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Some new momentum in stadium land negotiations

Mike Kaszuba
Last update: January 22, 2007 – 5:35 PM

A court hearing Monday brought some new momentum to land negotiations for a new Minnesota Twins stadium, with Hennepin County releasing figures showing that the privately-held site in downtown Minneapolis had been appraised at $13.35 million.

But the 20-minute court session left unanswered the bigger questions - how close Hennepin County is to striking a deal with the land owners, how much the sale price will be and whether the land negotiations will delay an ambitious schedule to build the 40,000-seat stadium by 2010.

Hennepin County District Judge Stephen Aldrich, in a court order signed Monday, authorized the county's condemnation of the property and said the $522 million, open-air stadium served a "public purpose" under the law. The judge also said the county could obtain the property through a so-called "quick take", providing the county deposited the $13.35 million with the court.

County officials however said they are still hoping to reach a sale agreement without proceeding with the condemnation because the process would likely take too long and bind the county to a price arrived at by the court that could be considerably higher than what the county has available.