(The Minnesota Star Tribune)
Ramsey County asks for developer interest in riverfront site
After a previous development deal fell through, Ramsey County officials are back to secure a plan for downtown St. Paul site.
November 8, 2017 at 8:38PM
Ramsey County officials are back on the hunt for a developer to transform a prominent riverfront site in downtown St. Paul a couple of months after a $225 million mixed-use project for the property was called off.
On Tuesday, the Ramsey County Board of Commissioners voted to issue a request for development interest for the nearly five acres of land at the intersection of Wabasha Street and Kellogg Boulevard that overlooks the Mississippi River.
The property used to be the site of the former West Publishing Co. buildings and the Ramsey County jail. The county spent $17 million to demolish those buildings.
Phoenix-based Cardon Development Group was the only developer to submit ideas to Ramsey County when it initially sought a partner to remake the property. Cardon planned to build a complex with an upscale hotel, 300-unit housing, offices, retail and parking facility.
But the plan fell through when Cardon couldn't financially justify the cost of the parking structure it would need to serve as the base for the complex, county officials announced in September.
The County Board hopes to approve an agreement and final design with a developer by the end of the third quarter of next year.
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