As a commercial Realtor raised in St. Paul, Scott Miller has seen the capital city’s downtown struggle with high office vacancies and other challenges. Miller has no illusions about the tight lending market, high interest rates and the uncertainties of the national economy.

Still, if there’s a site in his old hometown he sees as ripe for redevelopment, it’s the soon-to-be-shuttered WestRock paper recycling plant near Interstate 94 and Minnesota 280.

Where some see an industrial freight line leading into warehouse-like buildings, he sees opportunity.

“It’s a beautiful site, just beautiful,” said Miller, in a recent interview, pointing to its access to both freight rail and passenger light rail, the two highways and restaurants, a grocery store and workforce within walking distance. In additional to new industry, could the WestRock site someday host new luxury residences just off University Avenue? He wouldn’t rule it out.

“It is one of the best opportunities for St. Paul in decades,” said Dillon Donnelly, a former director with Donnelly Custom Manufacturing and workforce partnership manager with Hospitality Minnesota, a hotel and restaurant industry lobbying association. “My hope is there is some job density, rather than warehouse.”

‘Candidate for industrial redevelopment’

Smurfit WestRock, a global packaging company, informed nearly 200 workers last week it will close the paper recycling facility for good on June 30, ending an era that began with the plant’s opening in 1907.

Rather than mourn its departure, some business advocates call the plant’s closure and repositioning overdue, given that its 25 to 40 acres could realistically accommodate far more than 189 employees in an outdated industrial facility. The plant, which shed nearly half its workers in 2022, once employed more than 10 times its current number.

“It is the perfect candidate for industrial redevelopment,” said Todd Hurley, president and chief executive officer of the St. Paul Port Authority, the city’s redevelopment partner.

“WestRock closing its operations is a huge loss in St. Paul, but we also think it’s a massive opportunity in St. Paul,” Hurley said. “This was coming. WestRock shrunk its operations over the years. … This site lends itself to several hundred more jobs.”

‘The things that are industry are looking for’

Efforts to reach WestRock for comment were not immediately successful this week.

Before taking a reporter’s call on Friday, Hurley said he had just gotten off the phone with brokers from CBRE, a global real estate firm, whose interests were piqued. The core site at 2250 Wabash Ave. has 25 acres that produce about $200,000 in property taxes annually, though Smurfit WestRock also owns an additional 15 acres of underutilized land in the parcels around the plant, which are also zoned for light-to-medium industry. That brings total annual property taxes to about $300,000, Hurley said.

“In our experience, that number is too low,” said Hurley, noting the site already offers “the things that light industry are looking for,” like transportation access. “I’m thinking the opportunities are bigger than the 25 acres.”

Hurley said the Port Authority, which has purchased challenged properties in the past to reposition them for the private sector, would likely take a more advisory role with the WestRock location and steer potential developers to environmental clean-up grants, energy efficiency incentives and other types of support. “Acquiring the site is a possibility, but right now we’re not here to compete with the private sector,” he said. “We’re here to complement it. The Port Authority is really a buyer of last resort.”

Dwindling number of employees over the years

The plant — which turned paper into cardboard, corrugated paper and coated recycled boards — was known for most of the past century as Waldorf Paper Products Co., RockTenn and by other names.

By 1994, Waldorf was producing more than 400,000 tons of recycled paperboard annually, supplying printed boxes to companies like Procter & Gamble Co., Hormel Foods and General Mills Inc. Back then, the company had about 2,200 employees and was the fifth-largest privately-held company in Minnesota.

The employee numbers at the central plant have since dwindled to less than a tenth of that size, with the latest major downsizing occurring in 2022, when more than 130 of 360 workers were let go. At the time, two production lines dropped down to one.

The factory, which had once printed and folded cardboard, ended its run of corrugated paper but retained its operations dedicated to producing coated recycled boards.

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By STEPHEN WHYNO

WASHINGTON (AP) — The 2027 NFL draft is heading to the nation’s capital on the National Mall, President Donald Trump said Monday, bringing the widely popular event back to Washington for the first time in more than eight decades.

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After word of Washington getting the draft two years from now surfaced Sunday night, Trump made the formal announcement in the Oval Office flanked by Commissioner Roger Goodell, Commanders controlling owner Josh Harris and D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser.

“I don’t think there’s ever been anything like that,” Trump said. “It’s going to be beautiful. It’s going to be something that nobody else will ever be able to duplicate that, I don’t suspect. It’s very exciting.”

