Minnesota United heads to Capitol for stadium tax breaks

St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman and the Minnesota United soccer club began their push Thursday for a legislative package to help the team and its private investors build a $150 million stadium in the Midway neighborhood.

The measures offered by Rep. Tim Sanders, R-Blaine, and Sen. Sandy Pappas, DFL-St. Paul, are relatively modest compared to stadiums past.

Still, despite broad bipartisan support and the backing of Gov. Mark Dayton, the soccer package could be victim of a contentious legislative year in which the two sides are already deadlocked over taxes and transportation and must contend with election year politics. All seats in the Republican-controlled House and DFL-controlled Senate will be on the November ballot.

St. Paul is asking that the 12-acre site — eight acres for the stadium and four for open space surrounding it — remain exempt from property taxes. The property had been a bus warehouse for Metro Transit, and the city wants the Legislature to clarify that it is still free of property tax.

The city and team are also asking that construction materials used in the building be exempt from sales tax. There's no estimate yet of what that tax break would cost. The Department of Revenue analyzes tax proposals throughout the legislative session and an estimate should come soon. The team has said the stadium will cost $150 million, though only a portion of that comprises construction materials.

Finally, the team and the city want the Legislature to grant a liquor license for the stadium.

The soccer proposal has drawn less public outcry than other stadiums that taxpayers have helped build in recent years, but there are critics.

Some civic activists, including a group called Neighbors Against Corporate Subsidies, say the project is a stadium boondoggle that puts money into the pockets of the wealthy owners of a sports franchise, repeating a pattern seen in Minnesota and around the country. Critics also say the city's end of the deal has been rammed through without enough community input.

The stadium is expected to cost St. Paul $18.4 million for infrastructure in the area, though city officials believe the project will spark a redevelopment of the Midway, which is on the Green Line light rail route between the Twin Cities' downtowns.

"It's an incredible opportunity to take a significant investment on the part of the team and kick-start redevelopment, in an area that has needed a catalysis," Coleman said in a phone interview. He said he can imagine the project spurring new housing, office and retail development while transforming the Midway Shopping Center.

Sanders, the GOP legislator from Blaine, said he thinks the package should be easy to sell to lawmakers because the asking price is so low, especially compared to other stadiums. The new Minnesota Vikings stadium topped $1 billion, about half coming from taxpayers.

"As long as people get over the stigma of this being a stadium bill, and look at the actual language," it should pass, Sanders said.

Sanders said the stadium, with its private financing, could be a model for future venues to lower their cost and risk to taxpayers.

But that's contingent on his bill passing, which this year is no guarantee.