United Village developer proposes ‘viable’ development at site

Several variances for a planned restaurant pavilion and office building at the United Village development go to the St. Paul Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA) at 3 p.m. Monday, April 15. A temporary parking lot approved last year by the St. Paul City Council also needs a variance.

After waiting for years for the former Midway Center “superblock” to be redeveloped, there is strong community interest in what lies ahead. Yet there is also pushback over the building design and placement on the site. Neighbors are also interested in future, non-soccer activities at the stadium and adjacent Great Lawn.

The number and type of variances have met questions from members of Union Park District Council’s land use committee. Some committee members have been especially critical of the two-building restaurant pavilion’s design.

If the variances are approved, developer Snelling Midway Redevelopment LLC could start on the buildings this summer. Each would be under construction for more than a year.

The committee vote came after a March 14 presentation on the overall United Village development, led by Minnesota United FC owner and United Village developer Bill McGuire.

More than 60 people attended the information session about the development, held at Allianz Field. UPDC  and Hamline Midway Coalition hosted the event, which included city planning staff and city council members Annika Bowie and Mitra Jalali.

A theme throughout discussions of the United Village development is that the new development needs to be part of the surrounding community, and not turn its back on the adjacent neighborhoods. It’s a comment that frustrates McGuire. He defends the design and the need to plan for a viable development.

“I can’t believe you would actually think that,” McGuire said.

McGuire outlined the three upcoming United Village commercial projects. One is the eight-story, 16-unit hotel and attached parking ramp, which won Planning Commission approvals March 15. (See related story below.) Construction is expected to start in 2025. The lease for the McDonald’s restaurant on part of the development site expires at the end of this year.

McGuire described the planned loon sculpture plaza at Snelling and University. Final grading and piers for the loon statue will go into place next month, for installation this year. The loon is being built in California and will arrive in Minnesota in four trucks this summer. An all-abilities playground east of the soccer stadium is under construction.

The other upcoming developments are the office building and restaurant pavilion.

What’s less clear is when proposed housing and more retail will be built. One factor is the market for development financing, which McGuire described as “terrible.” Attendees at the community meeting said housing is an important part of the overall development.

Other parts of the development are moving ahead first. The office building will be four stories tall, above a single level of underground parking spaces. It will have first floor retail/restaurant space. The office building is adjacent to an interim parking lot that won St. Paul City Council approval in September 2023.

The parking lot requires one variance to a standard lot size. The underlying traditional neighborhoods four zoning requires that surface parking areas and entrance drives accessory to a principal building may occupy no more than 60 feet of the total lot frontage. The lot proposed has frontage on Spruce Tree Avenue, Shields Avenue and Snelling Avenue, well beyond 60 feet. The UPDC committee recommended approval with the condition that the lot’s interim status be upheld, and that the site is developed in five years.

The restaurant pavilion will have two side by side buildings, one of 6,500 square feet and the other of 3,000 to 3,500 square feet. The smaller building is to the north, with the larger one south of it.

The buildings in total require variances. United Village project Consultant Mike Hahm explained that most of the variances are needed due to the design of the two restaurant buildings, to accommodate storage and “back of the house” operations. But committee members said they want the building designs to include ample windows on both buildings. District council members criticized the pavilion buildings’ design as not being particularly inviting when viewed from the east, given the lack of window and door openings.

The committee recommended approval of a request to not have the two pavilion buildings anchor the Simpson Street corners at Spruce Tree Street and Shields Avenue, allowing them to be set back. But the committee rejected variances for window and door openings for the two buildings.