Metro Transit's Green Line spurs $4.2 billion in development, Met Council says

Development along Metro Transit's Green Line light-rail route in Minneapolis has reached $4.2 billion in value, the Metropolitan Council announced yesterday.

The figure marks an increase from the council's calculation in fall 2015 of $3.2 billion, Metropolitan Council officials said in a press release.

A Green Line train at the University of Minnesota
Photo: Metro Transit's Flickr account

"At a cost of $957 million – half of that covered by the federal government – the Green Line has provided a serious return on investment for Minnesotans," said Metropolitan Council Chairman Adam Duininck.

Local officials originally estimated $7 billion in development would occur along the line over 30 years, St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman said in the release.

The Twin Cities region is experiencing similar development growth along the planned Southwest Light-Rail Transit route, which is an extension of the Green Line. The Metropolitan Council has estimated $430 million in development, underway or finished along that route.

Likewise, the proposed Blue Line Extension has led to $358 million in development, council officials said, adding that those developments occurred before construction has begun on either either extension.