urbanMSP

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!

But there are closer to 4.5K to 5.5K (if you include St. Anthony Main as part of downtown) units proposed or under construction in downtown Minneapolis, not 3K. That's the CURRENT pipeline.

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.

Yes, I think this is a good understanding of what is occuring with development in downtown Minneapolis. In particular, it will be exciting to see the change in the retail sector of downtown over the next few years. Its going to blossom and we are going to see a remarkable resurgence of interest by national retailors to locate in downtown. The explosion of affluent residents living in the urban core will be a difficult demographic to ignore.

I think those "strategic investments" you refer have really been going on for decades. And we continue to see the positive results. Compared to so many other urban areas, our city has a very very strong tradition of innovative urban planning combined with an expectation of high aesthetic standards.The development of Nicollet Mall and the reclaiming of the industrial riverfront to park land come to mind immediately as examples of this.

I am exicted to see what becomes of this corner. Is this the start of trend? When this gets built will gates open up to even more and taller apartment towers? The next couple of years will really be fun to watch.

I must say, the back-to-back announcements of this tower and the Plymouth Bldg conversion made me even more disappointed by the cancellation of this: viewtopic.php?f=13&t=444

Don't get me wrong, these projects are great and will breathe a ton of life into the northern end of downtown. The Venue would have had a similar effect on a block of Hennepin that is currently one of the ugliest.

^^^The Venue was a great infill project. It fit tightly on the block with no setbacks, plazas in front, or large alleyways between buildings. Now that's what I call a truly urban building!

Appears core samples are being taken from the parking lot today.

That means roughly 6 weeks to groundbreaking. I bet the "stubby" neighbor next door is regretting chopping 6 floors off now.

As far as I know, nothing has been submitted to City staff yet, and nothing is scheduled for the upcoming Committee of the Whole meeting of the Planning Commission. I wouldn't get too far ahead of myself. I can't see this breaking ground before fall. We knew about Nic on 5th and LPM for several months before they began digging, to the point of people starting rumors of cancellation. I think my prediction will stand: this thread will hit 100 posts before we see a rendering

I agree with that guess, given that this thread could very well hit 100 posts today. This is 88.

Also, didn't LPM, at least, require some kind of rezoning from the city before they could start? I believe that's one of the pluses of this project, that the lot is already zoned for what they want to do, right?

Well, 6 months would be fall wouldn't it? Ya know, with all these upcoming apartment projects and condos being buildt, it makes you wonder how those responsible for cancelling the Nicollet must feel. There's no doubt that place would be thriving and full right now. I wonder if the same thing will happen with the new convention center hotel. We won't built it and a few years later regret not having it.

I would think it would be at least 6 months too, but who knows. Well, someone knows, but not us.

I meant 6 months not weeks- I was half asleep during my first post. Although I have a feeling this one will either proceed quickly or disappear forever. And if does disappear, I sure hope this remaining parcel is used for something taller than 300 feet.

I don't think this parcel will sit empty for ever like the Powers site did. Too much going on DWTN to sit as a parking lot anymore.

Project has a name 4 Marq - other details behind a paywall http://www.bizjournals.com/twincities/p ... ers-a.html

4Marq... isn't that bad. Maybe we bottomed out on terrible apartment building names and are now on our way back up?

4Marq... isn't that bad. Maybe we bottomed out on terrible apartment building names and are now on our way back up?

But why the alpha-numeric combinations? Why not just "Four Marq" or "Four Marquette"?

The parcel size in the article looks TINY. 30 stories on 1/3 acre

4Marq... isn't that bad. Maybe we bottomed out on terrible apartment building names and are now on our way back up?

But why the alpha-numeric combinations? Why not just "Four Marq" or "Four Marquette"?

We'll get there. Baby steps.

The parcel size in the article looks TINY. 30 stories on 1/3 acre

This is very good aesthetically. It means a more slender tower with less bulk.

For comparison, the Foshay Tower (not including the low-rise building encircling it) has a footprint of around 6400 square feet, or around 0.15 acres.