Rosemount, St. Thomas receive state funding for tech projects

Dakota County land that was once used to manufacture gunpowder could soon be home to an industry-leading aerospace facility.

North Wind Test, a St. Paul-based aerospace engineering research, development and test company, was awarded nearly $50 million this week to aid in the construction and development of the Minnesota Aerospace Complex at UMore Park.

A partnership between the University of Minnesota College of Science and Engineering and North Wind, the facility will be used to advance the United States’ supersonic ground testing, modeling and simulation capabilities, according to the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development.

The goal is for it to be “the country’s premier aerospace complex for hypersonic system research, development and testing,” DEED said in a grant announcement this week. The initial phase of the aerospace complex is expected to cost around $191.5 million and create 40 new jobs.

If all goes according to plan, the facility will be located on a 60-acre site directly south of a Meta data center at the corner of the future 151st Street and Blaine Avenue, according to city documents.

Meta, the parent company of Facebook, is constructing its $800 million data center on a 280-acre parcel of UMore Park near Dakota County Technical College.

Spanning over 4,500 acres, the land was bought by the federal government in 1942 for a gunpowder manufacturing facility. After World War II, it was given to the University of Minnesota and used as a research site.

The land earmarked for the aerospace complex, which has been vacant and contaminated for nearly 80 years, would be fully remediated and repurposed, according to North Wind.

Minnesota Aerospace Complex

Rosemount City Council approved a preliminary, final plat and rezoning from A-2 Agriculture to B-2 Employment for the project in February, said Adam Kienberger, community development director for the city.

“We’re excited to design, build and operate the Minnesota Aerospace Complex in Rosemount,” said North Wind President and CEO David Meier at the Feb. 18 meeting.

Once completed, the estimated $1 billion complex will boast three wind tunnels, which are used to study the effects and safety of air moving over an object, like an aircraft.

A portion of the UMore parcel tagged for the aerospace complex “was actually the original location of the University of Minnesota Rosemount Aeronautical Lab that did wind tunnel testing from 1946 to 1962,” Meier said.

“We have a strong partnership with the University of Minnesota and they will be doing the modeling and simulation work side-by-side with us,” Meier said. “We think this will be a critical research center in the U.S. going forward.”

North Wind, which was founded in Minnesota in 1952, specializes in air-breathing propulsion systems and high speed aerodynamics and designs and manufactures mission-critical components.

Since 1959, the company has also had a footprint in Plymouth where it houses its hypersonic wind tunnel. “We actually did testing for the Apollo mission to the moon in that facility,” Meier said.

The preliminary Rosemount site plan shows several buildings including an 80,500-square-foot aero-thermal tunnel, a 60,000-square-foot UMN engineering facility and a 46,500-square-foot aerodynamic tunnel building. Other facilities noted on the site plan include a campus heating and cooling plant and air storage and air compressor buildings.

In the long term, the complex is expected to employ roughly 100 people including engineers, technicians and calibration experts, Meier said, adding that it could be five years until the facility is up and running.

Still to come in the way of approvals are a final site and building plan and related development agreements, Kienberger said.

The nearly $50 million grant given Monday for the construction and development of the facility was funded by the Minnesota Forward Fund, which facilitates private investment that supports business attraction and expansion in existing and new industries in Minnesota.

University of St. Thomas

The University of St. Thomas was awarded $5 million this week, also from the Minnesota Forward Fund.