Economic Health:
Investment in the Upper River
every $1
leveraged
leveraged
$3.46 return
In brief, that’s what investment in the physical development of the Upper River has looked like over the last decade. Between 2004 and 2014, $49 million in public investment has leveraged $171 million in private investment. Put another way, for every public dollar invested by any level of government, there has been a $3.46 return on investment.
Top Public Investments (2004-14)
| rank | project name | public investment |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Orvin “Ole” Olson Park and Above the Falls Phase I Trail Loop – west side of river, Plymouth to Olson Park (Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board, 2007) | $12.7 million |
| 2 | New Lowry Avenue Bridge over River (Hennepin County, 2012) | $12.0 million* |
| 3 | Coloplast US Headquarters (Coloplast Corp., 2010) | $4.4 million |
| 4 | Gluek Park Environmental Remediation (Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board, 2005) | $3.5 million |
| 5 | Mississippi Watershed Management Organization Headquarters (MWMO, 2012) | $3.4 million |
| 6 | Marshall River Run Apartments & Townhomes (Sherman Associates, 2005) | $3.2 million |
| 7 | Sheridan Memorial Park, first phase (Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board, 2014) | $1.9 million |
| 8 | Edgewater Park (Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board, 2006) | $1.4 million |
| 9 | Graco Office Building (Graco, Inc., 2005) | $1.1 million |
| 10 | Standard Heating and Air Conditioning Building (Lupe Development, 2011) | $1.1 million |
Source: Minneapolis Riverfront Development Dataset, 2015
(initial dataset by City of Minneapolis, expanded and updated by Minneapolis Riverfront Partnership)
* Total bridge cost $107.4 million, most of which is obviously a benefit to the broader transportation system. Trying to pinpoint local benefit is by its nature a challenging judgement call. Perhaps the cleanest standard is to count additional costs of “above standard” bridge design – in this case, the bridge’s arching “basket handle” design. That is a placemaking investment specific to the Upper River, with a documented cost of $12.0 million above a basic standard bridge.
Top Private Investments (2004-14)
| rank | project name | private investment |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Coloplast US Headquarters (Coloplast Corp., 2010) | $33.1 million |
| 2 | Crescent Trace Condos/1101 on Main Apartments (Dunbar Dev. Corp./Catholic Eldercare, 2007) | $19 million (initial dev’t.) |
| 3 | LifeSource (LifeSource, 2014) | $12.6 million |
| 4 | Marshall River Run Apartments & Townhomes (Sherman Associates, 2006) | $12.3 million |
| 5 | Northern Recycling/American Iron (Northern Metal, 2010) | $10.0 million |
| 6 | Mainstreet Lodge (Catholic Eldercare, 2004) | $9.3 million |
| 7 | Riverview Homes (JADT Development, 2004) | $6.3 million |
| 8 | K and K Recycling (K & K Recycling, 2011) | $6.1 million |
| 9 | Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church Addition (Fellowship Church, 2006) | $5.5 million |
| 10 | Unison Comfort Technologies (Greenheck, 2011) | $5.4 million |
Source: Minneapolis Riverfront Development Dataset, 2015
(initial dataset by City of Minneapolis, expanded and updated by Minneapolis Riverfront Partnership)
Revitalization:
DC Group Headquarters Expansion
One of the biggest changes in the Upper River in the last year has been the expansion of the DC Group Headquarters.
DC Group has been at their site at Broadway & West River Road since they were founded in 1969. They are a fast-growing maintenance provider for uninterruptible power systems, used by hospitals, critical data centers and government. Their $7 million expansion, completed in 2015, will show them to grow from 62 to 95 staff members.
The expansion was aided by a mix of Tax Increment Financing, tax credits, pollution remediation and business growth funds.
Revitalization:
Betty Danger’s Country Club
Restauranteur Leslie Bock razed the original location of her Psycho Suzi’s Motor Lounge, and about $2.2 million later, remodeled an old car wash into a one-of-a-kind destination and restaurant. Some projects leave a financial imprint on the riverfront - this one sets aone very tall recreational icon.
True to its name, Betty Danger’s Country Club sports (mini) golf, and a vertical revolving dining patio with river views.
Photo of DC Group: credit Robert Spaulding for Minneapolis Riverfront Partnership. Photo of Betty Danger’s: credit Tony Webster under CC BY 2.0 license via http://tinyurl.com/q69mkkq; shrunk to fit space. Page background photo: credit Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board; used with permission.
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