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ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES Page 10,July 1987 • largest hotel in the region has just over 200 rooms and 18,000 square feet of meeting space. (An executive conference center will open in Brooklyn Park in 1988. It will have 231 guest suites and 19,000 square feet for meeting facilities.) By comparison, Minne- apolis has two hotels with more than 500 rooms each. One has almost 50,000 square feet of meeting space and the other has almost 30,000 square feet. Along 1-494 there are at least 10 hotels with over 200 roans. Two have over 30,000 square feet of meeting space. Table i compares the number of hotels and rooms in the northern suburbs with that in Minneapolis,St. Paul and the southwestern suburbs. TABLE 1: HOTELS AND HOTEL ROOMS. 1985 LOCATION: HOTELS: Northern Suburbs Za 1.256 Minneapolis 35 5,368 St.Paul 22 3,009 Southwest Suburbs 52 7,344 SOURCE: 'Hotels and Motels in the Twin Cities Metropolitan Area, 1985,' Metropolitan Council, St. Paul, MN, July 1985. ® The region's image is starting to change, particularly with respect to housing. ✓ The construction of higher priced homes in many northern suburbs has received regional publicity. According to a recent front-page article in the Minneapolis Star and Tribune, in 1984,contractors built 304 single-family homes in Coon Rapids in 1984. The aver- age price was$92,000. In 1986,626 new homes were built with an average price of $118,000. In two years,the amount of construction doubled and the average price increased by 28%1 ✓ Some local amenities,especially parks and golf courses,are also recognized for excel- lence. In the rase of golf courses,the recognition goes beyond the region. Both the Bunker Hills snd Edinbourgh wurses i5re recognized nationally for excellence. V The region needs additional residential amenities. Ones that will bolster its image as a desireable place for higher income families to live. Upscale shopping and restaurants would be significant additions. e.g. Something like The Galleria near Southdale or St. Anthony Main adjacent to downtown Minneapolis. This type of shopping would complement the new housing stock and draw patrons(who could become new residents) from all over the metropolitan area. 9 Despite other changes, the region's business profile remains nondescript. When pushed to characterize it,most people say "blue collar"or manufacturing. "Any collar" is more accurate,especially when the northern suburbs are compared with other parts of the metropolitan area. As home to the state's largest legal,financial and advertising firms, Minneapolis is known as corporate service center. With 43 of the state's 100 largest publicly held corporations headquartered within their boundaries,the southwest suburbs are v • BLAZAR RESEARCH