The City of Blaine, Minnesota has been one of the fastest growing suburbs in the Twin Cities for a couple of years running, and for good reason.
Blaine is safe, affordable, and offers a careful balance of nature and curated amenities, making it an ideal place to raise a family and put down roots—but also a place to visit. Located only 10 miles away from downtown Minneapolis, Blaine offers access, proximity, and a unique character of its own.
Regarded as a premier sports and recreation hub in the Twin Cities metro area, the city continues to find ways to bring people in and get them to stay by investing in the city and its infrastructure to ensure that growth is thoughtful and intentional, a strategy that has proven itself time and time again.
Investing in tomorrow, today
It’s no surprise that people are attracted to Blaine. Recognized as one of Money Magazine’s Top 100 Best Places to Live, the community offers countless draws that continue to drive growth in terms of population, investment, and payoff.
The city has grown its retail, commercial, industrial, and residential footprints, all while seeking to preserve the quality of life enjoyed by its residents in the process. Now with a population of just over 76,000, the growth has been sustainable thanks to continued investments in infrastructure, housing, and quality of life to ensure that the city remains a destination of choice.
“We are developing in an orderly fashion, and our infrastructure is ready for that. Also, we are seeing a lot of improvements through the county infrastructure,” explains Community Development Director, Sheila Sellman. These improvements include efforts to expand water, energy, and highway infrastructure to sustain the growth.
Highway 65, specifically, is a great example of a long-advocated investment being made by the State, County, and City that will have a resounding impact for the residents and businesses in Blaine. This is a north-south corridor that runs through the city and is traveled by over 55,000 vehicles a day and soon, it will receive much-needed improvements, as site preparation is underway for 2027 construction.
This investment will not only improve connectivity and access from a logistical standpoint, but it will also open up additional land for development, which is needed as Blaine approaches its complete build-out.
A community in redevelopment
Like many other markets around the country, construction activity in Blaine has experienced a slowdown, largely due to extenuating circumstances beyond its control including high material costs, interest rates, and economic uncertainty, though the building inspection department continues to be busy.
While residential development has slowed, there continues to be activity, particularly in the retail and commercial sectors in northeast Blaine, which has been an area of development focus for years.
“We do have the northeast part of the town opening up for development; when I say that, I mean that city sewer and water will be extended to the north, which hasn’t been the case. With our development trends heading north on Lexington Avenue, that will open up our city sewer and water for those parcels,” says Sellman.
There is also an effort to make what was old new again. For instance, the Northtown Mall is experiencing a retail awakening thanks to the opening of Asia Village, a new Asian-themed marketplace that will breathe new life and culture into the community. With 11 different restaurants, a well-equipped grocery store, and much more, the development has been in the works for years and is now operating, much to the pleasure of residents from the community and surrounding areas who are willing to travel to take advantage of the plethora of choices.
“We’re hoping to see that really change the landscape of the mall and bring in some new stores to revitalize the area,” says Economic Development Specialist, Ruth Tucker.
There is also a growing focus on the North Meadows neighborhood through projects like Lexington Crossings and Lexington Meadows, multi-tenant mixed-use developments that will see the addition of housing, retail, and commercial tenants in what continues to be a challenging market.
“We continue to see challenges with high rental rates for commercial space, limited space, and limited land availability. We are getting closer to growing up fully and the land we do have left is quite challenging,” notes Tucker. She adds, “We have found some creative ways to get around some of that with public-private partnerships, and in some cases, incentives, when merited.”
From Tucker’s perspective, “We’re being much more strategic about our growth to make sure we’re getting the uses and amenities that our residents want to see and need versus just what we can infill.”
A big part of this strategy and intention has centered around one of the biggest draws to the community: sports and entertainment, which continues to be a driver that is bringing opportunity to Blaine.
Game on!
As a sports and entertainment destination, a great deal of effort has gone into Blaine’s 105th Redevelopment District, the sports entertainment district that is home to the National Sports Center, restaurants, hospitality, entertainment, and residential, and continues to draw the attention of locals and visitors alike.
“There’s been a lot going on out there. They are working on the utilities for that district, so the water and sewer have gone in, and they’re upgrading 105th Avenue by adding another roundabout,” says Sellman of the project, which was under construction at the time of writing.
Centered around the National Sports Center, the world’s largest amateur sports campus. Featuring the world’s largest indoor ice arena of its kind and spanning 600 acres, the NSC is the most visited sports facility in the state, generating over $70 million in annual visitor economic impact. The facility, which features 17 artificial turf fields and more than 30 grass fields, hosts the Target USA Cup, one of the largest amateur soccer tournaments in the world, and its eight sheets of ice are the training grounds of the USA Women’s Olympic Hockey Team and athletes of all skill levels.
The true spectacle of the site has to be the M Health Fairview Dome, a 110-foot-tall space that holds two full-sized soccer fields and two full-sized baseball diamonds, making it the largest of its kind in the Western Hemisphere. Meanwhile, the 58,000-square-foot NSC Sports Hall and a 5,000-seat stadium hosts countless events.
Blaine is also home to Victory Links Golf Course, an 18-hole championship golf course and the only PGA-Tour designed course open to the public in Minnesota, which sees some of the world’s best golfers engaged in competition during the 3M Open each year, Minnesota’s only PGA event. While this event brings with it an impressive economic boost for the community, Blaine has also found a way to maximize the impact of the sport.
Waggle, one of the fastest growing golf apparel and lifestyle brands, has relocated its headquarters and flagship retail store to Blaine’s Radisson Road Business Center, which proves that the city is truly capitalizing on every avenue of growth available to it, doing so in a way that complements the community and its growing assets.
Growing with intention
Not all economic wins are loud, but that doesn’t mean their impact is any smaller. Through continued economic growth and success, Blaine continues to build confidence in its ability to meet the needs of a growing population while maximizing the quality of life and return on investment of these activities.
As it approaches full build-out, there is an acute awareness that the needs of the community must be met, which is why, in addition to new permits and plans, the community is also conducting feasibility studies, including one to identify the viability of a new fire station in the northeast.
Through this growth strategy, Blaine maintains a future-focused approach to development, intentionally building on its strengths, sustaining its growth, and celebrating the many wins that will reinforce the character and identify of this community for the long term.
