Treasure Island buys naming rights to St. Paul Macy’s site

It’s Wabasha Center no more: Treasure Island Resort & Casino now owns naming rights to the former Macy’s store in downtown St. Paul, which is in the midst of a $70 million overhaul.

The complex will now be known as Treasure Island Center.

Wabasha Center was the working title for the building at 400 Wabasha St. N., which is slated to open to the public later this year. The deal was announced Monday by the St. Paul Port Authority, which is partnering with Minneapolis-based Hempel Cos. on the mammoth project.

Treasure Island Resort & Casino is owned by the Prairie Island Indian Community, a federally recognized Mdewakanton Sioux tribe that is centered in northeastern Goodhue County.

“St. Paul has always been an important market for Treasure Island Resort & Casino, and it is even more significant to us as a Dakota tribe because it is within our historic territory,” Tribal Council President Shelley Buck said in a press release.

Treasure Island joins Tria Orthopaedic Center, which recently became the corporate sponsor of the facility’s rooftop-level ice rink.

Port Authority representative Andrea Novak and Treasure Island representative Cindy Taube declined to comment on the terms of the deal, though Taube did say the contract is for more than five years with an option to renew.

Novak said that Treasure Island was an early contender for the sponsorship.

“They were the first to come to the table. It’s great to have Treasure Island and Tria on board for our two marquee sponsorships,” Novak said on Monday. “Having them will help us sell the other sponsorships [at the center].”

Novak said the partners will offer corporate sponsorships for the bleachers at the ice rink and the parking ramp, as well as some smaller opportunities around the building.

At this point, Treasure Island has not signed on for space at the center, though neither Novak nor Taube ruled that out as a possibility. Whatever the case may be, it would not be a casino, they said.

“Whenever people hear that we’re investing somewhere, they always assume we’re going to stick a bunch of slot machines in there,” Taube said. “That’s not in the cards.”

Taube said the casino was considering the center for office space.

Treasure Island Center has about 209,000 square feet of leasable space in all.

Leasing activity is heating up. During the week of Feb. 20, new tenants were made public: a special investigations unit with the St. Paul Police Department, a craft brewery and Tria Orthopaedic Center, which also became the corporate sponsor of the facility’s rooftop-level ice rink. The three joined the Minnesota Wild hockey team, which signed on to use the complex for its practice facility in December.

Construction on Treasure Island Center is expected to conclude in the fall.

Treasure Island Resort & Casino is on Sturgeon Lake, about 20 minutes north of Red Wing. In addition to gaming, it includes a 3,000-seat event center, a marina, RV parking, and a golf course. The casino is a sponsor of many of the state’s professional sports teams, including the Wild, Timberwolves, Lynx, Twins and the St. Paul Saints.

The sponsorship was brokered by The Brand Enhancement Group, a St. Paul-based sports marketing firm. The company will continue to be involved in seeking additional sponsorships.

Reported by:  finance-commerce.com