Opus/Greco, Mortenson interested in St. Paul site

Adam Voge//September 2, 2014//

The Seven Corners Gateway site in St. Paul is immediately east of a parking ramp on West Kellogg Boulevard and west of the Xcel Energy Center. (File photo: Bill Klotz)

The Seven Corners Gateway site in St. Paul is immediately east of a parking ramp on West Kellogg Boulevard and west of the Xcel Energy Center. (File photo: Bill Klotz)

Adam Voge//September 2, 2014//

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Two prominent local development teams will vie for the right to develop a 2.4-acre site next to the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, the city of St. Paul said Tuesday.

Golden Valley-based Mortenson Development and a joint venture of the Minnetonka-based Opus Group and Minneapolis-based Greco LLC submitted responses to a city request for proposals by the Friday deadline, according to Ellen Muller, St. Paul’s economic development manager.

The city isn’t required to release details of the proposals until it has completed a development contract, according to Muller. A staff recommendation to the St. Paul Housing and Redevelopment Authority is expected by Oct. 8, at the latest.

Both developers will interview with the city Sept. 19, but those proceedings will be private.

The city-owned property is on the northwest quadrant of West Seventh Street and Kellogg Boulevard, immediately west of the Xcel arena. The city refers to the property, now used as a parking lot, as the Seven Corners Gateway site.

As Finance & Commerce reported in July, zoning of the land would allow for a mix of uses, ranging from a hotel to apartments, office or retail.

It wasn’t clear Tuesday whether Opus’ participation in a proposal for the land would affect its proposed 185- to 200-unit apartment building and 140- to 160-room hotel complex about a block south of the site.

The city is aiming for a project on the Seven Corners Gateway site to be done by 2016.