Ramsey County to Buy 3M Land?

The St. Paul Port Authority is in the process of buying much of the 45-acre 3M grouping of properties, which lie south of Phalen Boulevard and east of Arcade Street.  Ramsey County, meanwhile, wants its own piece of the pie.  The county is looking into buying some of the 3M land on St. Paul's East Side for $1 million.

The county wants a 6-acre piece at Arcade and East Minnehaha Avenue in order to build a $14.2 million office building on the site for county workers.  The idea is to build offices for about 275 county workers from a number of departments, including 125 Community Corrections workers.  The cost for the new building and moving workers combined is estimated at $17.8 million.

Ramsey County is floating this idea because it plans to move out of the former West Publishing Co. building on Kellogg Boulevard. A developer has eyes on West building and the county's other riverfront real estate in Downtown St. Paul.