The 24,000-square-foot Town Square Park in downtown St. Paul, seen in a Jan. 25, 2000 photo, was built as part of the two-block Town Square development in the late 1970s.

The past 50 years have seen waves of handwringing over the future of the Saintly City’s central business district, and the latest appears to be cresting right now.

Town Square’s unwelcoming exterior surely contributed to noted urban sociologist William Whyte‘s famous assessment that downtown St. Paul is the “blank wall capital of the world.” ...

Built in 1980, Town Square is a mixed-use block in downtown St. Paul that features two towers: UBS Plaza and Bremer Tower. The largest tenants in the complex include the Minnesota Attorney General ...

Roughly 10,000 people live in downtown St. Paul, ... Spencer cited the Park Square Court building at 400 N. Sibley St. and the Empire Building at 360 N. Robert St. as good candidates for housing ...

Among the recent departures were Paul A. Hartquist Jewelers and B’s Barbershop, both of whom could measure their time downtown in decades. Both plan to reopen shortly within the Town Square complex.

The Park Square Court building at 400 Sibley St. in downtown St. Paul was completed in 1880. The Richardson Romanesque-style structure will open as a Marriott Tribute hotel in 2019.

St. Paul’s privately funded downtown improvement district will stretch into Lowertown next year, a move that will roughly double funding for special cleaning and safety services throughout the ...

Downtown St. Paul comes alive with excitement on nights when 18,000 Minnesota Wild ... Spencer cited the Park Square Court building at 400 N. Sibley St. and the Empire Building at 360 N. Robert St ...