Fargo committee hears consultants: downtown reuse ranks highest in one analysis as financing gaps emerge

The Fargo Convention Center Evaluation Committee on Wednesday heard consultants from Baker Tilly and HVS present a side‑by‑side review of four competing proposals — a Civic Center adaptive reuse, a new Brewhalla/Unicorn Park development, arena‑based options tied to the Fargo Dome/Enclave, and a Shields site — and agreed to rank the proposals and move into negotiations rather than try to finalize every financial unknown now.

Baker Tilly’s David Earnhardt said the firm’s work focused on feasibility and what would be required to get each submission “over the finish line,” and stressed that assumptions about financing, operations and guarantees varied widely across the proposals. “Our goal was really to view each one asking the question of: is this feasible? Is it reasonable?” Earnhardt said.

The consultants identified broad themes rather than endorsing a single winner. Madeline Garza (Baker Tilly) told the committee that the proposals differ by roughly $20 million in capital cost estimates and present varying levels of operational risk and public subsidy needs. She said the Civic Center adaptive‑reuse plan fits the old $41 million base case in a minimal form but would likely require an additional $5 million in TIF to deliver a fuller visitor experience and still showed an ongoing operating subsidy in year five under the teams’ modeling.

HVS consultant Tom Hasinski, who provided a separate ranking and market analysis, said the downtown Civic…