Minnesota briefs: Destination Medical Center doubled private investment in 2018

The 2018 investment has triggered the release of $13.5 million in public funds for use on related infrastructure, according to the Destination Medical Center Corporation.

Since 2013, DMC has generated more than $690 million in private investment in Rochester.

R.T. Rybak, the former Minneapolis mayor who chairs the corporation's board, said the investments will benefit the entire state. It's also burnishing the city, said Lisa Clarke, executive director of the DMC Economic Development Agency.

"The infusion of capital that is transforming Rochester is creating new living and hospitality choices as well as opportunities for startup businesses," Clarke said.

DMC is the $5.6 billion Mayo project launched in 2013 to remake Rochester, grow the Mayo campus and fuel a new era of health care, research and innovation for the world-renowned Mayo Clinic.

The expansion project uses billions of Mayo money and private investment, as well as $545 million in public funds dedicated to infrastructure improvements for the city.

Mayo spent $126.5 million on DMC projects in 2018, up 47 percent. Other private investments totaled $135.4 million, up 201 percent.

Nine grand openings are scheduled this year totaling more than $300 million. They include:

The $25 million First Avenue Parking Ramp in late March; a $125 million Hilton Hotel, opening in May; a $38 million residential and retail building called Maven on Broadway later this summer; and a $35 million mixed-use commercial building, One Discovery Square, opening in September.

Dan Browning

A gun range can be built near Huntersville State Forest in Wadena County despite the objections of a neighboring bed-and-breakfast, the Minnesota Court of Appeals ruled last week.

The owners of Went North Bed & Corral had objected to the gun range, arguing that it wasn't permitted under county zoning laws and that it would create offensive levels of noise.

The owners, Randy and Tami Wenthold, serve many guests who use horse trails in the nearby state forest.

In its decision, the court held that the county zoning laws were broad enough to permit the gun range, and the county reasonably decided that adequate noise-reduction measures would be in place.

JOHN REINAN