St. Thomas Looking to Buy T&C for New Arena

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60's Guy said:
Yes, compete in the Summit. With the recruiting class, that I didn't research, they'll move up.
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A program can turn fairly quickly these days, with the impact of portal and a solid brand. St. Thomas (to me) already looks good similar to any of the more established comp's eg. Creighton, Loyola, St. Louis. I think their timing was nearly perfect to go D1. Wide open nature of recruiting, ability to bring in experienced players to fill gaps, etc. They'll be interesting to watch over next few years. Turn the clock forward 5+ years, who knows. . .
 

dlnavra said:
A program can turn fairly quickly these days, with the impact of portal and a solid brand. St. Thomas (to me) already looks good similar to any of the more established comp's eg. Creighton, Loyola, St. Louis. I think their timing was nearly perfect to go D1. Wide open nature of recruiting, ability to bring in experienced players to fill gaps, etc. They'll be interesting to watch over next few years. Turn the clock forward 5+ years, who knows. . .
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T&C is also abut three times the acreage of the St. Thomas campus. No idea what they’d do with all that space.
 


BleedGopher said:
Well what do you know…our own LesBolstad is one of Shooter’s Little Birdies!

A little birdie says the University of St. Thomas is in hot pursuit of the nearby Town and Country Club property in St. Paul to upgrade its Division I athletics program and other academic facilities. An offer of $61.4 million is said to be under consideration. St. Thomas, which needs a hockey arena, is also exploring the Highland Park bridge site.

www.twincities.com

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Perhaps the biggest news out of new coach Kevin O’Connell’s introductory news conference on Thursday was that the Vikings plan to run a 3-4 base defense. That hasn’t occurred in Minnesota since 198…
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Go Gophers!!
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Unless Ryan wants to change what they have planned, I don't see where in Highland Bridge an arena would fit.

Explore Highland Bridge
 



GoodasGold said:
A new rectory and brewpub would be welcomed.
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Lake Monster is pretty close, but another brewery is always welcome.

in response to some of the other posts regarding Med school-- UST started the nursing school, so growing that to a medical school seems reasonable

the Minneapolis campus could be shut down and moved to the main campus also- i think that is mostly the law school and education program and grad classes/space.
 

dpodoll68 said:
Well, yeah - every single one of those guys was recruited by a D3 school to play D3 basketball. They will have an inexperienced roster for a while, but at least on paper, guys like Ahjany Lee, Kendall Blue, and Carter Bjerke are vastly better than their current players.
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I heard a rumor Drake Dobbs transferred back to UST....has anyone else heard that?
 




Minnesconsin fan said:
Lake Monster is pretty close, but another brewery is always welcome.

in response to some of the other posts regarding Med school-- UST started the nursing school, so growing that to a medical school seems reasonable

the Minneapolis campus could be shut down and moved to the main campus also- i think that is mostly the law school and education program and grad classes/space.
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The business school is there too. One of UST's selling points for their MBA is making it easy for downtown workers being connected to the skyway so I don't think it's going away. There's still ~3 acres of undeveloped land/parking garage downtown for a small med school if they want that.

The neighborhood makes any development like pulling teeth so any development outside their current footprint would be difficult. My bet would be on replacing either the baseball or softball field and moving those sports off campus. Or just waiting for St Kate's to go belly up and purchasing their land.
 


I took a screenshot out of a map and moved stuff around, and here is how the U facilities would fit in the T&C land (the golf course was where all the white space is). Looks like there would be plenty of room for jus about whatever they needed.

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gopher7 said:
I took a screenshot out of a map and moved stuff around, and here is how the U facilities would fit in the T&C land (the golf course was where all the white space is). Looks like there would be plenty of room for jus about whatever they needed.

View attachment 17079
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the land in the southwest part of the property is not very flat and has a fairly steep hill. There is also a creek that runs through part of the property. Most of the buildings and parking would have to be at the north and east side. It would be a shame to lose a club like this, as a golfer, it’s unique and they’ve been doing a lot of work to the course. Good or bad, Covid has helped golf thrive these last two years as a great way to recreate. Most clubs memberships are very healthy, whereas just a few years ago, clubs and courses were closing. T & C has leverage I’m sure.
 



Move all athletic facilities to the new land, convert the current arena area on the main campus to be fully a student rec & wellness center, and the two main campus areas can be all academic buildings.

Build new dorms & food ops up at the new athletic lands as well. Should be fairly easy to have a constant shuttle running. Puts students living up by the sports too, give them (some) free tickets and encourage a rowdy student attendance.

This is like a 25-30 year plan type of thing, I'm guessing. Prob take $500M to do it all?
 
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gopher7 said:
I took a screenshot out of a map and moved stuff around, and here is how the U facilities would fit in the T&C land (the golf course was where all the white space is). Looks like there would be plenty of room for jus about whatever they needed.

View attachment 17079
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Nice work!

