urbanMSP

Does anybody recollect the details regarding the Twins' development rights for the parking lots to the west of Target Field? I wouldn't be surprised if those come into play as part of this.

Also, I don't think this nugget has been highlighted, from the MPR / BizJournal sotry:

However, one prospective financier for soccer remains: Hennepin County.

Commissioner Mike Opat confirmed that he has talked about the prospects of bringing pro soccer to Minneapolis, talks that have included MLS officials.

"I do know they are going to have an expansion announcement, and I have had a couple of discussions with Minnesota United, but we don't have anything firm. I think they have an interesting idea, but ... there's no clear proposal, and there's nothing I've been able to discuss with my colleagues, but we've had a couple of background kinds of conversations."

Mark Stenglein, a former Hennepin County commissioner who's now a consultant for Covanta, the company that operates the county's garbage burner, says he thinks he knows how it might work.

Covanta would like to locate an organic digester to divert compostable waste out of the HERC. Stenglein said Covanta would like a new facility, "as close as they could, because they'd be the managers of the organic digester."

He says that new facility could be co-located with a soccer stadium, even buried underneath it. That could be a mechanism for a county investment in the project.

StarTribune version of the story.
http://www.startribune.com/local/minnea ... 21052.html

I'm not sure what the MLS season is, but I assume it's over the summer similar to MLB. Could this be programmed in the winter as the neighborhood develops around it? It could host a few skating rinks with a walking trail or xc ski loop around them.

I'm not sure what the MLS season is, but I assume it's over the summer similar to MLB. Could this be programmed in the winter as the neighborhood develops around it? It could host a few skating rinks with a walking trail or xc ski loop around them.

I'm not familiar with their schedule either. According to Wikipedia, the 2013 MLS season started on March 2 and ended with the MLS cup match on December 7. Wow.

i wish MLS played their season at the same time as the european leagues. roughly sept to april/may. obviously that would require a roofed stadium here. so it's beneficial for a potential team here that they play a schedule starting in march.

8 acres is enough for a simple soccer facility, similar to kansas city or houston. target field sits on 8 acres.

i wish MLS played their season at the same time as the european leagues. roughly sept to april/may. obviously that would require a roofed stadium here. so it's beneficial for a potential team here that they play a schedule starting in march.

8 acres is enough for a simple soccer facility, similar to kansas city or houston. target field sits on 8 acres.

European leagues have explored switching to a similar schedule as MLS. The schedule in England was generally derived from splitting a year in to Soccer season and Cricket season.

i wish MLS played their season at the same time as the european leagues. roughly sept to april/may. obviously that would require a roofed stadium here. so it's beneficial for a potential team here that they play a schedule starting in march.

8 acres is enough for a simple soccer facility, similar to kansas city or houston. target field sits on 8 acres.

The worst thing MLS could do for the future of soccer in America is to change when there season takes place. Trying to go up against football(both college and pro) during the fall then basketball and hockey in the winter into the spring would only stunt the growth of MLS, if not hurt it's popularity. It's much better for the continued growth of MLS to continue playing during the summer when you only have baseball to complete with on a day to day basis.

I understand but if the pohlad family walked up and offered the city and current land owners a big fat wad, anything is possible.

Sorry but....

Bwahahahahahahahahahahahahaha..... ahahahahahahahahahahahaha.......gasp..... ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaa!

Does anybody recollect the details regarding the Twins' development rights for the parking lots to the west of Target Field? I wouldn't be surprised if those come into play as part of this.

Also, I don't think this nugget has been highlighted, from the MPR / BizJournal sotry:

However, one prospective financier for soccer remains: Hennepin County.

Commissioner Mike Opat confirmed that he has talked about the prospects of bringing pro soccer to Minneapolis, talks that have included MLS officials.

"I do know they are going to have an expansion announcement, and I have had a couple of discussions with Minnesota United, but we don't have anything firm. I think they have an interesting idea, but ... there's no clear proposal, and there's nothing I've been able to discuss with my colleagues, but we've had a couple of background kinds of conversations."

Mark Stenglein, a former Hennepin County commissioner who's now a consultant for Covanta, the company that operates the county's garbage burner, says he thinks he knows how it might work.

Covanta would like to locate an organic digester to divert compostable waste out of the HERC. Stenglein said Covanta would like a new facility, "as close as they could, because they'd be the managers of the organic digester."

He says that new facility could be co-located with a soccer stadium, even buried underneath it. That could be a mechanism for a county investment in the project.

Fascinating. I'd say it's also likely that the .15% Twins Ballpark sales tax proceeds are coming in above projections, with the strong economic recovery and growth in Hennepin County. It's possible they could assist in funding the soccer stadium by merely extending that tax a few more years, or doing some other financial gymnastics related to that, especially if Pohlads are involved in the ownership group.

How would that work, exactly? From what I've read, the tax is scheduled to expire in 2037, but the increased tax revenue may speed that up by 5 to 10 years. That means that Target Field bond payments will still consume the ballpark tax until 2027 at the earliest - still 13 years or more away.

How would that work, exactly? From what I've read, the tax is scheduled to expire in 2037, but the increased tax revenue may speed that up by 5 to 10 years. That means that Target Field bond payments will still consume the ballpark tax until 2027 at the earliest - still 13 years or more away.

I believe based on the current rate of collections they would stretch to the repayment period to 2037 and then redirect part of the revenue towards another projects, like a soccer stadium.

Representatives from both bids meetings with MLS officials in New York.
http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/2 ... et-thursda

unfortunate we cannot present a united front to league executives, no pun intended.

having competing ownership groups from the same city isn't helpful.

Why? If anything it makes it more likely to happen -- if MLS doesn't like one situation they can still go with the other.

because the main issue, the stadium, is not settled. with competing interests this is the large unsettled issue.

the mn united group has been too vague up to this point about their specific plans. at least with the wilfs we know the stadium is already being built and more possible public money won't be an issue. if mcguire gets the franchise then what? going to the legislature even asking for small amount of public money is a non-starter.

if mcguire group is telling MLS that this will be total private investment, then great. so why not tell the rest of us those plans.

Right, but the Wilf's plan still exists as it would without McGuire's. If Mcguires plan sucks Wilf's plan is still an option, just as before. If MLS doesn't like the Wilfs plan, there is now another MN option that would not otherwise exist. So, to me it's pretty obvious that the multiple bids give us a better chance of landing a team than a single bid.

I really doubt that the MN United group is being as vague with MLS officials as they are with the general public.

Bagley confirmed that the Vikings will be in on the pitch. A spokesman for McGuire declined comment when asked if he was also presenting.

http://www.bizjournals.com/twincities/b ... -york.html

see.. mcguire group can't even confirm they are making a presentation .. what's the big secret. that's what annoying to me. lay your cards on the table and quit tap dancing around the topic.

is the stadium downtown, bloomington? and the story continues to make the claim glen taylor is part of this group. he has come out and said he isn't a financial partner. and the twins involvement has also been blurry.

see.. mcguire group can't even confirm they are making a presentation .. what's the big secret. that's what annoying to me. lay your cards on the table and quit tap dancing around the topic.

is the stadium downtown, bloomington? and the story continues to make the claim glen taylor is part of this group. he has come out and said he isn't a financial partner. and the twins involvement has also been blurry.

Generally, if they go public with their attempt to join MLS and neither bid is awarded the hype around the team would collapse causing attendance to fall. Here's some more info.

http://thelooncall.com/2014/11/19/mls-m ... minnesota/