St. Paul ready to begin planning process for soccer stadium, mayor says

A day after taking Major League Soccer and Minnesota United team officials on a tour of St. Paul's Midway neighborhood and the potential site for a soccer stadium, Mayor Chris Coleman said he's ready to go to work to make that venue happen.

During a conference call with reporters Wednesday, Coleman said he hopes to meet within the next week with the team and the Major League Soccer (MLS) and begin drafting a work plan and timeline for the project.

But Coleman said he cannot act alone. Any project will require the City Council, the neighborhood, the Legislature and the team to sign off as well.

"There are a lot of moving parts to it and a lot of questions," he said.

The MLS awarded United owner Dr. Bill McGuire and his partners an expansion team in March, contingent on building a soccer stadium. The ownership group has proposed spending $150 million of its own money to do it, but asked Minneapolis officials to waive property taxes for the stadium and sales taxes on construction materials. Those steps need legislative approval.

When a July 1 MLS deadline to have a stadium plan in place passed without Minneapolis action, Coleman jumped in — prompting league officials to listen to what St. Paul had to offer.

Coleman took league and team officials on a tour of the new CHS Field in Lowertown on Tuesday to give them an idea how a stadium could enhance the Midway area. They also toured the proposed soccer stadium site near Snelling Avenue and Interstate 94, which includes the nearby Midway Shopping Center. The mayor calls the entire 34½-acre "superblock" — with a nearby freeway, light rail and bus rapid transit — an ideal site for not just a stadium, but related development.

Stadium proponents in Minneapolis have not given up. While MLS officials said they have not met with Minneapolis officials since the July 1 deadline, team owner McGuire has.

It appears the ball is now with MLS and the team. A spokesman said in an e-mail that the team would have no comment. An e-mail to league officials was not immediately answered Wednesday.

But Matt Kramer, executive director of the St. Paul Area Chamber of Commerce, said Coleman's aggressive approach has made St. Paul a serious contender.

Kramer said that all sides are probably working "fast and furious" behind the scenes on myriad issues — land use, pollution, property cost — that, if not addressed, could derail a potential deal.

Still, he said, "there is some real heft to what St. Paul is pitching."