Katie Galioto

1 month ago | startribune.com | Katie Galioto

When chef David Fhima developed the Mother Dough concept with his son in late 2021, he knew he wanted the bakery and cafe to be in downtown Minneapolis - even though office workers were few and far between as the second pandemic year came to a close. Fast forward to 2025, and Fhima is poised to bring Mother Dough to a third building in the urban core as part of a multimillion-dollar renovation of the U.S. Bancorp Center's ground floor and skyway levels. "It started very slow," he said.

1 month ago | startribune.com | Katie Galioto

St. Paul city officials and the Minnesota Wild are scaling back plans to renovate the Xcel Energy Center complex with a new pitch for $50 million from the state, a fraction of their original request. After legislators' icy response to the March proposal of $769 million, half of which would have come from the state, the city and NHL team offered a $488 million alternative Thursday that focuses solely on the 25-year-old arena.

2 months ago | startribune.com | Katie Galioto

For many, the loss of one of downtown St. Paul's key skyway arteries is an inconvenience. But for Tommy Sar, who lives in an adjacent apartment and uses a wheelchair, it's untenable. Weeks later, the temporary walls and locked doors are still catching commuters and visitors by surprise, forcing U-turns on lunchtime strolls or extended walks to the office.

2 months ago | startribune.com | Katie Galioto

Five years after COVID-19 crushed its opening plans, the Dayton's Project still houses several vacant and unfinished floors, driving the downtown Minneapolis office building's ongoing financial struggles. The $375 million redevelopment of the landmark department store was heralded as a boon to the central business district, promising a burst of vitality particularly for Nicollet Mall. But after the pandemic crippled its launch, expectations for the Dayton's Project became delayed and dimmed.

Mar 26, 2025 | startribune.com | Katie Galioto

By Katie Galioto Using Census data, the Downtown Alliance estimated there are about 20,000 government jobs in zip codes encompassing downtown, the Capitol complex and the West 7th area. Those jobs, most of which are with the state, comprise roughly one-third of the area's workforce. Regions Hospital remains the largest single downtown employer, but there are more government workers than employees of Ecolab or Securian Financial, two Fortune 500 companies with major footprints downtown.