I assume the club house, parking, swimming pool, tennis court area on the bottom left would be included as well?

Or maybe they'd sell that separate for commercial development.
 


MennoSota said:
Are all the members of the T&C going to transfer membership to the Somerset Golf Club in West St Paul/Mendota?

Many decades back, people who couldn't get in to the T&C bought land and created Somerset. That place is immaculate, but has few members, mainly due to high fees and exclusivity. Somerset one denied Bob Hope the opportunity to golf there.

In any case, I hope T&C gouges St Thomas for the land,if they sell.
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Yea, this wouldn't happen. T&C has wayyyy more members than Somerset does, and they're just much different clubs.

As you noted- Somerset is extremely exclusive, and their members like it that way. It's an awesome track but a ghost town most days, it's always bizarre driving by and seeing tons of empty holes.
 


Zeppelin Gopher said:
Yea, this wouldn't happen. T&C has wayyyy more members than Somerset does, and they're just much different clubs.

As you noted- Somerset is extremely exclusive, and their members like it that way. It's an awesome track but a ghost town most days, it's always bizarre driving by and seeing tons of empty holes.
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100%
 

As someone who served on the board of a golf club that has very valuable land, these unsolicited offers come along more frequently than one might think. Because the members hold stock in the club, the board has a fiduciary responsibility to its shareholders to investigate offers. Most can be dismissed out of hand. But sometimes, you are forced to investigate these offers in a more formal way to protect yourself from potential shareholder actions. If it were not for the fact that T&C had the embezzlement issue a few years back, and the subsequent assessments from its members, I am guessing the board might have just turned this unsolicited offer down immediately. But that past complicates their situation. As does the dollar amount.

The tax issue is not inconsequential. Most clubs have minimal stock prices - substantially under a $1000 per share. The capital gain tax on the sale would be substantial. And while newer members may like that concept, from experience, older (in age and tenure) members are hyper sensitive about things like that.

On top, there is an extra step in any development at T&C - a commission that controls the River Bluff area. Their rules have stymied the Highland Bridges development, the redevelopment of the Diamond Jim's Mall area in Lilydale, etc. Extremely tight development standards with little room for variances. St Thomas would have a serious uphill battle for a stadium.

The really solution for St Thomas is the Seminary property. But the neighbors have fought them tooth and nail on every development. Guessing they think the T&C neighbors would be easier. Yeah....right.

It will be fun to see how this plays out. But I would not be holding my breath.
 

UST82Gopher said:
As someone who served on the board of a golf club that has very valuable land, these unsolicited offers come along more frequently than one might think. Because the members hold stock in the club, the board has a fiduciary responsibility to its shareholders to investigate offers. Most can be dismissed out of hand. But sometimes, you are forced to investigate these offers in a more formal way to protect yourself from potential shareholder actions. If it were not for the fact that T&C had the embezzlement issue a few years back, and the subsequent assessments from its members, I am guessing the board might have just turned this unsolicited offer down immediately. But that past complicates their situation. As does the dollar amount.

The tax issue is not inconsequential. Most clubs have minimal stock prices - substantially under a $1000 per share. The capital gain tax on the sale would be substantial. And while newer members may like that concept, from experience, older (in age and tenure) members are hyper sensitive about things like that.

On top, there is an extra step in any development at T&C - a commission that controls the River Bluff area. Their rules have stymied the Highland Bridges development, the redevelopment of the Diamond Jim's Mall area in Lilydale, etc. Extremely tight development standards with little room for variances. St Thomas would have a serious uphill battle for a stadium.

The really solution for St Thomas is the Seminary property. But the neighbors have fought them tooth and nail on every development. Guessing they think the T&C neighbors would be easier. Yeah....right.

It will be fun to see how this plays out. But I would not be holding my breath.
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You think that the T and C is going to be harder to navigate around than the papacy?
 





Some guy said:
Nice to know his source is gopher hole



I have actually heard they might buy part of the old Ford plant for this purpose. (We will see if this shows up in a column later)
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The Ford Plant is the Highland Bridge site pointed out in the above post.
 

Gophers_4life said:
I think that's what the "Highland Park bridge site" reference is.

I thought that has been slated to be redeveloped into a huge new residential/retail area?
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I live in Highland and you're right the development is called Highland Bridge. Some retail will be opening soon. I heard the housing may be on hold because the affordable housing/rent control component is making the deal financially prohibitive for the developer.
 

Allshade said:
I live in Highland and you're right the development is called Highland Bridge. Some retail will be opening soon. I heard the housing may be on hold because the affordable housing/rent control component is making the deal financially prohibitive for the developer.
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Good zoning laws. Reduce the supply to make it cheaper…wait a minute
 

I know T & C has just completed renovations to their bar area and they're looking do more to the pool, tennis area and the Men's locker room, guessing they'll crunch whatever numbers need to be crunched and deny this. Won't be too many if any members that will be in favor
 


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