Hennepin County Seeks Partners for Interchange Transit Hub

By Gabriel Circiog, Associate Editor

Hennepin County is seeking partners for the proposed $67.7 million Interchange transit hub in downtown Minneapolis, Finance & Commerce reports.

A developer is sought to build on a 30,000-square-foot county-owned lot, next to the main Interchange project along Sixth Avenue North and Fifth Street North. The project could be much larger, as Ed Hunter, the county’s project manager for the Interchange, said it is flexible on air rights.

The possibilities have already sparked interest, as Peter Remes of First & First L.L.C. said he is in talks to build a hotel, along with restaurants and retail, next to the Target Field station. United Properties, which is finalizing a $50 million upgrade of the 270,000-square-foot Ford Center, also declared interest.

Hennepin County is also after a private sponsor for a 67,000-square-foot open plaza at the Interchange, which will include two levels of parking with a total of 400 stalls. The county seeks an entity interested in signing a long-term lease to operate and manage the parking facility.

The $957 million Central Corridor light-rail transit line, currently under construction, will link the downtowns of St. Paul and Minneapolis. It is scheduled to be up and running in 2014, and the Interchange project is intended to create a passenger platform, storage and staging tracks to accommodate the extra transit users.

St. Louis Park-based Adolfson & Peterson Construction, Eagan-based Graham Construction Services, Iowa-based Knutson Construction and Golden Valley-based Mortenson Construction are competing for the project.

The country is hoping new development will inject cash into the Interchange project, which has so far received a $10 million federal grant but still lacks $30 million in funding.

Photo Credit: www.theinterchange.net