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Pohlad Company Bids on Archdiocese Chancery Property

By Elizabeth Mohr
Pioneer Press
January 28, 2016

http://www.twincities.com/2016/01/28/archdiocese0128/

Two more for-sale properties of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis have bidders, including a development company owned by the Pohlad family, which has a history of supporting local Catholic organizations.

The Pohlad company, United Properties Development LLC, has offered $2.75 million for the chancery building, across the street from the St. Paul Cathedral, which houses archdiocese offices and the archbishop’s residence.

In a separate proposed purchase, a buyer has offered $365,000 for the archdiocese’s Hazelwood property, a rural home in Greenvale Township, Dakota County, that was donated to the church in 1998.

The proposed purchases are subject to approval by a federal bankruptcy judge.

An archdiocese spokesperson declined to answer questions about the proposed chancery deal Wednesday, citing a court hearing on the matter Thursday.

A call to United Properties was not immediately returned Wednesday.

The archdiocese filed for Chapter 11 reorganization in January 2015, citing an operating deficit and pending clergy sex abuse lawsuits.

In the intervening year, the archdiocese has seen more upheaval. The Ramsey County attorney’s office in June filed criminal charges and a civil suit alleging that top church officials protected a predatory priest who is in prison for molesting children. Ten days after the charges were filed, Archbishop John Nienstedt and Auxiliary Bishop Lee Anthony Piche resigned; the Vatican appointed Newark, N.J., Co-adjutor Archbishop Bernard Hebda as interim leader.

Last month, the archdiocese and the county attorney’s office announced a landmark settlement agreement in the civil case. The criminal case is pending.

As part of its bankruptcy reorganization, the archdiocese put several properties on the market last year in an effort to reduce expenses.

This month, the court approved sale of the Hayden Center on Kellogg Boulevard to the Minnesota Historical Society for $4.5 million.

The bid by United Properties, owned by the Pohlad family, was the first qualified bid on the chancery property, according to the archdiocese’s proposal submitted to the court, but the archdiocese plans on “utilizing a competitive auction process in order to maximize the sale price.”

“Although there are no certainties, the archdiocese believes that there is a likely possibility that additional bids will be received on the chancery,” according to the Jan. 7 motion paper.

It’s unclear when or how conversations of a purchase began between the Pohlad-controlled company and the archdiocese, although the Pohlad family has been a generous supporter of Catholic operations over the years.

From 2010 to 2013, the Pohlad Foundation donated more than $4 million to local schools, universities and Catholic-affiliated charities, according to public records. Last year, Catholic Charities said it received $1 million from the foundation for a planned expansion of the Dorothy Day Center in downtown St. Paul.

The Pohlad family — rooted in the Twin Cities, and one of the nation’s wealthiest families — is known for its ownership of the Minnesota Twins baseball franchise, as well as banking and commercial real estate operations. The family was dubbed the nation’s 75th wealthiest, with $3.8 billion, by Forbes Magazine last July.

United Properties, the company that bid on the chancery property, is in talks to redevelop the Midway Shopping Center, in connection with the Major League Soccer stadium planned for the site near University and Snelling avenues.

A group that had previously expressed interest in the chancery property says it likely will not be able to outbid United Properties.

“It’s unlikely that we’re going to be successful in the bid process,” said Susan Pavlak, a victim of sex abuse who joined with a convicted priest to create a hub of resources for those affected by clergy sex abuse. The pair had hoped to buy the chancery property to become the home base for their effort, dubbed the Gilead Project.

Although they did raise some funds, it wasn’t enough, Pavlak said.

“However, that doesn’t mean that we’re giving up,” she said. “We’re moving forward in 2016 with the project.”

The United Properties’ chancery bid of $2.75 million is lower than the county’s estimated market value for the property of more than $6 million.

In its motion, the archdiocese called the bid “fair and reasonable” and said selling the property “will allow the Archdiocese to operate more efficiently by having all of its staff in one location.”

Because many archdiocese offices and staffers are housed at the chancery, the proposed purchase agreement includes a temporary lease arrangement to let the archdiocese remain in the building rent-free while it finds a new home for its operations.

The proposed deal includes a “view easement” that will bar large-scale development of the property that would mar the view of downtown from the cathedral.

“In addition, as related to zoning, the city of Saint Paul has expressed interest in preserving views of the cathedral and will likely require what it believes are appropriate height maximums in place for any redevelopment going forward,” the archdiocese motion to the court said.

If the court approves the proposal, any additional qualified bids for the chancery property will be due by March 18 and the final sale approved March 31.

The Hazelwood bid is about $20,000 lower than the property’s estimated value. The archdiocese has requested a Feb. 25 hearing on that proposed purchase.

The remaining archdiocese property that’s listed for sale, on Dayton Avenue near the Cathedral, remains unsold and no bids appear to have been submitted to the court.

 

 

 

 

 




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