Right in between downtown Saint Paul and downtown Minneapolis lies a neighborhood embracing a thrilling new future. At the heart of Saint Paul’s Midway neighborhood, aging big boxes and a strip mall have given way to a new soccer stadium as the community around it is being transformed.
From its opening in 2019, Allianz Field will be the home of the Minnesota United Football Club – the Twin Cities’ major-league soccer team. Seating about 19,400 fans, and situated at the crossroads of METRO Green Line light rail, A Line bus rapid transit, and Interstate 94, Allianz Field is expected to set in motion a long-awaited transformation of the balance of the 34.4 acre site, and beyond.
A master plan has been adopted to guide development on the site surrounding the stadium, focusing on a mix of office, residential and retail uses. And already the market is responding. Major market rate housing projects are coming to fruition – the Vintage Apartments with a new Whole Foods, and the O’Garas building. And we know more are on their way. .
- Situated between Minneapolis and Saint Paul CBD, with direct access to I-94, momentum in the area is being drive by two new transit lines that converge at the stadium site: the METRO Green Line light rail (opened 2014), and the A Line bus rapid transit (opened 2016).
- At the heart of the focus area, transformation is being catalyzed by the addition of the new $250 million, 19,400 seat Allianz Field. Following stadium completion in mid-2019, the large surrounding site will be marketed for redevelopment.
- After completion in spring 2019, the 34.4 acre super block will be marketed for redevelopment as laid out in the City’s Snelling Midway Master Plan. Nearby properties also have active proposals, or are also being marketed for redevelopment.
- The City of Saint Paul is working to make sure that the coordinated redevelopment around the stadium benefits the full community. Saint Paul’s Little Africa Cultural District is centered just north of the Snelling and University intersection.
- University Avenue, as it runs through the heart of this area, has long acted as the heart of retail in the western part of the city, housing a Cub Foods, Target, Wal-Mart, Office Max, and T.J. Maxx. We anticipate that this retail will evolve to a more transit-oriented format. Nodes of smaller stores are found around the Whole Foods at Selby and Snelling, and north of University on Snelling.
- Momentum is being driven in the housing sector by the stadium and new market-rate housing, including the Vintage on Selby Apartments/Whole Foods and O’Gara’s Apartments. A number of larger office buildings anchor the HealthEast Midway campus.
- Higher education plays a major role in the area. Hamline University, a 165-year-old private liberal arts school in the northern part of the focus area, educates about 4,000 undergraduates and postgraduates. Concordia University, in the eastern portion of the focus area, educates around 5,000 students.
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