Bandana Square

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Bandana Square in Saint Paul, Minnesota sits at Energy Park Drive and Bandana Boulevard on the old Como Shops of the Northern Pacific Railway. Built in 1885, the site is on the National Register of Historic Places. It opened in 1984 as Bandana Square, a large festival marketplace and hotel complex planned to be a shopping mall for the Energy Park area, with funding from railroads, the government, and private grants. A Best Western hotel and conference center remains there today.

Early tenants included the Dakota Jazz Club (which moved to Downtown Minneapolis in 2003) and Dino’s Greek, Bandana Square’s first year‑round restaurant. The Wilder Foundation bought the project in 1983 for $17 million, but by 1989 the venture was financially failing and only about 65% of the space was occupied. The Saint Paul Port Authority then took over in March 1989 and later sold the center to investors for $3 million.

Wellington Management bought Bandana Square in 2003 for $6.1 million and converted the complex entirely to offices in 2006. Nearby, the Minnesota Children’s Museum occupied a building near Bandana Square from 1985 to 1995, and the Twin City Model Railroad Museum was housed there from 1984 to 2016 before moving to a new St. Paul location. Today, Bandana Square functions as an office center, preserving the site’s railroad history.