4Marq - 400 Marquette Ave (313' - 30 Stories)

Downtown - North Loop - Mill District - Elliot Park - Loring Park
John
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Re: 400 Marquette Avenue

Postby John » March 13th, 2013, 7:39 pm

Too bad this suddenly dense block sits next to a completely empty block. Hopefully something grand is envisioned for that place, as it is one of the last parcels right on the Mall.
I agree. A large, mixed-use development would be ideal. Hopefully it's not a park, which would be a waste for such a prime block.
I think people are mixing up where the proposed Gateway Park is going to be located. It will be on the block just north of the Library along Hennepin Ave. The other vacant parcel you are referring to is just east of the Library across Nicollet Mall bound by South 4th Street to the north and 3rd Street to the south. That will not be a park. Like you though, I'm hopeful someday it gets redeveloped into a large mixed use project. I think 400 Marquette and the other two projects to the north will spur this to happen.

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Re: Mortenson Apartment Tower - (400 Marquette Avenue)

Postby seanrichardryan » March 13th, 2013, 8:10 pm

Save confusion. There is already a Gateway Park at Hennepin & Washington. The blocks in question that are jacking this thread are 'The Nicollet Hotel Block' on Washington between Nicollet and Hennepin & the Sheraton Ritz Block at Nicollet between 3rd and 4th. Of course that one rendering showed that ribbon park running through all of of them...now I'm confused.
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John
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Re: Mortenson Apartment Tower - (400 Marquette Avenue)

Postby John » March 13th, 2013, 8:39 pm

Save confusion. There is already a Gateway Park at Hennepin & Washington. The blocks in question that are jacking this thread are 'The Nicollet Hotel Block' on Washington between Nicollet and Hennepin & the Sheraton Ritz Block at Nicollet between 3rd and 4th. Of course that one rendering showed that ribbon park running through all of of them...now I'm confused.
:lol: Now I'm getting confused. One thing I think is clear. The park proposal would cover the whole Nicollet Hotel Block just north of the Library. Other aspects such as the ribbon park would not cover an entire block (as renderings have shown for the Sheraton Ritz block). That would leave room for commercial development to occur directly north of 400 Marquette.
Last edited by John on March 14th, 2013, 1:25 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Nick
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Re: Mortenson Apartment Tower - (400 Marquette Avenue)

Postby Nick » March 13th, 2013, 9:37 pm

I emailed Urban Works tonight and their guy got back to me pretty quickly--no rendering they want to release yet.
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Re: Mortenson Apartment Tower - (400 Marquette Avenue)

Postby Le Sueur » March 13th, 2013, 10:24 pm

...leave room for commercial development to occur directly south of 400 Marquette.
North? Yes. Many of the plans I have seen use a portion of Sheraton Ritz block for the ribbon park concept (like the western 1/3 of the block next to Nicolette [sic]).
Also:
The Strib picked this up finally but no new news: (no pics)
http://www.startribune.com/housing/197905971.html

Great to see three new structures sharing one block! :)

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Re: Mortenson Apartment Tower - (400 Marquette Avenue)

Postby John » March 14th, 2013, 1:41 am

^^^Yes, north of 400 Marquette! lol. Thanks for the clarification. The article mentions retail on the first floor which is awesome and will greatly reduce the impact of the above ground parking ramp. As far as design of the tower, I think having it slightly taller than Nic on Fifth and at 4th and Marquette would give the block more appeal. It would help allow the two tallest buildings to have their own impact by not being too close together or exactly the same height.

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Re: Mortenson Apartment Tower - (400 Marquette Avenue)

Postby bapster2006 » March 14th, 2013, 7:17 am

Yea Nick, I had emailed Urban Works yesterday at lunch asking for a rendering, but haven't heard back. We will have an image soon enough I suppose...

I agree that block to the north looks pretty bare now. I remember when they tore that hotel down. They were acting like within a year a new development would be sitting there.

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Re: Mortenson Apartment Tower - (400 Marquette Avenue)

Postby min-chi-cbus » March 14th, 2013, 8:51 am

Nick,

Could you describe the rendering in more detail and compare it to some other building(s), whether here or in another city? Also, in your opinion, does the building look good or is it mediocre/terrible? We don't HAVE to love it just because it's relatively tall, and it won't necessarily minimize our excitement....

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Re: Mortenson Apartment Tower - (400 Marquette Avenue)

Postby kregger22 » March 14th, 2013, 5:18 pm

Why didn't someone take a picture of the rendering with their camera phone during the DNMA meeting?

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Nick
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Re: Mortenson Apartment Tower - (400 Marquette Avenue)

Postby Nick » March 14th, 2013, 5:39 pm

Uh, social norms? It's not a very big room. Another Urban Works guy emailed me and gave me a number of the Mortenson guy to call and ask about it.
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Re: Mortenson Apartment Tower - (400 Marquette Avenue)

Postby MNdible » March 14th, 2013, 5:46 pm

Nick, why didn't you just swipe one of their boards to scan in?

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Re: Mortenson Apartment Tower - (400 Marquette Avenue)

Postby Unity77 » March 14th, 2013, 10:28 pm

Finance & Commerce has posted an article, which doesn't offer a whole lot in regards to new information.

Here are just a few paragraphs from the article.
Second apartment tower planned on downtown Minneapolis site
Posted: 5:24 pm Thu, March 14, 2013
By Burl Gilyard

“This market is very strong and represents the growing desire of more people to live and work downtown,” Bob Solfelt, director of real estate development for Mortenson Development, said in an email to Finance & Commerce about the project.

[...]

