Hospitality professionals weigh in
on downtown revitalization

Hospitality professionals weigh in on downtown revitalization
By Jake Spitzack | Staff Writer | October 2025

For downtown St. Paul to fully rebound from the pandemic, city and business leaders have repeatedly said more people are needed downtown. However, the city continues to fight some negative perceptions that may be keeping people away. For insight into the visitor experience the St. Paul Voice recently interviewed several people working in the city’s hospitality industry.

Ryan Culhane is the front desk manager at the historic and iconic St. Paul Hotel and is the first point of contact for many people visiting downtown St. Paul.

“The city itself is stunning,” Culhane said of its aesthetically pleasing architecture. “The complaints we get are that it closes so early and there’s not a lot of social events or shopping. If they’re looking to burn a few hours in the middle of the day, there’s not a lot for them to do. There is a certain subset of guests who notice and comment on the vagrancy situation in the city.”

Culhane said concertgoers and hockey fans bring a palpable positive energy downtown and often leave with a positive outlook on the city. People who stay longer and wander through the city are more likely to notice dirty or potentially dangerous things. The hotel sees a good mix of guests from outside the metro and out of state, most of them in town for business or to attend an event. Occupancy numbers are down about 15% compared to 2019. September, October, December and March are the busiest months, while summer can lag a bit, especially in July and August.

“Some people I know in property management have been buzzing about the city being at the start of an upturn,” added Culhane. “I love hearing that from them, and the revitalization and general improvement plans that different people have. I know that none of it is set in stone, but I love hearing that buzz and that people are interested in coming back and making the city boom again.”

Leslie Ingiald, the hotel’s catering and sales director, has worked closely with many groups over the years who choose downtown for their big events. She said the hotel consistently books large blocks of rooms for weddings and that their guests’ perceptions of downtown are mostly positive.

Tour guides
Husband and wife Bick Smith and Cynthia Schreiner Smith both guided historical tours for Wabasha Street Caves for about 20 years until the pandemic forced that business to close. As a result, they decided to start their own historical tour business four years ago: CynCity Tours. The history buffs have in-depth knowledge of the Capital City’s gangster connections, and about half of their tours have attendees visiting from outside of Minnesota.

Bick Smith, like Culhane, said most people visit downtown for a specific event rather than to explore in general. This is CynCity’s busy season for haunted tours, and they see a fair number of travelers year-round from Illinois who are interested in comparing Chicago’s gangster past to St. Paul’s. Since the pandemic, he’s heard more people from the suburbs voicing negative preconceptions of downtown, primarily related to crime.

“I think the perception has gotten worse over the last few years, even though crime has dropped since the pandemic,” he said. “There’s a lot coming in…now that is telling people not to go downtown, and they’re going to send people in there to clean it up and all that. I think that there are a lot of people who find it’s just safer and easier for their peace of mind to stay in their suburb than it is to come downtown and maybe drive through some construction.”

Smith is quick to point out that downtown has many things people can’t find in suburbs, like the impressive Union Depot and Central Library buildings, and popular entertainment venues like the Ordway Center for Performing Arts and CHS Field. The skyways are also unique to downtown, and Smith has walked almost the entirety of the system once a week for the past 16 months doing research for their tours. While skyway activity has not yet rebounded to pre-pandemic levels, he’s been pleased to see increased foot traffic and more businesses opening lately. Additionally, he is appreciative of the St. Paul Downtown Alliance street ambassadors who have been employed since 2019 to help keep the streets clean and answer questions for visitors.

Looking ahead, Smith hopes a new owner will soon take control of the recently vacated Alliance Bank building and its skyway, and that the city will continue to increase connections to the Mississippi River.

“I think it all leads to good things but we just have to have everybody working on it and not stopping,” he said. “It’s the consistent effort needed…. You really have to adapt [as a business right now.] The long-term goal for us is to work with the City of St. Paul and merchants to try to strengthen downtown, because if the city is thriving, then we will thrive. Cynthia has a very soft place in her heart – as do I – for St. Paul and I feel like that’s a great foundation to build on.”

Budget
Mayor Melvin Carter recently announced his proposed 2026 budget and among the biggest and most notable allocations is $5 million for housing redevelopment projects designed to dramatically increase the number of people living downtown, which could spark economic growth that will benefit the entire city. This is in-line with the St. Paul Downtown Alliance’s 2023 Downtown Investment Strategy that has a goal to add 20,000 downtown residents to its already 10,000-plus residents; add 20,000 workers (now around 55,000); and increase the number of annual visitors by 20%, to reach 10 million. The plan identified three ways the public and private sectors can work together to reach the goals: convert office space into housing, invest in pedestrian-oriented streetscape improvements and advance downtown St. Paul’s most strategic redevelopment opportunities. One such potential redevelopment opportunity is the RiversEdge project, which combines several ambitious housing, office and commercial developments along the Mississippi River downtown.

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