Posts tagged downtown
Mpls. apartment boom underway | StarTribune.com
Two new towers for the Minneapolis skyline!
• Nicollet Residences, a 330-unit, 33-story apartment building at 5th Street and the Nicollet Mall. Opus Development says construction is expected to begin in October, and finish in mid-2014.
• 1368 Spruce Place, a 354-unit, 36-story apartment complex in Loring Park. Chicago-based developer Magellan Development said construction will begin in late summer of this year and finish in the spring of 2014.
View from the rooftop (by dmd.hashw)
What Water Works Park could look like | StarTribune
magine being able to explore the tunnels of mills long buried along the Minneapolis riverfront, enjoy live entertainment and grab a bite to eat while overlooking St. Anthony Falls all on the same afternoon.
Welcome to the future Water Works Park.
The Minneapolis Parks Foundation and the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board presented conceptual designs last week for a park on the city’s central riverfront where the original Minneapolis municipal Water Works, several mills and the former Fuji-Ya restaurant all once operated along the Mississippi River. The public has through the end of the month to comment on the design.
“The Water Works study area is only three blocks long and one block wide, but its concentration of exciting features make it ideal for a four-season destination park,” said Mary deLaittre, president of the Minneapolis Parks Foundation, in a press release.
The area being studied for a potential new park is between Portland Avenue S. and the 3rd Avenue Bridge, and between 1st Street S. and the Mississippi. The area already is a convergence of several riverfront destinations such as the Mill City Museum, the Stone Arch Bridge and the lock and dam.
The conceptual plans show that the park would be comprised of three experimental zones. The south zone, where some ruins are currently exposed, would feature the further excavation of mill ruins so that the public can explore the channels and tunnels that still exist on the riverfront. There’s also an idea to create rooms with the exposed walls and incorporate native gardens, children’s play areas or other experiential spaces. The center zone could be used for programming opportunities such as water-based activities, an entertainment venue and a plaza street. The north section of the park would possibly feature a interpretive or cultural center and a year-round restaurant at the location of the former Fuji-Ya restaurant.
The site’s three-month design process began in December, more than 20 years since the park board purchased the property where the Fuji-Ya sits boarded up. Plans for the tract of land have come and gone. The last developer to try its hand at the site wanted to build a luxury condo tower there, but it didn’t get the required permits so the park board terminated the deal. In 2009, the developer sued the park board for breach of contract, but last year litigation finally ended when the Supreme Court declined to hear the developer’s appeal.
Stone Arch Bridge (by dmd.hashw)
Took this tonight.
Heidi Kurtze - Director, Property Development presented plans for the new Artspace HQ / Artists housing project to the East Downtown Council today. The project will be built on the “E Liner Parcel” at Chicago & Washington Ave S next to the American Academy of Neurology HQ building, currently under construction across the street from the Guthrie Theater in the Mill District of Downtown Minneapolis.
Below are notes and photos from her presentation:
- Kurtze officially announced that the building will be their new headquarters
- After bouncing back and forth between different names for the building, Kurtze officially announced the name of the development: simple and straightforward “Artspace”
- The building will be 6 stories in height
- There will be 61 units of live/work space for artists
- All units will be affordable housing
- They hope the “Cube” on the corner of Chicago & Washington Ave S will be the signature element
- Exterior will be brick, metal panel and glass
- Commercial space on the 1st floor, hopefully a coffee shop/wine bar
- Will have a green roof, hope to create an urban farm in partnership with the Mill City Farmers Market
- Hope to have an Art Market in conjunction with the Mill City Farmers Market
- Possibly a public gallery
- Plan to break ground summer 2012 and occupy summer 2013
More photos at http://millcitytimes.com/news/breaking-news-artspace-unveils-plans-for-new-headquarters-in.html
Downtown Journal | Luxury apartment tower planned for 5th & Nicollet
Opus Development Corp. has proposed a new 33-story luxury apartment tower at South 5th Street & Nicollet Mall.
The developer presented an overview of the project to the Downtown Minneapolis Neighborhood Association (DMNA) on Sept. 13. It’s scheduled to be reviewed by the Minneapolis Planning Commission’s Committee of the Whole tomorrow.
If approved, it would be the first high-rise apartment building in downtown in nearly three decades. The building would have retail at street and skyway levels and skyway connections to Fifth Street Towers and Neiman Marcus.
“Nicollet Residences will offer a San Francisco or New York-type luxury high-rise apartment living experience that will be the first of its kind in Minneapolis,” said Tom Lund, vice president, real estate development of Opus Development Corporation, in a news statement. “Extensive amenities, a light rail station and two skyway connections will be very attractive to a variety of residents looking for the flexibility of renting rather than owning.”
The project site is a parcel between Nicollet and Marquette on 5th Street formerly home to the Powers Department Store, which closed in the mid-1980s.
Downtown Minneapolis from the U of M Transitway (by dmd.hashw)
Took this on our way back from the State Fair last night.
Big plans for a vacant block | StarTribune
The old Jaguar car dealership in downtown Minneapolis may soon get its long-awaited new life.
Developer Ryan Cos. is expected to sign a purchase agreement next week for the Hennepin Avenue site to build a new apartment building with retail space and a grocery store, say sources with knowledge of the deal.
Tony Barranco, retail development director with Minneapolis-based Ryan Cos., confirmed he’s heading up the company’s effort on the project but declined to comment.
