EAGAN, MINN. — The Minnesota Vikings have selected Crawford Architects and Kraus-Anderson Construction Co. as the architect and construction manager for the football team’s new practice facility and headquarters. Located on the former Northwest Airlines campus in Eagan, the development will cost roughly $500 million to complete, according to the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal. The Vikings plan to debut their new campus in March 2018.
“Establishing this leadership team is a major step forward on our new Eagan home,” says Steve Poppen, executive vice president and chief financial officer of the Vikings. “We are thrilled to once again engage in a large project with a Minnesota-based construction company such as Kraus-Anderson, as they have a tremendous body of work and strong reputation within the community.”
The announcement of Crawford and Kraus-Anderson joining the project team comes on the heels of the opening of U.S. Bank Stadium, the Vikings’ $1.1 billion home arena in Minneapolis. Located at 401 Chicago Ave., the stadium opened on Friday, July 22.
In late June, the Eagan City Council unanimously approved the development of the new practice facility and team headquarters on the site, which is located off I-494 at the intersection of Dodd Road and Lone Oak Parkway. The Vikings’ new campus will include outdoor and indoor practice fields, a 6,000-seat stadium, team meeting rooms and auditorium, a broadcast studio and media center and administrative offices for staff.
The facility is the first phase in an overall 200-acre planned development expected to include offices, retail, residential, hospitality and a conference center, with the Vikings headquarters as a development anchor. Construction of the remaining multi-phase, mixed-use development will depend on market analysis and occur in stages over the next 10 to 15 years.
“This project will not only provide a first-class training facility for our players and business environment for our staff, but it will also allow us to transform this site into an international destination and a regional community asset,” says Mark Wilf, owner and president of the Vikings. “We appreciate the partnerships with Crawford Architects and Kraus-Anderson and look forward to officially breaking ground on the Vikings’ future home.”
Site work began earlier this month, and an official groundbreaking is scheduled to take place in early August.
Recent projects completed by Kansas City, Mo.-based Crawford Architects include the Virginia Mason Athletic Complex for the Seattle Seahawks in Renton, Wash.; the Pegula Ice Arena at Penn State in University Park, Pa.; and the Sanford Jackrabbit Athletic Complex at South Dakota State University in Sioux Falls, S.D.
Minneapolis-based Kraus-Anderson has more than 100 years of construction experience in the Minnesota area. Recent noted projects include the University of Minnesota Masonic Children’s Hospital in Minneapolis; the Sanford Center in Bemidji, Minn.; and Alexandria High School in Alexandria, Minn.
“We are excited to get underway with the Vikings headquarters project, continuing a relationship that goes back more than 30 years and includes the construction of the Vikings current Winter Park facility,” says Al Gerhardt, chief operating officer of Kraus-Anderson Construction Co. “We are committed to delivering this project safely and on time and on budget, consistent with our core purpose of building enduring relationships and strong communities.”
— John Nelson