urbanMSP

I hoping the two buildings by Sherman are tall enough (7+ stories) that they are not stick construction... The KA block would be a great benchmark for density/scale.

Wow. Big fan of the classic styling. I'm glad a modern glass "curtain wall" design (like 200 Central) isn't always the default in 2018. I wonder what will be used for the light stone facade. We're about to have a triangle of 40-ish story condo towers on the riverfront, two classic and one ...

This has felt like a thoughtful, quality development from the start. Great job Lander Group and Sam Newberg. I'm hopeful this will get built out as planned.

We had a nice little group of Streets.mners at the meeting last night. It's fun to be involved in the planning of this in a small way. I stressed high quality flooring/paving materials (getting away from standard concrete sidewalks and polished concrete flooring) and a strong connection/flow between...

If we want to make ourselves feel good, look to Milwaukee. Otherwise I think we aspire to Denver and Seattle. Look at that growth in Seattle... 42,000 people in two years. Maybe we'll surpass Oakland by the 2020 census if we're lucky.

Talked with someone close to the project today. They were also not a fan of using so many materials for siding but noted that it's often not feasible otherwise, like we've all heard. The Fresh Thyme is scheduled for April 1st opening. Also the low rise portion that opened a few months ago is apparen...

Photo update. Looks like it's on track for a spring completion date. Never a fan of the use of cheap corrugated metal siding-- and this has plenty of it. Wish the tower portion could have had the same percentage glass facade as the top of it throughout the building, instead of the break halfway up. ...

Photo update on this project:

Not having been in th e St Paul store yet, can you describe how it is lower quality? For me it's the combination of the concrete floors, all-white shelving/fixtures and warehouse fluorescent lighting. Polished concrete in itself isn't bad, but the lack of color or any accents to soften it really ma...

Official grand opening is today-- that is what the rush in putting up the signage was for. While I wish a downtown department store was still feasible, I do think this is still an upgrade. Even just the light coming from the massive amount of glass frontage at night gives it an active feel, whereas ...

Looks like the plan for affordable housing is going ahead here... https://www.twincities.com/2017/12/07/former-pioneer-press-building-affordable-housing-downtown-st-paul/ They were doing some kind of interior demo this morning. Looked like chunks of flooring/molding. It will be interesting to see ho...

Ugly signage going up at Macy's today. Also, Walgreens opened up December 1st and it's pretty disappointing-- interior finishes that make it feel like a Costco store, no grab-and-go section, bifurcated design makes it confusing. Overall low quality buildout compared to the DT Mpls one.

The biggest issue with the new mall in my mind is its material. We couldn't do better than concrete for the signature street in a major American city? Even the poorest countries elsewhere in the world use higher quality materials in public space. It's a major downgrade from the granite we had before...

Good news about the coffee shop! Who's behind the Urban North Twitter account? It's gotta be a streets.mn-er...

I hope the Thrivent ramp is built so that it could support residential/office above it in the future.

@Seth-- Agreed. When I first saw the photos you posted without reading I was excited because Minneapolis could definitely use more of these. I think it's an underserved product type in our market that fits well in high demand commercial-residential transition areas. Denver has a lot of new construct...

Really like the design here. It's clean and refined with a high percentage of brick. Minimal cheap metal paneling and a lack of the six-material, broken up, gaudy multicolored facade we see everywhere else in the city is a win. Very premium looking product.

Hopefully this project brings a critical mass of people to the south of downtown to support first floor retail and any sense of walkability. Look at how Latitude 45 turned a corner of high speed Washington Ave into a high end restaurant and patio space.

One week. Grand re-opening of Nicollet. Temporarily shut down the skyways over it. I like your idea, Grant. I think the best case scenario for the next 5-10 years is an occasional closure of the system for a day or so per month in the warmer months. It should probably be framed as an "open str...