Omni Minneapolis Viking Lakes

Omni Hotels and Resorts will open its first Minnesota location at the Viking Lakes development in Eagan adjacent to the NFL team's new headquarters.

The 14-story, 320-room hotel, designed with Nordic architectural touches by ESG Architecture & Design of Minneapolis, is scheduled to open in fall 2020.

It will provide a base for Minnesota Vikings players and visiting fans during summer training camp. The Vikings last year opened a new headquarters and training facility on the site that was previously the headquarters location of Northwest Airlines.

The team's complex was the first part of a multiyear development planned by team owners Mark, Zygi and Leonard Wilf under the aegis of MV Eagan Ventures. The hotel marks the second phase of the development.

Mark Wilf said Omni's decision to build its first hotel in Minnesota at the Eagan development is "a testament to this market and to the overall vision of developing Viking Lakes into a first-class destination."

The hotel will have an all-day restaurant, a lounge with an outdoor terrace, a grab-and-go market, retail, an espresso and lobby bar as well as an outdoor pool, full-service spa, sauna and steam room. More than 35,000 square feet of outdoor and indoor meeting space will be available, including a 7,500-square-foot ballroom and a 4,410-square-foot event center.

A unique feature, according to Omni and Viking Lakes, will be six two-story hospitality lounges placed on every other floor. Each will feature couches, communal tables, a fireplace and kitchen for groups and meeting planners to use.

"From small boardroom meetings, conferences and large galas or wedding receptions to Sunday football tailgates and intimate concert settings, Omni Viking Lakes Hotel will be able to accommodate groups of all sizes with its robust offerings," the release said.

Omni President Peter Strebel said the Dallas-based company is growing rapidly and that this project "will be a true collaboration that reflects the American Nordic local color offering travelers a one-of-a-kind experience."

The company currently has 60 hotels across North America.

Minneapolis-based Kraus-Anderson has been hired as the contractor on the hotel.

Local partners behind the hotel include the Le Sueur-based Davis family that owns Cambria doing business as Ma Mi Ma R Omni Hotels and Resorts Real Estate Holdings, Ecolab and a group of physicians with Twin Cities Orthopedics.

Ecolab has a research-and-development facility within a mile of the hotel that employs 2,000 workers and Twin Cities Orthopedics opened a full-service clinic in Viking Lakes.

The Wilf group acquired the 200-acre parcel near Dodd Road and Interstate 494 in 2017 to develop a mixed-use campus for the team while preserving wetlands and trees and adding trails. The site already has sufficient road and utility infrastructure for the hotel.

After the hotel, the Wilfs plan a residential phase for the development, beginning with some 300 housing units leading to an eventual 1,000. Before acquiring the Vikings in 2005, the Wilfs were established New Jersey real estate developers.

Hotel website