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The Minneapolis City Council today voted unanimously to approve the $400 million dollar development in downtown Minneapolis that has been the source of months of controversy.

Mayor R.T. Rybak hailed the deal. "We haven't dealt with a project of this scale in 22 years," he told the council, "and this will be the largest ownership stake in city history."

The project is being developed by Minneapolis-based Ryan Companies. The biggest chunk of the cost will be paid for by Wells Fargo. The bank says it's paying about $300 million for the project -- an "investment" it claims justifies relaxing the city's signage regulations, including new rooftop signs visible from the air.

The Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority (MSFA) approved a deal with Ryan in July. As part of the Vikings project, the MSFA asked for a $49 million, 6 1/2 level parking ramp that will have at least 930 parking spaces for game-day parking. The MSFA has pledged $16.32 million the ramp. They've also asked for a skyway connection from the stadium, through the ramp to the city's Haaf parking ramp, and will pay $10.3 million for that.

The last piece of the project fell into place minutes ago, as 12 members of the Minneapolis City Council voted unanimously to approve their part of the deal. (Mayor-elect Betsy Hodges was not at the meeting.)

With the approval, the city will sell $65 million in bonds through its Port Authority. About $33 million of that will go to the stadium parking ramp, and $20 million will go toward land purchase and site preparation for the new park. The money will be repaid by parking revenue from the ramp, with an initial guarantee from Ryan.

All told, the estimated public costs are expected to be about $84 million.

Despite the approvals today, there are some questions unanswered:

The land deals for the project are expected to close Dec. 27.

Here's a summary of the deal from the City of Minneapolis

Tim Nelson

Author

The Minneapolis City Council today voted unanimously to approve the $400 million dollar development in downtown Minneapolis that has been the source of months of controversy.


Blockbuster stadium district project gets green light in Minneapolis

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