Construction should begin in November for an all-abilities playground, public park and sculpture garden next to Allianz Field in St. Paul.
Soil remediation work for that project and the larger $160 million United Village development will start in two weeks, according to the Snelling-Midway Redevelopment Group, which is behind the plan to revitalize the area that includes a hotel, four-story office building, restaurant space and parking ramp.
The group on Friday requested $21.6 million in aid from the city of St. Paul for streets, utilities and other infrastructure assistance.
Given the location next to the stadium, light rail and the nearby Target, colleges and businesses, investors "think this area is vital" and can be like the Gold Medal Park region in Minneapolis, Snelling-Midway partner and Minnesota United FC soccer team owner Bill McGuire said on Monday.
"Businesspeople in the area want more people to come to the area," he said. "I want to see people come to the area. ... We have 400,000 to 500,000 people come a year to the Midway to see Minnesota United play."
The hotel also would serve nearby colleges such as Concordia University, St. Paul, and Macalester.
The project will create hundreds of jobs, McGuire said.
In asking the city for infrastructure aid, "This phase of the project intends to build out the public roadway system and pedestrian facilities on a majority of the site, which will also include extending utilities throughout the site to serve currently proposed and future development," Carolyn Wolf, the director of the Tegra Group that is managing the proposed project on behalf of the developers, said in an email.