Thunder owner’s grand plans
Last week, I mentioned a St. Paul Pioneer Press article about Minnesota Thunder co-owner, Dean Johnson, and his ambitions to (re-)develop parts of downtown St. Paul.
I’m not sure why I didn’t see this earlier but the amazing (seriously, if you’re a local, you should be reading this every day) City Hall Scoop blog at the Pioneer Press has details (including pictures) of Johnson’s plans to bring life (good luck working with the rubes on that city council) back to the city.
Here’s a nice picture of the proposed riverfront development:
While you’re there, take a listen to Johnson’s comments about owning the Thunder and building a new stadium. (mp3)
2 comments
As you most likely saw in the Star and Trib, WingField, the owners of the Thunder, lost out on this bid to another local developer with a long track record, Opus. Not only did Opus get the bid but just this week put money down to purchase the property.
The biggest issue for WingField is that they don’t really have a very complete track record. Even though they have money they are actually sort of small potatoes in the development portfolio. This according to Tim Larson, writer for the Pioneer Press.
If they could put together some sort of project here, as they are proposing across from the Marshal Fields building, and complete it, then they would have a significantly higher chance of winning these sorts of bids.
By the way Josh, did you ever see this one. Hahahaha!
http://blogs.twincities.com/city_hall_scoop/2007/10/the_ball_just_keeps_rolling_al.html
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