Treasure Island buys naming rights for old St. Paul Macy's building

A tribal casino has bought naming rights for the former Macy's building in downtown St. Paul.

Treasure Island Center branding will appear on the outside of the building, and the Prairie Island Indian Community may be a tenant. The tribe owns the Caribbean-themed casino near Red Wing.

"There won't be a casino in there, but there's been some conversation looking at taking some space within the project as well," said St. Paul Port Authority president Lee Krueger, adding that they are looking at using a skyway level area "where they can display some of their tribal history and some of the other activities that they're involved in."

Terms of the deal weren't disclosed. The St. Paul Port Authority bought the building in 2014 and has been working on redeveloping the site with Hempel, a private developer.

The most prominent feature will be a practice rink for the Minnesota Wild on the building's top level. Another tenant, a TRIA Orthopaedic Center clinic, bought naming rights for the rink. Developers anticipate other tenants could include a brew pub and space for St. Paul police.

"It's going to be a while before we put the signage up, but I think there's been a lot of progress," Krueger said. "Our plan on the Cedar Street side is probably have a mural. We don't know when that will go up, but that should be announced in April."

The building is expected to be finished later this year. Macy's closed its downtown St. Paul store in 2013.