Ramsey County ready to buy stadium site
Ramsey County says it has struck a deal with the federal government to purchase the land for an Arden Hills Vikings stadium-- and that it'll be under budget and cleaned up when the deal gets done.
County officials delivered a letter to Gov. Mark Dayton's office this afternoon. It says the county has a formal Offer to Purchase from the General Services Administration for a 430 acre Arden Hills stadium site, and that it's "within the $30 million budgeted for the acquisition and clean up of the property."
The letter doesn't give a firm dollar figure, but says the county will be allowed to deduct the price of cleaning the place up from the purchase price.
Create a More Connected Minnesota
MPR News is your trusted resource for the news you need. With your support, MPR News brings accessible, courageous journalism and authentic conversation to everyone - free of paywalls and barriers. Your gift makes a difference.
There's a second clause as well: the county says it has a fixed price quote from "an experienced local contractor with substantial experience on the TCAAP property" that "caps the demolition, hazardous waste abatement and remediation costs at a dollar amount that is significantly less than the amount of credit available to the County against the GSA's proposed price."
And finally, the letter says that the offer commits the cleanup contractor to have the stadium footprint available within 9 months of signing a contract.
That's in stark contrast to the doubts raised in an October report from the Metropolitan Council that pegged the land acquisition and clean up costs between $23 million and $70 million. The upside of that range was described as a significant risk factor in calculating the cost of the deal.
"We believe the county has now addressed the primary cost concerns raised by your analysis," the letter concludes.
Read it for yourself here: