Ryan proposing hotel, apartments for Downtown East

The company behind the $400 million development near the new Vikings stadium in downtown Minneapolis has altered its plans to include a 150-room Radisson Red hotel to be housed in a building with apartments.

For its Downtown East project, Minneapolis-based Ryan Cos. has proposed two office towers housing 5,000 employees for Wells Fargo & Co., 200 apartments, retail shops and restaurants, a 1,610-space parking ramp and a nearly two-block public park. The development will encompass five city blocks near the $1 billion Vikings stadium.

The space above the parking ramp has drawn proposals from both Ryan and Mortenson Development, the builder of the stadium.

Ryan initially pitched a 28-story, 282-unit apartment tower. Mortenson proposed a $63 million, 300-room dual-branded hotel under the ­Marriott flag.

But in documents submitted to the city Thursday, Ryan unveiled the new plan for the Radisson Red hotel and 200 apartments within a 27-story structure.

The price tag for the revised Ryan project is $101 million. If the city of Minneapolis approves it, construction would begin in May 2015 and finish in August 2017. The company is expected to partner with Chicago-based Magellan Development Group and Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group, parent of the Radisson Red brand.

The City Council expects to choose between the Ryan and Mortenson proposals by March 28. A report and recommendation from city staff will be presented to the Community Development and Regulatory Services Committee on March 18.

Thorsten Kirschke, president of the Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group for the Americas, confirmed its discussions with Ryan about building a hotel at the Downtown East location.

"Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group has formally communicated our interest in participating with the Ryan-Magellan team to explore the development of a hotel next to the new Minnesota Vikings stadium," Kirschke said in a statement to the Star Tribune.

"This specific development opportunity is ideally aligned with our recent announcement of Radisson Red, our new upscale select hotel brand. We partnered with both Ryan Companies and Magellan Development on other projects and believe that our three companies will be great partners on this opportunity," Kirschke added.

Magellan is the developer of LPM Apartments in Loring Park, a 36-story tower with 354 units.

The Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group, which is a unit of Minnetonka-based Carlson, unveiled its Radisson Red concept at a conference of Radisson franchisees earlier this week.

Eventually, Carlson expects to have about 60 Red hotels in its system.

In the Red brand, rooms will function and appear more like studios, and smartphone/­tablet applications will be used to conduct traditional hotel business from check-in to ordering food, drinks and other services.

jmmoore@startribune.com • 612-673-7752