The rail line could spur development of 7,150 new housing units, more than 19 million sf of commercial development and over 67,000 new jobs along the light rail corridor by 2020, according to a market study commissioned by several government agencies, including the Minneapolis Community Development Agency and the Metropolitan Council.

One development already underway is a 550-room hotel, an office complex and 150 luxury condo units near the Nicollet Mall station. Opus Northwest, which owns several blocks near the station, is close to finalizing financing for the project. Also, the city of Minneapolis is close to finishing a deal near the around the Downtown East station, near the Metrodome, for a public-financed, 450-stall parking ramp that would spur a retail-office complex.

Congress recently completed its review of a $334-million grant from the Federal Transit Administration, which will provide nearly half of the financing for the $675 million project. The other funding elements are already in place, and that allowed a variety of public figures including Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura, Congressman Martin Sabo, Metropolitan Council Chair Ted Mondale and Minneapolis Mayor Sharon Sayles Belton to shovel dirt at the ceremonial ground-breaking.