Architect's concept of Linden Avenue stadium
Drawing of Minnesota Live casino
View from Alatus window. Block E at lower right.
MINNEAPOLIS -- Renewed talk of a Vikings stadium on the west side of downtown is an encouraging sign for two developers looking to convert the Block E shopping center into a Las Vegas style casino.
Governor Mark Dayton appeared to be leaning toward the Linden Avenue site earlier this week, when he issued a statement saying that all the stadium plans he reviewed were lacking in some way.
A football stadium in that area would add to the existing entertainment and sports corridor that includes Target Field, Target Center and the Hennepin Avenue theater district. And such a facility may end up relying on gaming revenue, due to the state legislature's strong opposition to financing it a stadium with tax dollars.
"With a typical bricks and mortar facility like we're proposing, the experience and history and precedents around the country make that revenue stream very certain," Bob Lux of Alatus LLC told KARE Friday.
"It's a bondable revenue stream. The underwriters will write those bonds and will loan against them because it's an experience they're familiar with in other areas."
Lux and his business partner Phillip Jaffe were inspired to tackle the Block E project one day while looking out the window of the offices on the 28th floor of the US Bancorp Center on Nicollet Mall. They saw a more vibrant future for struggling retail zone, which was developed by the city of Minneapolis but never lived up to its promise.
"We saw that it was in a strategic location with great potential to be an entertainment destination, to be transformative for downtown, Jaffe told KARE. "And decided to buy it."
He said the original Block E shopping center concept failed because it didn't offer enough amenities that consumers couldn't find a closer to home where the parking is free.
"Block E was originally developed as a suburban shopping mall in an urban environment," Jaffe explained. "Almost all the tenants were suburban chains, so it was difficult for someone to justify coming downtown when you drive past four of those stores on you way there from Brooklyn Park."
Based on that notion, Lux and Jaffe decided to go beyond the standard formula of a restaurants and retail.
"If we put restaurants and bars and a theater in there we're just going to be poaching off of existing facilities," Lux remarked. "That's why we think it's important to consider something out of the box."
Both acknowledge they face many hurdles, from gambling opponents or those who'd rather see the stadium financed with another form of gaming such as a racino or electronic pull tabs or video lottery terminals in neighborhood bars.
Lux said he's confident the casino, known as "Minnesota Live," would withstand a legal challenge from the tribal owned casinos. The proposed $400 million project would ultimately be owned by the Minnesota State Lottery, but operated by a third party management company.
"We're not asking for any money from the state to build this," Jaffe said. "And yet we're talking about 2,500 jobs and a $100 million annual payroll. If there were any other kind of employer looking to hire that many people, wouldn't the state offer them incentives to come?"
They purchased Block E for $14 million in 2010, and have allowed the storefronts to go vacant in anticipation of the casino project. AMC Theaters sued the developers, for refusing to renew the lease for the multiplex theaters in Block E, but Lux and Jaffe have prevailed in the district court and appellate court levels.
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