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Re: Mortenson Apartment Tower - (400 Marquette Avenue)

Postby robotlollipop » March 16th, 2013, 3:27 am

If you say on average 2 people live in each of these 3,000 units, that's 6,000 new citizens downtown. That is a decent amount but it's not like they will be moving in tomorrow, it will take a few years. I'm just curious, is the goal to reach another 35,000 people downtown in 12 years feasible?

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Re: Mortenson Apartment Tower - (400 Marquette Avenue)

Postby MNdible » March 16th, 2013, 10:01 am

Is it possible? Certainly. Is it a stretch? Definitely.

It's an aspirational goal, so it should be a stretch. There's no penalty if they don't actually reach the goal, and they deliberately set it high. I remember the comment was made that the goals and projects contained in past Downtown plans have almost all been reached, but rarely in the timeline outlined in the plans.

Something else to remember, I think, is that these new 3,000 units will have a disproportionate impact on the downtown ecosystem, because of where the units are located and because of the higher disposable income and pro-urban focus that the residents will have. These units will be the first coming on line with a much improved transit system and access to the types of services (e.g. grocery stores) that residents really need.

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Re: Mortenson Apartment Tower - (400 Marquette Avenue)

Postby mrcity » March 16th, 2013, 11:15 am

Yeah, I agree the goals need to be lofty, however robotlollipop brings up a good point. ( aside - i can't believe i just penned a sentence using robot lollipop, lol ...) City plans should include some means of making these goals a reality. Other than pronouncing a goal of 35,000 new residents, what has the city done to make it a reality? Easing construction approval process? No. Modifying zoning laws? No. Tax Incentives? No. Funding new amenities or street infrastructure? A little bit. So yeah, its not only a stretch at this point, there is no method to their mad proclamations.... ;) I really think for downtown to reach 70,000 residents or more in that time frame, the city needs to openly court investors, developers and residents in a large scale long-term plan that would keep up a pace of 6-7 large developments under construction each year.

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Re: Mortenson Apartment Tower - (400 Marquette Avenue)

Postby MNdible » March 16th, 2013, 1:02 pm

Just to be clear, the plan in question is prepared by the Downtown Council, which is not controlled by the City of Minneapolis. It's a private group of downtown boosters and property owners; their goals often overlap with the City's official comprehensive plan, but as far as I know the City doesn't formally adopt the plan.

I think there's a mistaken impression that zoning or the approval process is somehow holding back development. It makes a good talking point, but I honestly don't see any evidence to back it up. Yes, it's a process to get a building approved. So what? If you're going to spend $20m (or much more) and put up a structure that the city is going to have to live with for the next 50 years, I don't think that it's unreasonable to ask people to show up at a couple of meetings. As for zoning, at least in the downtown districts, there's very little that would prevent developers from building anything that the market would support.

And as for tax incentives, I'd rather not fall any further down that rabbit hole, thanks.

I'm all for improving our amenities and infrastructure, but you may have noticed (as we've been discussing in another thread) that the city has been a little cash strapped as of late. I think the City has been fighting pretty well, considering that it's had both arms tied behind its back.

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Re: Mortenson Apartment Tower - (400 Marquette Avenue)

Postby gahwi003 » March 16th, 2013, 1:07 pm

If you say on average 2 people live in each of these 3,000 units, that's 6,000 new citizens downtown. That is a decent amount but it's not like they will be moving in tomorrow, it will take a few years. I'm just curious, is the goal to reach another 35,000 people downtown in 12 years feasible?
I've seen the number around 1.3, not 2. So this correlates to an even longer stretch!

mrcity

Re: Mortenson Apartment Tower - (400 Marquette Avenue)

Postby mrcity » March 16th, 2013, 2:08 pm

One last comment on downtown resident goals - Rybak has in fact quoted these projections on multiple occasions, so regardless of where they come from, he has made it part of his governing PR campaign....cash strapped city? - even more reason to loosen buracracy and increase tax base.

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Re: Mortenson Apartment Tower - (400 Marquette Avenue)

Postby Wedgeguy » March 16th, 2013, 4:19 pm

If you say on average 2 people live in each of these 3,000 units, that's 6,000 new citizens downtown. That is a decent amount but it's not like they will be moving in tomorrow, it will take a few years. I'm just curious, is the goal to reach another 35,000 people downtown in 12 years feasible?
I've seen the number around 1.3, not 2. So this correlates to an even longer stretch!
I very much agree with the 1.3 vs 2 as your base figure as many apartments are single occupant.

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Re: Mortenson Apartment Tower - (400 Marquette Avenue)

Postby MNdible » March 16th, 2013, 4:37 pm

One last comment on downtown resident goals - Rybak has in fact quoted these projections on multiple occasions, so regardless of where they come from, he has made it part of his governing PR campaign....cash strapped city? - even more reason to loosen buracracy and increase tax base.
Please let me know what bureaucracy that should be loosened -- and if you can further support your suggestion with any evidence that said bureaucracy is actually slowing development, that would be great. Otherwise, comments like this are the same as those who say we can get rid of the federal deficit by "cutting wasteful spending".

I've made the argument before, but I do feel that downtown Minneapolis (and maybe even downtown St. Paul) are about to enter a beneficious circle of redevelopment, where every new development increases the attractiveness of the area to more redevelopment, by supporting the type of commercial activity that residents need and thereby further activating the area. This, along with additional strategic investments into infrastructure and amenities, is what will power downtown to 70,000 residents. Not arbitrarily cutting development review.

(As for tax incentives, it hasn't really been noted on the forum, but the historic tax credits have been a major boon to the central cities.)


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