The Ramsey County Regional Railroad Authority ("RCRRA") seeks a partner to help achieve its vision of making the Union Depot one of America's great public buildings and transit hubs for the 21st century. The RCRRA is in the process of renovating The Union Depot Building on a 33-acre riverfront site in downtown Saint Paul, Minnesota as part of the development of The Union Depot Multimodal Transit Hub project.

The RCRRA will use a two-step RFQ/RFP procurement process to select an Activation and Development partner. The intent of this RFQ is to request Statements of Qualifications ("SOQ") from qualified developers, innovative retail and programming strategists, and small-tenant marketplace operators to implement a comprehensive retail, cultural, and event program for this restored civic center and multimodal transit hub. Organizations, joint ventures, or individuals responding to this Request for Qualifications ("RFQ") must describe their vision, implementation plan, preferred deal structure, and qualifications in their submissions. The subsequent RFP process is intended to result in the selection of an Activation and Development partner.

The $243 million renovation of the Union Depot began in January 2011, and is scheduled for completion at the end of 2012, when Amtrak's Empire Builder and local and intercity buses will begin to serve the building. The Central Corridor LRT, also currently under construction, is scheduled to open in 2014 at the doorstep of the Union Depot building, in front of a new one-acre public plaza. The Central Corridor LRT will connect downtown Saint Paul, downtown Minneapolis, the State Capitol complex, and the diverse ethnic populations of University Avenue, as well as several higher education institutions, including the University of Minnesota.
Plans are also being advanced for several other regional transitways as well as high speed rail service to Chicago to serve the Union Depot within the decade. The Union Depot building is expected to serve approximately 1,000,000 transit riders annually when the Central Corridor LRT opens, and several million more riders annually as other regional transit and intercity train corridors are developed.

Proposals are due February 21, 2012.

For additional information and links to the RFQ document, please visit http://bit.ly/uniondepotsolicitations

This RFP is being issued concurrently with the issuance of a Request for Proposals to identify a preferred operator of a bicycle center in the Union Depot Building and a Request for Proposals to identify a property management firm for the entire Union Depot site.