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A great stadium divide

The conflict between Hennepin County and landowners over acquiring this land started months ago, and the sides have been swinging ever since.

By Mike Kaszuba, Star Tribune
Last update: February 13, 2007 – 8:31 PM

Moments after the Minnesota Twins won an exhausting victory at the State Capitol in May to build a stadium, Hennepin County Commissioner Mark Stenglein came across his friend and former political adviser, Bruce Lambrecht.

"Well, Lambrecht, now we've got to buy your land," Stenglein said he told Lambrecht, who represents the owners of the site for $522 million ballpark in downtown Minneapolis. "He said, 'Don't worry, we'll be fair.' "

But even that simple exchange is now in dispute -- Lambrecht, through a spokesman, said it never happened -- as negotiations over property for a new Twins stadium have soured. In their latest salvo, the land's owners complain that they were taken for granted while the Twins and the county pursued legislative approval, and then were offered less money than they could have gotten three years ago.

In a war of words that seems to escalate daily, each side has a much different view of how the once-friendly relationship deteriorated over the past year as the county moved ahead on the stadium.

"They treated us like used baggage," said Rich Pogin, a spokesman for Land Partners II, a limited liability partnership with more than 100 investors that owns most of the stadium property.

In addition, new disclosures illustrate how the stadium's future may be unraveling:

"¢ Negotiations over the 8-acre property have stalled in part because county officials, the landowners and their technical experts hold widely differing views on soil conditions and whether they should lower the property's worth. A senior county engineer said pilings will likely need to be driven 80 to 120 feet deep to support the stadium's superstructure.

Pogin, who said his own experts dismiss the county's assertions, said the county initially had the land appraised at $21 million but then essentially shaved the value to $13.35 million to account for soil conditions.

"¢ Because of the land sale impasse, county officials plan to create a temporary trust fund for the countywide sales tax money, estimated at $76,300 per day. The county started collecting the tax on Jan. 1 to help pay for the stadium.

"¢ Hennepin County has told legislative leaders and the governor's office that it might wait only a few weeks before seeking state approval to look at another site for the 40,000-seat stadium. Hennepin County Commissioner Mike Opat, the lead stadium negotiator for the County Board, acknowledged that Brookdale Mall has been mentioned as one possibility, but added that the Twins are not enthusiastic about building on that site, in Brooklyn Center on Hwy. 100 near Interstate Hwy. 94/694.

Longtime advocates

The team and county said the so-called Rapid Park site in downtown Minneapolis, which is listed by name in legislation authorizing the project, remains their first choice. But they insist they were blindsided when Lambrecht and Pogin suddenly became recalcitrant after spending years lobbying for the stadium to be built on their property. The men had pushed Twinsville, an ambitious plan to not only build a stadium there but to surround the project with related development, including the use of other land owned by Land Partners II.

"We had no expectation that the willing sellers were going to be so unwilling, that the champions of Twinsville would now be lawyered up," Opat said.

Pogin, in an interview on Monday, revealed more details of the complicated limited partnership whose membership is not considered public by law. Pogin said he and Lambrecht own no more than 20 percent of the partnership, which has owned the property for 20 years, and said many of the investors are now "in their 60s, 70s and 80s." In a letter to the partnership's investors in January, Pogin said the county was in effect telling the landowners that "if you don't [accept our offer], we will throw a fit and blame our problems on you."

Despite concerns over how his personal ties to Lambrecht might be viewed, Stenglein said he proposed that he and Opat meet personally with Lambrecht. But Opat said he rejected the idea. Lambrecht, who is well-connected in the state's Republican Party, served as a top adviser when Stenglein ran for mayor of Minneapolis in 2001. (He was unsuccessful.)

"It's no secret that Lambrecht's a friend of mine," said Stenglein.

Heading off critics

Reacting to criticism from taxpayers that the county did not move quickly enough to reach a land sale, Opat said the county had to first hold public hearings in August and then take a final vote on authorizing the 0.15 percent sales tax. Then, he said, more time was need to conduct environmental reviews of the property and hire an outside appraiser.

The landowners have also moved aggressively to counter complaints that their actions are threatening to scuttle the Twins stadium. In a rare public rebuke, Downtown Council president Sam Grabarski said this month that the landowners wanted more than $40 million for land "that isn't worth $20 million."

Pogin said the landowners had a better offer three years ago under a 2004 option agreement with the city of Minneapolis. In that agreement, which has since expired, the property owners would sell the 8 acres for $12.95 million and receive as much as 5 acres nearby as additional compensation from the city. Now, he said, the county was offering $13.35 million for the 8 acres and has left out the other acreage.

Opat said the additional property is needed for the stadium and is no longer available.

Daniel Rosen, an attorney for the landowners, added that despite the stadium's approval at the Legislature seven months earlier, county officials did not hold their first formal negotiating session with the property owners until Jan. 8. Pogin said the county and the team then tried to pressure them into a quick sale, at one point giving the landowners "two to three hours" to accept an offer.

Opat said the property owners created delays throughout the fall by making it confusing as to who represented them. Although the land has a taxable value of less than $9 million, Opat said the property owners raised the price, indicating to him that even $50 million "isn't going to do it."

All of the uncertainty has left the ballpark, and its projected 2010 opening, in doubt. For the time being, the county has slowed its attempt to acquire the property through condemnation in hopes that the landowners will agree to an out-of-court sale that will be cheaper than what a court might decide. After the county's decision last week to consider alternative sites, the team canceled plans to unveil a detailed stadium design that was scheduled for Thursday.

Meanwhile, with groundbreaking at least six months away, the county has spent $1.03 million on stadium work as of Jan. 31.

Opat said the county is discussing its options with the Twins, including asking the team to pay the price difference with the landowners.

"They have their limits, too, and they've made that clear," he said.


Mike Kaszuba "¢ 612-673-4388 "¢ mkaszuba@startribune.com