Super Star

Big, bold changes shine a new spotlight on Minneapolis.

- Marlene Goldman

MINNEAPOLIS ASSERTS its star power on a variety of fronts, from its history as a music city (Prince remained loyal to his roots here) to its wealth of art galleries and museums to its status as a professional sports magnet.

Sharing its Twin Cities moniker with the neighboring state capital of St. Paul, Minneapolis stepped into the spotlight in 2018 as the host of Super Bowl LII, showing off the new U.S. Bank Stadium — home of the Minnesota Vikings and host to this summer’s upcoming X Games as well as this month’s 2019 NCAA Men’s Final Four. A slew of new developments accompanied its opening.

“We had a lot of big infrastructure changes leading up to the Super Bowl,” said Kristen Montag, senior public relations and communications manager, Meet Minneapolis. “The stadium sparked a lot of development and growth — more stores, a lot more people.”

According to Montag, after the stadium opened in Downtown East, it spurred a lot of development in the nearby Mill District. This month the Canopy by Hilton Minneapolis Mill District opens as a 183-room hotel in the renovated former Thresher Square building. Also in the area slated for this year is Moxy Minneapolis Downtown, with 153 rooms in the Ironclad building.

As part of the city’s expansion, Target Center, home of the NBA’s Minnesota Timberwolves, also took the wraps off a $150 million transformation before last year’s Super Bowl. Meanwhile, Allianz Field will debut in the Midway area of St. Paul this spring as the new home of Major League Soccer’s Minnesota United FC. The stadium, designed to revitalize a 34-acre site which includes a 1.5-acre green space to its north, is designed with energy-efficient and sustainable features.