Newspaper Clipping - Newspaper Clipping Scan - Vikings detail sprawling mixed-use redevelopment in Eagan - 3/19/2016Akings detail sprawling mixed-use redevelopment
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111mubuta viKings this week detailed plans to build new team offices andLa practice facilityAinK Ncs
,an, including a football field that will accommodate up to 10,000 fans. The complex marks the
t phase of a planned redevelopment on nearly 200 acres in the northern part of the city, currently
,ie to the former headquarters of Northwest Airlines.
BY KARLEE WEINMANN
Staff Writer
The Minnesota Vikings of-
fered a deeper look at their plans
for a new practice facility and
headquarters in Eagan, part of
a broader redevelopment effort
that could bring office space,
multifamily housing and a hotel
to a stagnant pocket of the city.
Team executives submitted
their 257 -page development out-
line to Eagan planners this week,
essentially formalizing the over-
haul of nearly 200 acres at Dodd
Road and Lone Oak Parkway
near Interstate 494. After unveil-
ing ambitious plans for the site
in Eagan
last year, the Vikings paid $18.7
million for the former Northwest
Airlines property in January.
Documents filed this week
divide the sprawling redevelop-
ment into multiple phases, start-
ing with a new 240,000 -square -
foot office building for the team
and a 10,000 -seat stadium, plus
UP to four practice fields and in-
door training space.
The facilities would cov-
er
over a combined 31 acres in the
north -central portion of the
site, made up of seven parcels
total. Work is slated to begin
VIKINGS TO PAGE 28
Vikings
Continued from page 1
this summer, pending required city ap-
provals. The new Vikings complex would
replace the Winter Park facility in Eden
Prairie, which the team says it has out-
grown.
Proposed development would perk up a
swath largely untouched after Northwest
Airlines shuttered its- headquarters at the
site and moved operations to Atlanta after
its acquisition by Delta Airlines. The Vi-
kings' proposal aims to replace the airline's
shuttered offices and a vacant
flight simulator building, and fill
out the surrounding area.
Depending on market de-
mand, the team expects to pep-
per in additional projects over
15 years. Early-stage plans in-
clude between 790 and 945 mul-
tifamily rentals spread through
four- to six -story buildings, plus
a hotel and conference center with 320 to
"This vast expanse of land on our northern edge
represents a great opportunity not
just for the Vikings and their owners,
but for our community as well."
— Mike Maguire, mayor, Eagan
working with [the team] to envision the op-
portunities and the possibilities for north-
east Eagan."
The Vikings are owned by the Wilf fam-
ily, led by real estate developer Zygi Wilf.
The family real estate business
owns and manages residential and
commercial properties in nearly
500 rooms.
The team also forecasts around 1 million
square feet of office space - including for
medical office uses, a mainstay in Eagan -
and up to 160,000 square feet for retail.
Mayor Mike Maguire in his State of
the City address on Thursday trumpeted
sprawling redevelopment as a boon for a
listless corner of the Eagan. The mayor has
been a strong advocate for the plan while
also asserting the city's development prior-
ities in meetings with team officials.
"This vast expanse of land on our north-
ern edge represents a great opportunity
not just for the Vikings and their owners,
but for our community as well," Maguire
said in his speech. "We look forward to
40 states.
Housing issues were an early
sticking point for the mayor and
other Eagan policymakers in the
Vikings' venture.
At city meetings in the fall,
Maguire emphasized a focus on
multifamily development and members of
the city's Advisory Planning Commission
urged the team to make sure residential
buildings are well -integrated in the broad-
er project.
It remains unclear which pieces of the
overall project would follow work on the
team facilities. A team spokesperson did
not respond to requests for comment, but
Vikings CFO Steve Poppen has said several
parties have already approached the team
about setting up offices in the complex.
Primarily office and light industrial
properties neighbor the Vikings' property.
Just a few houses sit near the Eagan site,
though there are residential neighbor-
hoods close by - one north of Interstate
494 in Mendota Heights, and one about
three-quarters of a mile southeast in Inver
Grove Heights.
The Vikings plan now nestles the stadi-
um immediately south of the team offices
and indoor training building - large enough
facilities, the team says, to keep noise and
light from spilling into the neighborhoods.
A conceptual framework floated last year
placed the stadium west of the headquar-
ters.
High-profile events could come to the
stadium outside of game days, the doc-
uments show. The Vikings could feature
concerts similar in scale to performances
at the Minnesota Zoo, but noise monitoring
would line up with city standards.
Under Eagan's comprehensive plan, the
development would need sidewalks and
trails that easily link residents to commer-
cial and community amenities nearby. The
Vikings said the revitalization will "create
a new destination of regional and local im-
portance," feeding demand for new pedes-
trian and bike infrastructure.
City planners will review the proposed
plans before the Advisory Planning Com-
mission gives its feedback next month. The
Eagan City Council is expected to vote on
the plans in May, and would play a contin-
ued role as development takes shape.
The team would need to get city ap-
proval as needed for land -use and zoning
changes at the site.