New Wolves ownership still wants downtown arena

• "There'll be some kind of public-private partnership, and we'll work with the mayor and the county and the state … it'll be very, very friendly, I think, to the government," Caldwell said Tuesday during a panel at the Star Tribune's North Star Summit.

He was joined on stage by Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, who said that while he still opposes direct public subsidies for an arena, "I do anticipate there being a substantial public-private partnership in some form."

• He later raised the idea of the city playing a role in a downtown arena district with housing, restaurants and even a Topgolf.

Why it matters: While Frey previously told Axios that his preferred location is City Center on Nicollet Mall, his comments during the event signaled some flexibility.

• He raised the idea of moving the Farmers Market into Target Center, which would create a year-round indoor market that he compared to Philadelphia's Reading Terminal Market. The balance of the building could be used for housing, entertainment or office space, Frey said.
• The current Farmers Market site has been bandied about as a stadium location for years — first for a soccer stadium and more recently for basketball.
• Frey has always preferred an arena closer to the center of the city to reactivate an area still reeling from the loss of office workers, particularly Nicollet Mall. But the Farmers Market relocation is a twist.

The bottom line: The comments by the two leaders reveal one path where things could be headed: a request for a regional or state subsidy for construction of the arena, with the city playing a role in surrounding economic development.