Questions Surround Blocked Development In St. Paul

<p>An upscale mixed use development near downtown St. Paul, Minnesota, has been blocked by a city council vote, leaving many to wonder if the ruling was really the correct decision for the city.</p>

January 7, 2008, 8am PST | Nate Berg

"A well-known local developer, proposing the largest project in St. Paul's history, has been prevented by the city itself, with the support of some pro-development forces, from building an upscale mixed-use community directly across the river from the downtown."

"Four years after Jerry Trooien, chairman of JLT Group, unveiled plans for the Bridges of St. Paul, the City Council - with support from the St. Paul Riverfront Development Corporation, the city's planning commission and a new mayor - voted 5 to 2 in September not to change zoning that limits height and density on the riverfront."

"Declining to develop one of the few low-lying parcels of land along this part of the Mississippi, which otherwise has limited public access, remains a highly contested decision. And in an era when large-scale developments have emerged across the country - along waterfronts and off - this is a tale of what can go wrong when competing visions collide and market forces tip the balance away from development."

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St. Paul Stops a Waterfront Developer From Crossing the Mississippi

Published on Wednesday, January 2, 2008 in The New York Times