Jul 22, 2009 6:50 pm US/Central
St. Paul's Birthplace Going Through 'Revival'
ST. PAUL (WCCO) ―
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After years of being the centerpiece of Lowertown's stagnant buildings and urban decay, people and businesses are bringing vitality to the area.
CBS
An 18-block area just east of downtown is known for being the birthplace of St. Paul. Along this area of the Mississippi River 160 years ago it was called "Lower Landing." Now it's known to most as Lowertown and it's undergoing quite a revival.
On Tuesday, the city announced that Cray, Inc. will move 225 computer jobs into leased space inside Galtier Plaza. The supercomputer maker will relocate development, sales, marketing and administrative staff from its current offices in Mendota Heights.
That's great news to the lunch crowd gathered on the benches of Lowertown's Mears Park. After years of being the centerpiece of Lowertown's stagnant buildings and urban decay, people and businesses are bringing vitality to the area.
"Anybody who says that downtown St. Paul is dead hasn't been down here for a long time," comments St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman.
The mayor says Cray's decision to move into Galtier Plaza is just the latest sign of Lowertown's rebirth.
"It's real easy to sell someone who wants to come and work for Cray when they look out on this beautiful park and the great restaurants that we have," Coleman added.
Cray's announcement to occupy 51,000 square feet at Galtier comes on the heels of the recent expansion of GovDelivery in the old Hamm office building. Microsoft is also planning to occupy space in the Wells Fargo Place for its "Expression" software team.
Lowertown is defined as the area just east of downtown St. Paul where many of the city's most historic old warehouses still stand. In the past decade, many of the old brick buildings have been refurbished and converted into apartments, lofts and condominiums.
That's attractive to younger residents like Jess and John LaRotonda. Jess moved into an artist's loft three years ago and hasn't left.
"It would be nice to see it continue to grow. We've got a lot of smaller businesses and it's a got a really nice balance between a city feel and neighborhood feel. It's a perfect balance between those two things," said LaRotonda.
Growing the downtown population is key to attracting new bars, restaurants and small businesses. It was certainly the catalyst for bringing in the Bulldog bar and the recently opened Barrio.
Matt Helgason is the manager of Barrio and says, "New business never hurts no matter where you are. A new business always makes everyone else look, 'Why did they move there?'"
According to city census records, the area's population has increased by 25 percent in the past decade and appears to be continuing that trend.
That's certainly the thinking for extending the new central corridor light rail line to Lowertown, where it will terminate its St. Paul route at the old Union Depot building just a block south of Mears Park.
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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