City Starts Work on $141M MXD-Use Project

The 185,000-sf center will be the main venue for the Bemidji State University hockey team, though the venue will also be used for touring shows, concerts, conventions, trade shows and festivals. Kraus-Anderson officials say they have already started working on construction documents for the center, which will include 10,000 sf of dividable ballroom space and 4,000 sf of meeting rooms. "We're going through the preconstruction process," Bob Fitzgerald, director of business development for Kraus, tells GlobeSt.com. "We should be able to start construction in May, and be finished around January 2011." The center construction will cost about $46.5 million, with another $44.2 million used for land acquisition, infrastructure and other costs.

He says though the area is 225 miles northwest of Minneapolis, it is seeing a good amount of activity. "This is the county seat, plus you've got a four-year college, retail centers and a medical center," Fitzgerald says.

While the city will be the owner of the center, community leaders are shopping for developers for the commercial portions of the property. It's not going too well, says city manager John Chattin. "We sent out an RFP for the hotel, but didn't get any responses," he tells GlobeSt.com. "We'll have to do an assessment. We don't know if the project was too onerous, or the economy right now is just a good time to look for a hotel partner. We'll take a look, but we may have to wait four-to-six months and try again."

The city is asking for a developer to build a 150-room hotel, Chattin says. He says the council also expects to get a developer to build 350 residential units, in a mixture of condo and apartments. "We're anticipating developments such as commercial retail on the first floor, perhaps some offices and then housing on the second, third and following floors." The commercial properties would be spread across two parcels, he says. About 50 acres of parkland are included in the project. City officials predict that at least $50 million in commercial construction would be part of the development.

Next steps are now being taken by a Joint Planning Board, made up of the county and two cities, including Bemidji, Chattin says. "They're going to review the planned unit development, and decide if any changes need to be made," Chattin says.