Project Overview
CHS Field is a 7,000-seat ballpark owned by the City of Saint Paul and built on a contaminated former industrial site in the historic Lowertown neighborhood. It is home to the St. Paul Saints and Hamline University and hosts amateur baseball, concerts, and year-round community events. NTH served as the City’s owner’s representative from feasibility through the inaugural season. The $63 million project anchored a decade of Lowertown redevelopment and set a new standard for sustainable publicly funded buildings in Minnesota.
The Challenge
The City needed to develop and own a major public asset on a 10.4-acre brownfield that was virtually 100% impervious and heavily contaminated. Funding came from a patchwork of state bonding, grants, City and Port Authority sources, each with its own agreements and reporting requirements. The project drew intense public scrutiny, including litigation seeking to halt it. Design had to satisfy Lowertown’s historic character and Historic Preservation review while serving two primary tenants with different needs. Multiple City departments had to be coordinated as a single owner, and both first cost and long-term operating cost had to be managed to limit the City’s risk. Opening Day was a fixed deadline set by the Saints’ schedule.
How We Made It Happen
NTH acted as the City’s single point of accountability, coordinating City departments, the Saints, Hamline University, the Saint Paul Port Authority, and the Ryan Companies and Snow Kreilich team as one decision-making structure. We built and defended a responsible budget, then managed contingency closely with regular reporting so the City could see cost risk early. We coordinated the state bonding, grant, and development agreements and led the selection of specialty consultants. We pushed design and construction decisions to weigh both initial cost and future operating cost. We met monthly with the Lowertown Ballpark Design and Construction Committee from November 2012 onward, and community input shaped the dog park, the east entrance, public art, bike and Bruce Vento trail connections, traffic management, non-event use, and sustainability. We then managed the handoff from a contractor-controlled site to a Saints-operated ballpark, including life safety, parking and traffic, and gameday operations planning.
The Outcome
The ballpark reached substantial completion and certificate of occupancy on schedule and opened May 21, 2015, tracking modestly under its budget. Collaboration across State, County, and City entities produced a design that complements Lowertown’s historic character while delivering on the promise of economic development. It is Minnesota’s first B3-compliant ballpark, with a 27,000-gallon rainwater cistern, a 102.5 kW solar array, and district energy, on a site that went from virtually fully impervious to 56% pervious surface.
Location
Saint Paul, Minnesota
Project Scope
$63 million total project cost
7,000 seat ballpark
81,000 finished square feet
Project Type
Public/Civic
NTH Services
Financing Coordination
Awards
Mpls./St. Paul Business Journal’s Best in Real Estate Award
AIA Honor Award
Ballpark Magazine’s Best New Ballpark
MN Brownfields ReScape Award
