Light rail spurs nearly $6.8B in development, council says

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New construction and property redevelopment along Metro Transit’s existing and future light rail transit corridors has topped $6.78 billion, according to a new tally from the Metropolitan Council.

The investments were tracked along the Blue Line from downtown Minneapolis to Bloomington, the Green Line between the downtowns of St. Paul and Minneapolis, the planned Southwest line to Eden Prairie and future Blue Line extension to Brooklyn Park.

All projects tracked were within a half-mile of a light rail line or a future light rail line, Met Council spokeswoman Laura Baenen said Tuesday. The project values come directly from their developers, she said.

Project values have grown along the lines since spring 2016, according to a Metropolitan Council news release. Total development and redevelopment along the Green Line was the highest, hitting $5.1 billion — up from $4.2 billion reported last spring.

The total project value along the Southwest project grew from $430 million to $515 million. Along the Blue Line Extension (or Bottineau), the value increased from $358 million to $489 million.

For the first time, the tally included the Blue Line, which has seen $699 million in projects since it started running in 2004.

The Southwest line is the next to start construction. Heavy construction on the $1.86 billion project is expected to begin this year, according to the project website. Service at 15 stations along the line’s 14.5-mile route is expected to start in 2021.

Projects included in the Southwest tally include Optum’s headquarters in Eden Prairie and the 164-unit Foundry apartments near the future West Lake Street Station in Minneapolis.

The actual development total likely exceeds the Met Council’s new figure because the values of some projects have not been publicly reported, according to the release. For example, the values of only 15 of 33 projects tracked on the Blue Line have been publicly reported.

The Met Council is encouraging development along all the transit lines. It awarded more than $20.5 million in transit oriented development grants in 2016, according to an annual report produced by the council’s Transit Oriented Development Office.

The Met Council staff added to earlier totals based on data reported by developers about recently completed developments and projects that are under construction or design. The data also included higher figures for previously reported projects that have incurred greater costs as they advanced.

The Met Council did not include values for TCF Bank Stadium, Target Field, U.S. Bank Stadium, CHS Field, or the Major League Soccer stadium planned on University Avenue near Snelling Avenue.