Minneapolis was blindsided by Graco’s decision to leave. What’s next for its riverfront campus?

Graco seems to have made up its mind.

The global manufacturing company that just celebrated 100 years in Minneapolis is moving to the suburbs, and it doesn’t look like city officials were given a chance to convince it otherwise.

The company said in a surprise announcement this week that it’s designing a new corporate headquarters on one of its campuses in either Rogers or Dayton, where it’s been consolidating Minnesota employees in newly built facilities. It plans to sell its 40-acre campus on the northeast Minneapolis riverfront, but the company said Thursday it’s “not in active conversations with potential buyers.”

Any time a company vacates its historic place along Minneapolis’ riverfront, it brings heartache and promise. City officials are worried about the loss of jobs and tax revenue because industrial uses pay higher taxes than residential. But the land left behind provides an opportunity to reconnect people to the Mississippi‘s natural resources.

Just this month, the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board celebrated the grand opening of a new recreation center at the company’s namesake Graco Park. (A corporate name for a city park was a rare consolation prize following a multiyear land dispute over prized shoreline.)

But because the Park Board now has that park, it alleviates pressure for the agency — whose intent is to preserve waterfront for public recreation — to jump into any bidding war for the suddenly available property.

“At least we have the trail, and that’s been the most important thing to us, the riverfront and continuing that activation,” Park Board Commissioner Meg Forney said. “They’ve got a huge campus ... We don’t need the whole thing.”

Graco’s departure will not affect Graco Park or the trails connecting it to other parks in the system: Sheridan Memorial Park to the north and Boom Island Park to the south.

Mayor Jacob Frey learned the news about the same time as everybody else. It’s too early for him to comment on what could come next to the site, said spokesperson Ally Peters, but the mayor will convene stakeholders to figure it out.

“[Graco’s] innovation, job creation, and investment along the Mississippi River have helped shape our economy and strengthen the Northeast neighborhood," Frey said in a statement. “While we’re sad to see them go, we’re excited about the potential this nearly half-mile stretch of riverfront holds for our city—an extraordinary opportunity along the most epic river in the world.”

Erik Hansen, Minneapolis’ director of Community Planning and Economic Development learned about Graco’s declaration from a Minnesota Star Tribune reporter on Wednesday. He was still seeking a conversation with the company about its “very consequential” move on Thursday.

“I appreciate that they’re staying in the region, and those jobs are staying in the region because it’s not like jobs stop at the border,” said Hansen. “But the industrial base, those blue-collar jobs, continue to dwindle in the city of Minneapolis, and I just want to talk to them before I start the postmortem conversation with what happens next.”

In an emailed response to a Star Tribune question asking if there was anything the city could have done, Graco said: “The City of Minneapolis has played a vital role in Graco’s growth, and we’re incredibly thankful for the support, leadership and partnership we’ve received over the years. This relocation is part of a long-term plan we’ve been considering as Graco continues to grow.”

In the announcement of the departure Wednesday, CEO Mark Sheahan said the company wants to maximize its manufacturing capacity.

Minneapolis’ industrial properties are typically smaller and older than in the rest of the metro area. There has also been a shift away from heavy industrial uses — high polluters increasingly garnering pushback from residents unwilling to trade their health for job opportunities — toward lighter industrial uses like warehousing.

Graco’s complicated relationship with the city has been at times both symbiotic and adversarial.

Minneapolis approved a $1.145 million tax-increment financing (TIF) deal for the company in 2000 to make major improvements to its riverside headquarters because the city believed it critical to retain Graco. That TIF district will expire in 2027, seeming to align with Graco’s departure.

In addition to its legal tussle with the Park Board, Graco filed a lawsuit challenging Minneapolis’ $15 minimum wage ordinance. The state Supreme Court ruled in favor of the city.

The last time a large swath of industrial riverfront property opened up for redevelopment was when Northern Metal Recycling, under pressure from activists and state regulators over its air emissions, moved out of north Minneapolis. The Park Board attempted to buy that site, but it was ultimately sold to another industrial entity.

In 2014, the 48-acre Upper Harbor Terminal site in north Minneapolis became available for redevelopment after the St. Anthony Falls lock and dam closed, ending barge traffic. The Park Board got a 20-acre park out of that deal. Housing, manufacturing and a giant First Avenue concert hall is being built on the rest of the site.

City Council Member Michael Rainville, who represents the area where Graco is located, praised the company for being a good neighbor, saying he understood why it would look to the suburbs for more space.

“What a golden opportunity for a mixed use development with plenty of housing,” Rainville said.