The key downtown block, 2.4 acres at 222 Hennepin Av. S., has been empty since the Jaguar dealership closed in 2007 and moved to Golden Valley.
Milliken Development Group, based in North Vancouver, British Columbia, originally paid $14 million for the block in 2005, and tried to develop a condo tower with a Whole Foods grocery store in it. But that project fizzled as the condo market got quickly crowded and the recession hit. The property went back to HSBC Bank USA about a year ago.
The old Gateway District’s future is certainly looking brighter.
Block E Applebees closes | Downtown Journal
The Block E Applebees closed quietly over the weekend.
A small sign posted on the skyway entrance announced that the restaurant’s last day of business was Sunday, March 13.
Crews spent the morning of March 14 dismantling the décor, removing framed photographs from the walls and stacking them in a corner. Workers also lifted wooden tabletops from the booths. According to one crewmember, the bric-a-brac will be placed in storage, where it will await redistribution to other Applesbees locations.
The restaurant needs to vacate its space on the skyway level of Block E by this Thursday. Applebees originally debuted in Block E in April of 2003.
The closure comes one year after the Block E GameWorks folded, leaving a glaring vacancy on the corner of Hennepin and 7th Street, and rounds out a twelve-month period that also witnessed the shuttering of Hooters, another big Block E tenant.Prior to Applebees’ closure, the vacancy rate at Block E was 28 percent
What is next? Is there even anything left to close on the second floor, aside from the Mexican place and the movie theater (which is on owner #3 presently).
City Center lands upscale Mexican restaurant | The Journal
A fast growing chain of upscale Mexican restaurants concentrated mostly on the East Coast is coming to Minneapolis next summer.
On Dec. 16, Rosa Mexicano announced that it had signed a lease for a 10,000-square-foot space in City Center, at the corner of 6th & Hennepin. The bar and restaurant will replace the former T.G.I. Friday’s, which closed in 2005.
The Minneapolis location will be Rosa Mexicano’s first in the Midwest and its 12th overall, following the opening in early 2011 of locations in South Beach and Los Angeles. The Downtown restaurant will accommodate 215 seats indoors in addition to a 120-seat outdoor patio, created by Seed Design and local architects Shea, Inc
Glad to see that something is finally going back into that space.
Man jumps to his death while running from police | Star Tribune
A man allegedly involved in a nightclub fight died early Saturday when he jumped to his death from a downtown Minneapolis freeway overpass while trying to out run police in a foot chase.
Officers were called to the Epic nightclub at 100 block of N. 5th Street after a fight broke out just after 2 a.m. When they arrived, the man took off and ran into a nearby parking ramp. The suspect, who is believed to have instigated the fight, ran through the ramp, out a door and onto a freeway off-ramp. He ran about 100 yards down the ramp and jumped a fence. In an apparent attempt to escape, he leaped over a concrete barrier and fell several stories to a parking lot below. Police believe the man misjudged the distance to the ground, said Sgt. William Palmer.
Twins president Dave St. Peter calls it “an ambush on the ballpark.” Minneapolis City Council Member Lisa Goodman calls it, well, I can’t say in print what she calls it. Dan Kenney, director of the Minnesota Ballpark Authority, isn’t happy either.
The object of their wrath is a huge advertising sign that the Minnesota Timberwolves are erecting on the outside of Target Center. By next week the sign will overlook Target Plaza and dominate the signature skyline view from the new Twins’ ballpark.
Apparently there’s nothing that the city, the Twins or the ballpark authority can do to stop it. Although the city owns Target Center, the Timberwolves control the right to erect signs on the outside of the arena — and to collect revenue from them. The new sign’s size (2,800 square feet) and design are within the limits allowed on buildings in the Hennepin-First Avenue entertainment district.
It may just be me, but this seems a tad bit contrived. There’s several advertisements within Target Field that can be seen from around various points around the city. Not to mention the fact that there are already several large advertisements already in the view. It seems less likely that they’re upset with the signage, and more upset that they’re not seeing any revenue from it.
The key to growth is to maximize housing and jobs along current and future transit lines, Rybak said. To that end, he proposed a new director of transit-oriented development whose responsibilities would blend transportation and land redevelopment for the purpose of growing the population and the economy. Parks are another possible catalyst, he said, proposing a new park just north of the downtown library as a way to attract jobs and residents to the empty intersection of Washington and Hennepin avenues.
Seriously?!! A park there has been on my wish list for a while now.
MinnPost - Rybak says Minneapolis must grow to escape problems and achieve full potential
(via hennepinave)
Skid Row Park.
(via adambez)
Fenced In, Part 3 (by Matt)
Exotic Neighbors Next to Target Field
Dozens of people packed a meeting tonight as a developer laid out plans for a new strip club next to Target Field.
The Tenth Inning would open at 418 3rd Avenue North. The baseball themed club would be right next to parking lots and restaurants used by families on their way to Twins games.
The city says that area is zoned for adult entertainment. But the Twins don’t agree. The team’s Vice President of Operations, Matt Hoy says the team is run on clean, family oriented entertainment. Hoy said that type of establishment doesn’t relate to that.
Wow, I’m pretty sure I had a conversation with someone about a year ago where we jokingly described this exact business idea. Too funny.
Did the Twins not realize what area of downtown they built the stadium on? I can count several of “adult” venues off the top of my head, not to mention all of the bars and clubs in the area that are 21+ within walking distance.
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