It is the latest off-field victory for the Commanders, who a week ago reached an agreement with the D.C. government to build a new home on the old RFK Stadium site, pending council approval. Trump also endorsed that plan in his remarks, saying, “I don’t think there is a better site anywhere in the world.”

Under former owner Dan Snyder, the team previously tried multiple times to land the draft and was unsuccessful. Now, it’ll happen behind the team’s new Harris-led ownership group, which bought the Commanders from Snyder in 2023.

“What a great day for Washington,” Harris said. “I believe we’ll get over a million people, and it’s going to be an amazing day and it’ll showcase what Washington’s all about.”

Washington last hosted the draft in 1941 at the Willard Hotel.

“We believe in investing in sports because they have helped us transform neighborhoods, and the NFL bringing this event to the nation’s capital will help us fill hotel rooms, our restaurants,” Bowser said. “Americans from all 50 states will come to their nation’s capital and enjoy our beautiful city and museums.”

Green Bay, the NFL’s smallest market, hosted the most recent draft in late April outside historic Lambeau Field. The NFL announced a crowd of 600,000 fans attended over the three days.

“The draft has really become one of the great entertainment and sports events,” Goodell said, trumpeting the popularity of the draft in recent years. “It will not just be an event. It will be something that will show the world how far the nation’s capital has come and where it’s going.”

The NFL draft used to be a fixture at Radio City Music Hall in New York and has become an even bigger hit since it hit the road in 2015. Chicago hosted the draft in 2015 and ‘16. Philadelphia had it in ’17, followed by Dallas and Nashville.

Goodell announced the picks from his house in 2020 during the pandemic. It went to Cleveland in 2021 followed by Las Vegas, Kansas City and Detroit. A record crowd of 750,000 attended Detroit’s draft in 2024. Pittsburgh will host next year.

The draft in Washington in ‘27 will mark the third anniversary of the franchise-altering selection of quarterback Jayden Daniels with the second pick. The Commanders made the playoffs and reached the NFC championship game in Daniels’ rookie year and look to be a Super Bowl contender for years to come.

“I have to say that Josh had a very good draft a short while ago,” Trump said. “You have a very good quarterback — a great quarterback, I think.”

Success on the field under Harris-hired general manager Adam Peters and coach Dan Quinn has made Washington a premier market again, decades after the organization’s glory days that included three Super Bowl championships.

After the news conference last week unveiling plans to build a 65,000-seat stadium, Goodell said the turnaround from losing to winning is “immeasurable in so many ways.”

“This market is obviously critical,” Goodell said. “To be able to have a franchise here that everybody here is proud of that’s gotten back on the football field in a positive way and now to have a stadium that brings their team back into D.C., I think that’s a really big step and something that’s going to be great for the NFL, too.”

AP Pro Football Writer Rob Maaddi contributed from Tampa, Florida.

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL

Fresh from serving as the musical guest on “Saturday Night Live,” emerging pop star Benson Boone will kick off his first arena tour Aug. 22 at St. Paul’s Xcel Energy Center.

Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. Friday through Ticketmaster. American Express cardholders have access to a presale that starts at 10 a.m. Wednesday.

A Washington state native, Boone’s first experience performing was when a friend asked him to play piano and sing in their high school’s battle of the bands. After graduating in 2020, he briefly attended Brigham Young University before dropping out to pursue a career in music.

Boone made it onto the 19th season of “American Idol” in 2021, but withdrew from the competition after making it to the top 24. He focused on posting his music to TikTok and won the attention of Imagine Dragons frontman Dan Reynolds, who signed Boone to his Night Street Records label.

His 2021 debut single “Ghost Town” went platinum, as did 2022’s “In the Stars.” But Boone’s career really took off with last year’s “Beautiful Things,” one of the year’s biggest hits on the planet. It reached No. 2 in the States and topped the charts in 19 other countries.

On “SNL,” Boone played “Sorry I’m Here for Someone Else” and “Mystical Magical” from his upcoming sophomore album “American Heart,” which is due out June 20.

Boone is known for his athleticism, bombastic performing style and arena-ready songs. Last month at Coachella, he covered Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” and had guitarist Brian May join him for his first of two shows. (He brought out a cardboard cutout of May for the second performance.)

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By JOSH FUNK

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Billionaire investor Warren Buffett said Saturday that he wants to step down as chief executive of Berkshire Hathaway at the end of the year. The revelation came as a surprise because the 94-year-old had previously said he did not plan to retire.

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Buffett, one of the world’s richest people and most accomplished investors, took control of Berkshire Hathaway in 1965 when it was a textiles manufacturer. He turned the company into a conglomerate by finding other businesses and stocks to buy that were selling for less than they were worth.

