Dual-branded hotel set for land vacated for new MSP Airport runway

MSP Bloomington LLC, an entity associated with Maryland-based Baywood Hotels, has received the green light to convert a vacant, 6-acre parcel near the Mall of America into a dual-branded hotel. Baywood this spring submitted plans for a four-story, 182-room hotel combining both a Home2 Suites extended-stay brand as well as the Twin Cities' first Tru, Hilton's new budget-oriented flag. The building will feature two different styles of architecture to reflect the two brands.

The site is owned by the Metropolitan Airports Commission, which obtained it in 2009 after a lengthy legal battle. The agency razed the Forest Glen apartments on the site because of restrictions related to a then-new runway at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.

Hotels are permitted under the flight path. A measure creating a new lot for the project was approved by the Bloomington City Council in June despite objections from Chatham Lodging Trust, owner of a nearby Homewood Suites. It said another Hilton-branded hotel would have a "huge negative effect" on its property. An open spot on the site is for a future 20,000-square-foot WhirlyBall facility, where people will be able to play a variation of lacrosse while driving bumper cars.

Address: 2435 E. Old Shakopee Road, Bloomington
Type: Hotel
Rooms: 182
Size: 96,900 square feet
Developer: MSP Bloomington LLC
Architect: Open Studio Architecture