Bemidji Is Revitalizing Its Long-Abandoned Rail Corridor

Transcript

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HOST: You're listening to North Star Stories: Voices from Where We Live, a daily newscast about what it means to live in Minnesota.

ANCHOR: A city in the north is revitalizing its rail corridor. Then, a court victory for renters in the state. And, a project that's going to provide more reliable energy for Northern Minnesota.

I'm Chantel SinGs.

A bipartisan coalition of nine states has reached a proposed settlement with Greystar Management Services, the nation's largest landlord. The company was accused of helping manipulate rental prices. A lawsuit claims a property management software provider collected sensitive pricing data from landlords and used it to generate rental recommendations based on competitors' information. The state Attorneys General say that it allowed landlords to coordinate prices and reduce market competition, driving up rent for consumers.

Next, A new development project in northern Minnesota aims to transform the remnants of a long-abandoned rail industry. News director Chelsey Perkins from AMPERS member station KAXE/KBXE spoke with Victor Palomino about what it could mean for the community.

Victor Palomino: Many northern Minnesota towns were built around the railroad. Today, some of KAXE and KBXE, the city of Bemidji now has a new vision for its rail corridor.

Chelsey Perkins: So it's kind of just been this area of land that's been a bugaboo for the city and for developers and like, what do we do with this? And in the last couple of years, there's been quite a bit of movement in developing that area.

Victor Palomino: That's Chelsey Perkins, news director for KAXE and KBXE. She says that plan includes space for a potential YMCA. But community excitement is focused on a major development investment that could reshape the area.

Chelsey Perkins: Most recently, we learned about a $22.5 million hotel, event center and restaurant that would be built in that corridor. It's an Alexandria-based real estate development firm that has announced that they're going to pursue this project. And what I found interesting was that, you know, they said that we didn't realize that Bemidji had so much potential. That this community could support a project of this size. And I mean, it would be 98 rooms in this Marriott Hotel that they're planning.

Victor Palomino: One challenge for the project is soil contamination from decades of industrial use along the tracks, but city officials are aware of the issue.

Chelsey Perkins: And they've said that they're going to do all their due diligence to make sure that the soil contamination in the area is cleaned up. The city has owned this site since the early 2000s. So they've been aware of some of the issues that they needed to kind of move through in order to develop it.

Victor Palomino: Another surprise that might complicate the construction can come from the area's history.

Chelsey Perkins: There was some concern at one point that there may perhaps be ancient skeletal remains in the area. The mayor told us that they're pretty confident that's not going to be an issue with this particular development. But there's always a possibility of that, and they'll do as much as they can to ensure that the site is prepared for this kind of development.

Victor Palomino: Despite this, the community is excited about the possible economic boost and opportunities for the region.

Chelsey Perkins: Bemidji is a big university town, and so I expect, too, that it will also be an attraction from that perspective, where people are coming to check out the university, come to watch the beavers play in their various athletic events, and now they have will have another place to stay.

Victor Palomino: For now, the project is moving forward, with developers beginning site preparations.

Chelsey Perkins: And the construction on the YMCA and the hotel are expected to begin as soon as summer of 2026. So we'll likely see some action there as early as next summer, and we'll see.

Victor Palomino: You can find this story and more coverage from the northern Minnesota news on the KAXE website. For North Star Stories, I'm Victor Palomino.

Anchor: You are listening to North Star Stories.

Great River Energy, a not-for-profit, wholesale electric power cooperative, has begun construction on the $1.4 billion Northland Reliability Project on the Iron Range. The 180-mile high-voltage transmission line is designed to deliver 3,000 megawatts of power across Minnesota and the Midwest by 2030. The cooperative says the project will strengthen grid reliability and move electricity from a wide mix of energy sources.

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HOST: North Star Stories is produced by AMPERS, diverse radio for Minnesota's communities, with support from the McKnight Foundation and the State of Minnesota. Online at ampers dot org.