A parking ramp to be built at the base of a proposed $80 million downtown Duluth office tower is among the best projects competing for $47.5 million in state bonding money, according to the state agency that rated proposals.
Minnesota Public Radio reported Monday that the Department of Employment and Economic Development ranked the top projects from the northern, southern and metro regions of the state. The $10 million Duluth request, a St. Paul Saints ballpark and a Litchfield sewer upgrade were the highest ranked in the three regions.
Thirty-seven applications were scored based on their project readiness, job creation potential and other criteria. The agency eliminated more than half the 90 applications it received, including a proposed renovation of Wade Stadium in West Duluth.
The Duluth grant would help pay for a proposed 15-story office tower at the corner of Superior Street and Fifth Avenue West, the site of the former KDLH-TV offices. When the project was announced in June, the city indicated that it depended on $20 million in public money, including $10 million that the city would request from the state grant program. Three-quarters of the project would be privately financed.
The building already has an anchor tenant and two other tenants that will occupy 75 percent of the office space, according to developer AtWater Group LLC.
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"The new project would be a significant addition to our western downtown community with the potential to add millions of dollars of new development to the tax base," Sen. Roger Reinert said in a news release. "In addition, the building is expected to create 200 new high-paying permanent professional jobs and approximately 300 construction jobs."
The Republican-controlled Legislature created the grant program to see if it could remove some of the politics from the biennial bonding process. Gov. Mark Dayton has said he intends to make the final decision on which projects get money this week.
The $27 million Saints ballpark, $2.5 million Litchfield wastewater infrastructure and $10 million Duluth development together would use most of the money.
Reinert said the Wade Stadium project probably will not get money from this program, but that he would continue to advocate for it in future bonding years.
