The Minnesota Independent

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Comment on The Bridges: Looks More Like Orlando Than Paris

By Sara Reller | 05.10.07 | 12:05 pm

A small crowd gathered Monday night for the first of six meetings set up by the WSCO about the Bridges of St. Paul project in the planned Community Engagement Schedule. The city staff presentation was mostly a rehash of…

The Bridges: Money, History and Miles of Meetings

By Sara Reller | 05.07.07 | 5:09 pm

Money, history and community meetings might not be the stuff of soap operas, but you wouldn’t know it looking at the Bridges of St. Paul project. The controversy surrounding the project so far is sure to continue as the…

Bridges: Still a Hard Sell

By Sara Reller | 05.01.07 | 5:20 pm

Bridges developer Jerry Trooien’s third information session on Monday night focused on selling a proposed Westin Hotel and the rest of the retail space in the Bridges project in St. Paul’s downtown to the gathered community members. Currently

Trooien Pushes Bridges Information Sessions

By Sara Reller | 04.24.07 | 7:03 pm

With laser pointers and projectors, the JLT Group broke out the big guns Monday night to try to impress upon the West Side of St. Paul that the Bridges development plan really does have the community’s needs at heart.…

Bridges Back in the Game(s)

By Sara Reller | 04.23.07 | 11:08 am

The Bridges project is back in the mix with two parallel sets of meetings. Bridges of St. Paul developer Jerry Trooien has created a series of four meetings and the WSCO board has also scheduled a series of meetings…

Roundup: Bridges of St. Paul Project

By Sara Reller | 04.22.07 | 8:06 pm

The Bridges of St. Paul project is a controversial  $1 billion-plus project on St. Paul’s West Side
that has weathered stormy waters.

The project was proposed and put in front of the West Side Citizens’ Organization board, which…

Invest St. Paul to Focus on Foreclosure

By Sara Reller | 04.11.07 | 5:32 pm

St. Paul will be focusing its new Invest Saint Paul program on foreclosures. Home foreclosure is a significant problem in the program areas of Frogtown, North End, Dayton’s Bluff and the Lower Eastside. The foreclosures and vacant properties in these…

Down at the Mall: Now Where’s the Receipt I Need?

By Sara Reller | 04.04.07 | 11:43 am

Nobody likes seeing the big property tax assessment.

The IronGate Mall in Hibbing and its 15 tenants’ leases were in question Tuesday at the Minnesota Supreme Court. IronGate Enterprises, the mall’s owners and taxpayers on the property, filed a petition…

Citing ‘Deep Divisions,’ Thune Ends Tri-Council Process for Bridges Project

By Sara Reller | 04.02.07 | 3:52 pm

St. Paul City Council Member Dave Thune on Monday ended the Tri-Council planning process for the Bridges of St. Paul. This will send the $1 billion project back to the developer, who could try reapplying for rezoning or could ask…

St. Paul Goes for the Green

By Sara Reller | 03.29.07 | 11:08 am

The St. Paul City Council adopted an ordinance Wednesday to  require green space be allocated on all new developments in St. Paul. Developers could also pay a fee that would go into funding the purchase of parkland.

Duriing the public…