Economic Development
| More

Doubling Trouble: Minnesota's Gigantic Mall Has Growing Pains

BY: | May 2007



The Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota, welcomes 40 million annual visitors, spans 4.2 million square feet and houses 32 shoe stores alone. But the mall's managers want to double its size, and they want state and local governments to help pay for it--to the tune of more than $200 million in tax breaks.

The expansion would add four hotels, a water park, an ice rink, a performing arts center, 8,000 parking spaces and retail favorites such as Bass Pro Shops. "It's not just a big shopping mall," says Dan Jasper, Mall of America's spokesman. "It's a destination."

Mall officials say that the subsidies would pay for themselves through additional sales and property-tax revenue. They also claim they'll need to hire 7,000 workers to build the addition. Once completed, the stores and services will have slots for thousands of new employees.

The proposal's fate in the legislature is uncertain. Lawmakers are questioning whether the new jobs will be good ones and whether the expansion will hurt other retailers. "I'm skeptical that these subsidies do anything besides move jobs around," says Representative Ann Lenczewski, who chairs the Minnesota House Taxes Committee.

Mall representatives say that if the shopping empire were to stay its current size, it wouldn't continue to be the same tourist draw--and tax-revenue producer--it has been for the past 15 years. Although the Mall of America remains the largest retail and entertainment complex in the country, it is no longer first in leaseable space, a common measure of mall size. "This is America," Jasper says. "We like to say that we're the biggest and the best."


If you enjoyed this post, subscribe for updates.

Josh Goodman
Josh Goodman

Josh Goodman is a former staff writer for GOVERNING..

E-mail: mailbox@governing.com
Twitter: @governing

Comments



Add Your Comment

You are solely responsible for the content of your comments. GOVERNING reserves the right to remove comments that are considered profane, vulgar, obscene, factually inaccurate, off-topic, or considered a personal attack.

Comments must be fewer than 2000 characters.

Latest from Economic Development

  • Job Skills Gap a Growing Concern in Cities
  • Cities coming out of the recession are facing new challenges with matching their workforce to available jobs, a problem that could be an early indicator of a growing national problem.

More From Economic Development

GOVERNING Data

Events & Webinars

  • It’s A Paperless, Paperless World..... Thinking Outside the Box to Gain Efficiencies through Prepaid Cards
  • April 23, 2013
  • Public sector organizations are under intense scrutiny to operate as efficiently and effectively as possible and with maximum transparency. An important consideration is the way in which payments are made and managed. Prepaid cards can offer flexibility, security and accountability to governments as a method of dispersing benefits, healthcare and social care payments, child benefits and housing benefits to their constituents.


More Events & Webinars


© 2011 e.Republic, Inc. All Rights reserved.    |   Privacy Policy   |   Site Map