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22 Planning October 1993
<br />already planned for downtown Minne-
<br />apolis (ultimately completed in 1991). Un-
<br />able to find Canadian financial backing,
<br />in 1987 the Ghermezians joined with Melvin
<br />Simon & Associates of Indianapolis, which
<br />became managing partner. Simon lined
<br />up construction financing from the Teachers
<br />Insurance and Annuity Association of
<br />America and three Japanese banks.
<br />In the meantime, the project was scaled
<br />back further. The office buildings disap-
<br />peared, casualties of the collapsing office
<br />market of the late 1980s. The indoor lake
<br />vanished as well, although an aquarium
<br />is planned. And the developers postponed
<br />hotel construction until Phase II, now in
<br />the planning stage. Groundbreaking took
<br />place in June 1989.
<br />Total costs included $625 million in
<br />private investments and almost $200 mil-
<br />lion in public funds. Not only the initial
<br />land costs but costs of the two parking
<br />structures, site utilities, grading, bridges,
<br />and landscaping were financed by
<br />Bloomington's port authority through tax
<br />increment bonds and notes, the debt on
<br />which will be repaid with tax revenues
<br />generated by mall businesses over the
<br />• next 20 years.- _ - - - _ - ._ _.
<br />Highway improvements, including con-
<br />struction of additional lanes and entrance
<br />and exit ramps on both adjacent free-
<br />ways,were financed through federal high-
<br />way funds and $80 million in general
<br />obligation bonds-including $50 million
<br />in already programmed state highway
<br />improvements. A state grant of $1.25 mil-
<br />lion paid for the mall's transit station,
<br />which serves taxis and hotel shuttles as
<br />well as public buses. This year, Bloomington
<br />received federal funding, under the
<br />Intermodal Surface Transportation Effi-
<br />ciency Act, to build five miles of bike
<br />paths converging on the mall, along with
<br />new bike racks and lockers at the transit
<br />station.
<br />Worth it?
<br />The public subsidies drew criticism from
<br />the city of Minneapolis, owners of other
<br />regional malls, and former Bloomington
<br />mayor Kurt Laughinghouse, who charged
<br />that the subsidies were an irresponsible
<br />investment that "distorted the free enter-
<br />prise system." Bloomington officials have
<br />countered by noting that the improve-
<br />menu were financed without a property
<br />• tax increase and by citing the mall's many
<br />expected spin-offs, particularly new jobs.
<br />Skeptical at first, Bloomington's plan-
<br />ners became more enthusiastic as the
<br />project began to seem more feasible. Their
<br />goal throughout the process, says plan-
<br />ning director Geshwiler, was to ensure
<br />that the final product had a human scale
<br />and a pedestrian orientation.
<br />Today Geshwiler points with pride to
<br />the work of the planning department's
<br />seven-person staff in shepherding the mas-
<br />sive development through the planning
<br />and permitting process, successively more
<br />detailed design reviews, and innumer-
<br />able field inspections. He attributes the
<br />staff's effectiveness to the city's well-
<br />organizedsystem of tiered environmental
<br />review and careful design coordination
<br />with all city departments and the
<br />developer's team.
<br />Planners influenced the mall's design
<br />in many ways, he says, particularly by
<br />insisting on higher lighting levels in the
<br />parking garages (averaging 9.4 footcandles
<br />as opposed to the 3 footcandles found in
<br />most garages), enclosed walkways con-
<br />necting the garages to the mall, and de-
<br />sign and building code changes to enable
<br />the hollow square floor plan and exterior
<br />materials to meet fire safety standards.
<br />The reactions of other Twin Cities plan-
<br />ners run the gamut.
<br />Some complain that public money has
<br />been used to create a third "downtown"
<br />in a region that can barely support its two
<br />existing downtowns, while others are en-
<br />couraged by the influx of foreign tourists
<br />and other visitors, creating new links to
<br />the outside world in a region once noted
<br />for its insularity. As for the place itself,
<br />some view it as just another mall, only
<br />larger, while others are impressed by its
<br />round-the-clock activity.
<br />What's ahead
<br />Simon & Associates, which is still evaluat-
<br />ing the performance of Phase I, has not
<br />yet revealed its timetable for the mall's
<br />second phase. However, plans on the
<br />books call fora 1.2-million-gallon, base-
<br />ment-level, walk-through aquarium fo-
<br />cusing onthe ecology of Midwestern lakes.
<br />Two on-site hotels, with a total of up to
<br />1,000 rooms, are also planned-an expan-
<br />sion that could put a stop to the favorable
<br />spin-off effects on downtown hotels.
<br />While the mall is expected to stimulate
<br />new office and hotel development, there
<br />are no plans as yet for the Met Center
<br />stadium across the street, vacated this
<br />year by the Minnesota North Stars hockey
<br />team. Future development in the mall's
<br />vicinity may be limited by a cap on new
<br />parking spaces in the Airport South dis-
<br />trict, imposed as a condition of the project's
<br />environmental permits. The cap would
<br />allow the mall to add another 7, 500 spaces,
<br />leaving 1,200 for the remainder of the
<br />area.
<br />This fall, a new high school opened in
<br />the mall. It's operated by the Metro Learning
<br />Alliance, a coalition formed by five city
<br />and suburban school districts, and funded
<br />in part by corporate sponsors. The 9,000-
<br />square-foot school will serve juniors and
<br />seniors with elective courses in areas such
<br />as entrepreneurship, "arts in the market-
<br />place," and career planning, drawing on
<br />the mall's resources for student projects
<br />and internships. The long-term goal, ac-
<br />cording to learning alliance director Mary
<br />
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