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The Minnesota Vikings' owners are ready to pay up to $14.5 million for an underground parking ramp next to the Metrodome that has lost millions and was ignored by developers for years. But it is seen by Vikings owner Zygi Wilf as "integral" to building a new stadium and redeveloping downtown's east side.According a tentative agreement approved Monday by the Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission, which owns the Metrodome, local developer Bob Lux will sell the 450-stall ramp to the Vikings, who have an option through the end of the 2009 Legislative session or any special sessions thereafter in which to close on the deal.
"We're working towards an agreement," said Lester Bagley, Vikings vice president of stadium development and public affairs. "It's not quite there yet. But this is an important piece for our overall plans."
The timing of the option is crucial for the Vikings, who will seek legislative approval next year for their proposed $954 million, retractable-roof stadium to be built where the Metrodome now stands. Even if the Vikings fail at the Capitol next year, the team hopes to build enough momentum for approval in 2009 -- which enables the Metrodome to be razed and construction to begin after the Twins complete their final season and move into their new open-air ballpark in 2010.
The Vikings last week reached a tentative agreement to buy four city blocks near the Metrodome from the Star Tribune for $45 million, according to sources. Two weeks ago, the team bought three other parking lots near the Metrodome for a total of $5 million.
The underground ramp cost the city of Minneapolis $17.3 million to build, and then, according to sources, lost as much as $15 million while the city owned it.
Wilf, who has contacted several owners of property near the Metrodome, asked in a March 5 letter to City Council President Barbara Johnson that the underground ramp by the Metrodome light-rail station be removed from public auction.
Wilf asked that the city notify the 13 bidders that the land was "potentially to be included in a broader development plan." Wilf said he hoped to turn the station into a Winter Garden, "a dramatic indoor station that would be the heart and soul" of his development plan for the east side of downtown.
Privately, the Vikings worried about the complications they watched from afar as the Twins and city officials struggled with a third party during negotiations for land for the Twins' new ballpark.
"We don't want a problem with other people [owning the land]," Bill Lester, executive director of the sports facilities commission, said Monday.
But Johnson responded that the city asked for bidders and "people responded." One was Lux, who bought a ramp that few cared about three years ago.
It was built to be able to support a six-story office building on the northwest corner of the block. But that never materialized. Now the property supports the Vikings' stadium dreams.
The Vikings could, according to terms of the tentative agreement, pay as little as $12.5 million for the ramp if the deal is complete by Sept. 1. The Sports Facilities Commission, the team's public partner in a quest for a new stadium, agreed to share costs of any purchase options. The city's Transportation and Public Works committee will hold a public hearing July 10 to review the sale.

Vikings ready to spend millions on money-losing parking ramp next to Dome