St. PAUL, Minn. (AP) - A new light rail line connecting downtown St. Paul and Minneapolis is so far helping attract an estimated $2.5 billion in development along the route, according to the agency building it.
Metropolitan Council chairwoman Sue Haigh said their $2.5 billion estimate doesn’t include projects where the developers have yet to disclose their investment figures.
“We’ll continue to see more development as we open that line and there’s more interest in the development opportunities along it,” Haigh said.
More than half of the projects involve housing, ranging from student rentals to luxury high-rises, according to Minnesota Public Radio News (https://bit.ly/RGd1yH )
The council is keeping track of 121 projects planned, under construction or already built.
One of the efforts is by Episcopal Homes, which plans to add 168 units to its main campus near the line.
The new development is nearly fully leased, even though it won’t open for another six months, CEO Marvin Plakut said.
“The majority of residents wanting to get on our wait list at this time, they’re saying they want to do so because light rail is stopping just a few feet from our front door,” Plakut said. “We feel we couldn’t be luckier to have this location where we’ve been for over a century.”
Many of the projects are clustered in Minneapolis and St. Paul downtowns. In the group’s estimate is the $400 million mixed-use project that just broke ground near the new Minnesota Vikings stadium.
The Green Line originates at Union Depot in downtown St. Paul and runs through the State Capitol complex to the University of Minnesota campus. It links to the existing Hiawatha route, or Blue Line, on the east side of downtown Minneapolis.
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Information from: Minnesota Public Radio News, https://www.mprnews.org
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