floor-area ratio is about the minimum required under “traditional neighborhood” zoning along much of the Green Line corridor. That approach will help draw tenants, Birdoff said.

Those and other details related to the proposed stadium and surrounding development will be the focus of a public hearing Wednesday by the St. Paul City Council. The council votes Aug. 10 on the stadium site plan and Snelling-Midway master plan.

The plans, which depend on the Legislature granting property tax relief, involve Minnesota United partnering with the city to privately fund construction of a 21,500-seat Major League Soccer stadium at the Metropolitan Council’s long-vacant former “bus barn” site.

The master plan designates a long-term goal of 4.2 acres of open space, 8.3 acres for new streets, sidewalks and bike lanes, 7.9 acres for the stadium itself, 1.9 acres of surface parking and 12.1 acres for future real estate development.

A SHORT-TERM AND LONG-TERM VISION

Wednesday’s council hearing focuses on both the short-term stadium site plan and long-term master plan for the overall Snelling-Midway redevelopment site — the 35 acres spanning the Midway Shopping Center and the vacant former Metro Transit bus storage facility where the stadium will go.

Assembled by Minnesota United and RK Midway, the site plan illustrates what the southern portion of the Snelling-Midway “Super Block” will look like when the stadium opens, presumably in 2018. The master plan, a long-term vision document, spells out floor-area ratios and other particulars for the entire site at maximum build-out, which could take a decade or more to come together.

To make room for the stadium, the site plan removes the Rainbow grocery store and a handful of adjoining shops and extends Shields Avenue through the shopping center to connect with an improved Pascal Street.

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As memories of George Floyd fade, activists make sure his legacy does not To the disappointment of some members of the Snelling-Midway Community Advisory Committee, the site plan does not incorporate new retail, even in a surface parking area near the stadium that had been designated office space in long-term visioning documents.

That doesn’t mean fresh retail isn’t possible. Birdoff has indicated that discussions with existing Midway Shopping Center business tenants are ongoing, and the site plan represents a baseline or minimum for what development will entail in 2018.

UNION PARK HAS CONCERNS

The Union Park District Council, a neighborhood planning group in the Midway area, has declined to endorse the master plan. Instead, it passed a resolution stating that critical details about how redevelopment will impact neighbors and businesses are not yet clear. The council has expressed disappointment that future opportunities for public engagement have not been established.

The Union Park council, which is assembling its own task force, said it was committed to working with the city on issues surrounding traffic flow, pedestrian safety, bicycle access, noise, light, crime and use of the stadium by the community or non-Major League Soccer partners. The council resolution also pointed to concerns regarding construction impacts and emphasizing the importance of using local and minority businesses and workforce in stadium construction.

Meanwhile, city officials continue to reach out to private parking lot owners within three-fourths of a mile of the future stadium in hopes of assembling shuttle bus services to games. Some 3,400 private large-lot stalls sit within walking distance of the site and coordinating access will be key.

OPEN SPACE, STORM WATER ISSUES

City officials hope to see model, innovative storm-water solutions attached to the Super Block, such as “a central system that all the development in the master plan would hook into it,” said St. Paul Planning and Economic Development Director Jonathan Sage-Martinson. “There’s some questions around timing. Everyone would like to see this innovative system, but can we make it work with phasing?”

The Capitol Region Watershed District has made up to $400,000 available for storm-water innovation, which could include an above-ground stream or another visible water feature. Minnesota United team owner Bill McGuire has expressed concern that any above-ground elements would limit recreational open space.

The master plan calls for green space where a current Perkins Restaurant and McDonald’s restaurant now sit midblock between Snelling Avenue and Pascal Street along University Avenue, but the development timeline remains unclear. That green space is not included in the 2018 site plan, and the master plan does not spell out how much of it will be publicly owned.

“The tenants still have agreements in place,” Sage-Martinson said, though he could not comment on the length of the leases.

Addressing “public realm” issues in his July 6 letter to city planners, Birdoff said “the master plan should be a guide. … We should not be locked into that configuration.”

City planners responded, “establishing a public realm where the streets and park spaces will be built is a basic purpose of a master plan. … If there are changes needed to this, a plan modification could be applied for.”

Closer to the actual stadium, city officials say new green space south of an extension of Shields Avenue is included in the 2018 plan and will be publicly accessible and managed by the team. Whether that means it will be publicly owned is unclear, though it could be conveyed to the city as part of the development’s parkland dedication requirements.

“There’s details that need to be put together as to what that green space will look like and its function,” Sage-Martinson said. “It’s an ongoing conversation.”