His success made him a Wall Street icon. It also earned him the nickname “Oracle of Omaha,” a reference to the Nebraska city where Buffett was born and chose to live and work.

Here are some of his best and worst investments over the years:

Buffett’s Best

— National Indemnity and National Fire & Marine: Purchased in 1967, the company was one of Buffett’s first insurance investments. Insurance float — the premium money insurers can invest between the time when policies are bought and when claims are made — provided the capital for many of Berkshire’s investments over the years and helped fuel the company’s growth. Berkshire’s insurance division has grown to include Geico, General Reinsurance and several other insurers. The float totaled $173 billion at the end of the first quarter.

— Buying blocks of stock in American Express, Coca-Cola Co. and Bank of America at times when the companies were out of favor because of scandals or market conditions. Collectively, the shares are worth over $100 billion more than what Buffett paid for them, and that doesn’t count all the dividends he has collected over the years.

— Apple: Buffett long said that he didn’t understand tech companies well enough to value them and pick the long-term winners, but he started buying Apple shares in 2016. He later explained that he bought more than $31 billion worth because he understood the iPhone maker as a consumer products company with extremely loyal customers. The value of his investment grew to more than $174 billion before Buffett started selling Berkshire Hathaway’s shares.

— BYD: On the advice of his late investing partner Charlie Munger, Buffett bet big on the genius of BYD founder Wang Chanfu in 2008 with a $232 million investment in the Chinese electric vehicle maker. The value of that stake soared to more than $9 billion before Buffett began selling it off. Berkshire’s remaining stake is still worth about $1.8 billion.

— See’s Candy: Buffett repeatedly pointed to his 1972 purchase as a turning point in his career. Buffett said Munger persuaded him that it made sense to buy great businesses at good prices as long as they had enduring competitive advantages. Previously, Buffett had primarily invested in companies of any quality as long as they were selling for less than he thought they were worth. Berkshire paid $25 million for See’s and recorded pretax earnings of $1.65 billion from the candy company through 2011. The amount continued to grow but Buffett didn’t routinely highlight it.

— Berkshire Hathaway Energy: Utilities provide a large and steady stream of profits for Berkshire. The conglomerate paid $2.1 billion, or about $35.05 per share, for Des Moines-based MidAmerican Energy in 2000. The utility unit subsequently was renamed and made several acquisitions, including PacifiCorp and NV Energy. The utilities added more than $3.7 billion to Berkshire’s profit in 2024, although Buffett has said they are now worth less than they used to be because of the liability they face related to wildfires.

Buffett’s Worst

— Berkshire Hathaway: Buffett had said his investment in the Berkshire Hathaway textile mills was probably his worst investment ever. The textile company he took over in 1965 bled money for many years before Buffett finally shut it down in 1985, though Berkshire did provide cash for some of Buffett’s early acquisitions. Of course, the Berkshire shares Buffett began buying for $7 and $8 a share in 1962 are now worth $809,350 per share, so even Buffett’s worst investment turned out OK.

— Dexter Shoe Co.: Buffett said he made an awful blunder by buying Dexter in 1993 for $433 million, a mistake made even worse because he used Berkshire stock for the deal. Buffett says he essentially gave away 1.6% of Berkshire for a worthless business.

— Missed opportunities. Buffett said that some of his worst mistakes over the years were the investments and deals that he didn’t make. Berkshire easily could have made billions if Buffett had been comfortable investing in Amazon, Google or Microsoft early on. But it wasn’t just tech companies he missed out on. Buffett told shareholders he was caught “sucking his thumb” when he failed to follow through on a plan to buy 100 million Walmart shares that would be worth nearly $10 billion today.

— Selling banks too soon. Not long before the COVID pandemic, Buffett seemed to sour on most of his bank stocks. Repeated scandals involving Wells Fargo gave him a reason to start unloading his 500 million shares, many of them for around $30 per share. But he also sold off his JP Morgan stake at prices less than $100. Both stocks have more than doubled since then.

— Blue Chip Stamps: Buffett and Munger, Berkshire’s former vice chairman, took control of Blue Chip in 1970 when the customer rewards program was generating $126 million in sales. But as trading stamps fell out of favor with retailers and consumers, sales steadily declined; in 2006, they totaled a mere $25,920. However, Buffett and Munger used the float that Blue Chip generated to acquire See’s Candy, Wesco Financial and Precision Castparts, which are all steady contributors to Berkshire.