Mar 8, 2007 8:51 am US/Central
Reality Check: Twins' Stadium Site
by Pat Kessler
Minneapolis (WCCO) ―
The private landowners of the Minnesota Twins' stadium site said their reputations are tarnished. They're accused of greed, but the facts of the story say something different.
IN FACT, the owners of the nine-acre parcel said they would like Hennepin County to take the land now and the county can do it through eminent domain.
That's when the
government takes private property for public use.
Here's what you NEED TO KNOW. By law, the county can spend a total of $90 million.
That includes buying the private land, clearing it, building roads and bridges and installing water and sewer.
So why is this even an issue?
IN FACT, when Gov. Tim Pawlenty signed the stadium bill, there wasn't a deal between the owners and Hennepin County to buy the land on which the ballpark will sit.
Because the location of the new ballpark is written into the law, it cannot legally be moved someplace else.
"What the value of the property is, in our mind, is worth more than what they've got budgeted," said stadium landowner Rich Pogin.
That's NOT THE WHOLE STORY. The owners once had a
2004 agreement to sell the land to Minneapolis for $12.9 million and receive five additional acres from the city. It was a one-year deal that has since expired.
So how much IS the land worth now? We don't know and the landowners won't say, but confidential documents obtained by Reality Check show the value could be at least $18 million.
That's more than the $13.5 million the county said it is worth and the landowners said they're willing to let a court decide.
That's Reality Check.
(© MMVII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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