Park Board, Graco Lock Horns Over Mississippi Trail, New HQ

The following article by Mark Reilly was published in the February 17, 2015 edition of the
Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal.

Park Board, Graco Lock Horns Over Mississippi Trail, New HQ

The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board is considering seizing land owned by Graco Inc. through eminent domain while the manufacturer seeks a deal that will let it expand its riverside headquarters.

Finance & Commerce reports on the stalemate, which centers on nearly 2 acres of Graco property at its headquarters in Northeast Minneapolis. The Park Board wants to use it as an easement for a trail along the river. When Graco (NYSE: GGG) last expanded its headquarters in 2000, it offered to provide land for the easement. But that deal was never finalized, the Star Tribune notes, and the company says the city waived the requirement years ago.

Now, Graco is offering the land again, but as part of a package deal that gives it some Park Board property on the former site of Scherer Brothers Lumber Co.