Hotel chain signs on to Bridges

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Hotel chain signs on to Bridges
30-story, $120 million Westin hotel/condominium tower becomes part of controversial riverfront development

BY LAURA YUEN
Pioneer Press

Developer Jerry Trooien continued to beat the drum for his riverfront mega-project Wednesday, unveiling plans for a 30-story, $120 million Westin luxury hotel and condominium tower that would help anchor his proposed Bridges of St. Paul development.

The Westin, known for its posh worldwide resorts, would be the first full-service hotel to open in St. Paul in several decades, Trooien said.

The power of the Westin name would help position the city as a major destination for out-of-state tourists and the business community, Trooien said. And he contended that Westin's signed contract speaks to the excitement for the ritzy village of waterfront restaurants, an entertainment hub and upscale condominiums he is trying to assemble on the West Side.

A Westin executive, Sue Brush, praised the Bridges concept as a grand fit for her hotel, which would include a fitness facility, restaurant and spa. She may have surprised a few in the audience by saying St. Paul has always been on the luxury hotel's radar.

"We have literally waited decades - and I mean decades - to have a hotel in St. Paul," said Brush, senior vice president for Westin Hotels & Resorts. "It is a dream come true for Westin."

Wednesday's gathering at the Bridges sales office in the Comcast building drew several dozen supporters, including the likes of Police Chief John Harrington and Larry Dowell of the St. Paul Area Chamber of Commerce.

All seemed eager to show their enthusiasm for Trooien's project despite ongoing backlash against its scope and design from environmental and community groups throughout the city.

Harrington said he backed the Bridges from a policing perspective.

"It helps build up St. Paul and the entire region," he said.

The Bridges team, led by promoter Ron Maddox and the public-relations firm Goff & Howard, has ramped up its marketing drive in recent months. Workers have knocked on doors in the West Side neighborhood to survey residents and inform them about the project. Trooien also has taken out half-page ads in area newspapers quoting residents and condo buyers who welcome the plans.

Skepticism, however, is still plentiful, and the hotel won't happen if the $1.5 billion Bridges project founders. Trooien said his team is getting "significant traction" on the retail and residential components. Buyers, including dozens from the west metro cities of Minneapolis, Edina and Wayzata, have reserved all but four of the 165 units in the first building and about 22 in an additional building, Trooien said.

He said he will make his request to the city for tax-increment financing within 90 days.

Asked whether the requested TIF amount was still in the ballpark of $100 million, Trooien replied, "It's a nice, big ballpark," gesturing with his hands.

The likely request, he later explained, has expanded to keep pace with rising construction costs, but he stopped short of throwing out a new number.

The Westin condominiums at Fillmore and Robert streets would fill up the top 15 or so floors of the tower, with guest suites and rooms occupying the bottom half. Residents would have full access to room service and even house-sitting and dog-walking.

Westin also is working to transform the F&M Bank Building in downtown Minneapolis into a hotel.

Trooien acknowledged that the energy surrounding his project can't last forever. Besides the financing, he'll need the city to sign off on a host of other approvals, including height variances. He's still optimistic about starting construction by the end of the year and completing the first phase by 2008.

Some of his prospective condo buyers say they are willing to wait. Susan Harrer of Eden Prairie, who attended the announcement, said a Bridges condo would suit her active lifestyle of walking, swimming and working out. And the built-in urban infrastructure of shops and restaurants feels like she would be "moving to a new state," she said, with nothing in Minnesota to rival it.

"Nothing has really captured me the way this has," she said. "If it takes longer, it will just be better."