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Norman, in Ramsey, said large public investments can really help generate buy-in from residents who will live, work and shop in a new project. The city acquired land for the city hall in exchange for a reduction in development fees for another part of the project, Norman said. It was a good trade for Ramsey because it helped establish a public gathering space in the $1.3 billion project that will eventually have 2,800 housing units, 775,000 square feet of commercial space, a movie theater, a K -12 charter school and two miles of walking trails. History returns From Minneapolis to Hopkins to Hastings, traditional downtowns have had a mixture of government and commercial uses. As retail outlets spread to strip malls and shopping centers in the suburbs, municipal buildings got separated. That trend began to change in a big way in the Twin Cities with the 1999 development of the Arbor Lakes Main Street project in Maple Grove. The project, which seemed like a set from a Hollywood studio when it opened, has become one of the most-cited and successful examples of mixed-use projects in the region. Much of developer Opus Northwest's risk to try the envelope-pushing project was mitigated when the city decided to "step up" and build a new city hall and police substation there, said Tim Murnane, vice president of development for Minnetonka-based Opus. The city also assisted in the development of a $19 million community and fitness center next door to city hall and bought land for a future library. Maple Grove acquired land for the public components at market rates from a third-party landowner. The idea was for the civic components to anchor the north end of Main Street and help draw traffic into the retail space, especially in the beginning, Murnane said. "It actually worked. People come and go to city hall, and they do stay and dine in the restaurants," Murnane said. Potential for conflict of interest The danger of public-private partnerships is that public bodies may lose their objectivity. There's always a potential for conflict of interest, or perceived conflict, when the cities that oversee development guidelines and enforce building codes and zoning laws, are actually part of the development itself. Cities could potentially relax the development guideline standards for projects where they have a stake, but that can, and should be, avoided, said John Shardlow, a development consultant who's worked with many local suburbs on mixed-use projects.