Mortenson to build $150M Athletics Village project

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Golden Valley-based Mortenson Construction is the University of Minnesota’s choice to build the new 340,000-square-foot, $150 million athletics complex on the school’s campus in Minneapolis.

The U of M is aiming for a late summer construction start for the four-building Athletics Village project, which will create 273,000 square feet of practice facilities and a 67,000-square-foot hub for student-athlete services.

On Friday, Mortenson prevailed in a best value competition that considered the project teams’ qualifications, schedule and work plan, cost, targeted business inclusion, safety and an interview, according to the U of M’s project website.

Mortenson scored 93 out of a possible 100 points. PCL Construction (86 points) and JE Dunn Construction (81 points) also put in bids.

“We’re looking forward to contributing to a project that will provide one of the best student-athlete experiences in the Big Ten and have such a positive impact on both Gopher Athletics and the state of Minnesota,” Mortenson senior vice president Ken Sorensen said in a statement.

U of M athletics director Norwood Teague said having Mortenson on board as the project’s construction manager is an “exciting milestone” for the U of M’s $190 million campaign for athletics facilities.

“Today’s announcement is the latest point of progress as we move toward providing our student-athletes with modern facilities that will help us fulfill our promise to help them achieve greatness in the classroom, in competition and later in life,” Teague said in a statement.

St. Paul-based BWBR is the project’s architect.

Earlier this month, as previously reported, a facilities committee of the University of Minnesota’s Board of Regents on Thursday approved a capital budget amendment to provide $15 million in design services for the Athletics Village complex.

Teague said that $70 million in private money has been raised so far for the project; no tax dollars are being used.

In all, the U of M hopes to raise $190 million for the four-building Athletics Village complex, as well as future projects for golf, baseball, wrestling and women’s gymnastics, and upgrades to the current Bierman/Gibson-Nagurski training facility.

The budget for Athletics Village includes $125.35 million in construction costs and $24.65 million in non-building costs.

The U of M hopes to have 80 percent of the funds raised before breaking ground. According to a U of M document, the external fundraising may be supplemented by “short-term debt financing” if required to meet the construction schedule.

The complex will include a 110,000-square-foot indoor practice facility, a 96,000-square-foot football performance center, a 67,000-square-foot practice for men’s and women’s basketball, and a 67,000-square-foot “Center for Excellence.”

U of M officials first announced their ambitious facilities improvement plan in July 2013. At the time, Teague said the endeavor would be paid for as part of a six- to eight-year fundraising campaign.

The initial idea was to spread out construction in as many as four phases, but the current plan is to construct the four-building complex in one shot.