Blaine's new $750 million downtown project is ready to progress to the next stage

The amount of jobs this project will create, especially with the addition of a new Scheels Sporting Goods store, will be significant, according to Blaine Mayor Tim Sanders.

Scheels alone is about 500 jobs," Sanders explains. "The majority of those are full-time type positions. Then you include all the other retail and restaurants and other entertainment experience, and this really will become the new commercial hub, really for the city of Blaine and the north metro."

Now it's time to go onward and upward.

"We spent the last year plus going in and doing horizontal construction, which is all the utilities and the streets and roads and getting the parcels ready," says Mayor Sanders. "Footings have gone in on many of the buildings, so now it's time for vertical construction."

The project is named "The Farm."

The project will include new restaurants, hotels, a second Twin Cities location for Scheels and a new 5,000 seat ballpark to host an independent minor league baseball team. There will also be a hotel and apartment rentals/multi-family housing.

"We're at the spot now where it's time to build it," Sanders adds. "We have a really aggressive timeline with the development team to get as much of the district stood up and operational in spring of '28. And so, excited for the partners that we have there on that front and seeing it come to life."

The entire project is expected to span 70-acres located next to the National Sports Center and north of Victory Links. District amenities are expected to begin opening to the public by 2028, with some dining options open by the end of 2027.