urbanMSP

AFAIK, pretty much every building that old with a brick exterior is going to be load-bearing masonry. Structurally, it's all on the masonry. Also, the lumber they used on interior walls back then if very different from what we use now, plus plaster & lathe beats sheetrock for sound attenuation b...

Awesome! Do we know anything about the interiors yet?

Not sure if if this belongs in this thread but I feel like this idea is an ugly duckling with nowhere to go... I think a Light Rail extension should be incorporated with the "Interchange" up to Broadway and Lyndale. Wouldn't be that far to go and I doubt it would cost that much to build. ...

Does the current Target Field LRT station stay, or does The Interchange now become the Target Field stop? The current platforms stay, though I believe the entire TF Station complex is being rebranded as part of The Interchange. The current platforms will be where either the Blue or Green line will ...

I'd wager you $100 that the "small windows" you're seeing are actually the locations of future "magic packs" -- vents for heating and ventilation units. The sure sign of high quality construction... Ughhh. I saw a couple buildings recently that actually did a good job of incorpo...

I believe it has more to do with achieving large open areas required for retail and lobbies. Again, there is no problem with building 6 stories of wood, but it does require a lot more load-bearing walls than concrete or steel.

I could be wrong, but that's what makes sense to me.

Unless there's some new-fangled way of doing third rails, they won't work with at-grade crossings on single-car trains. At least not reliably.

EDIT: Nevermind-- yes, that system you're talking about would qualify as a new-fangled third rail that might work for at-grade crossings.

Realistically Nicollet isn't going to become any less pedestrian-friendly when they reopen it at Lake, IMO. There are faster streets to drive all around it-- even with Lake open, it won't be a through-route for anyone.

Yeah the original proposal... Around 2006?

I think it was a very slender blue tower, somewhere in the 25-28 story range?

For anyone wondering, here is a massing of the full plan for all three parcels, and then a render of the East block: http://i.imgur.com/zz9B6.jpg Larger version: http://www.ouruptown.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/bennett-other-conceptA.jpg http://www.ouruptown.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/bennett...

I agree. I don't think there is as much demand as people think, and I also don't think there is as much time-saving potential as people think. How much time is really spent on stations vs. lights? Skip-stop, at least in this situation sounds more like a solution to overcrowded trains than to long tr...

I kind of doubt the city would let someone build a gas station on the 18th & Nicollet block.

Loring Park cenus tracts:
105201: 14,864 ppl/sqmi
105204: 14,058 ppl/sqmi
105600: 21,534 ppl/sqmi (southern Loring Park, includes Loring Heights)

Stevens Square census tract:
105700: 25,733 ppl/sqmi

http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/defining.am ... index.html

I'm on my phone right now so I can't give a link, but the densest census tract in Minneapolis in the 2010 census was in Stevens.

Oh I don't know, they jus might be responsible for the power supply of millions of people, including three nuclear reactors?

I love the great examples everyone is bringing up about height not really being that great of an indicator of how urban or dense an area is. We don't even have to look any further than our own backyards on this one-- Stevens Square, with its densely spaced 3-4 story buildings is significantly more d...

The tower with the M on it reminds me of the new Morgan station that just opened here on the Green and Pink lines. Hopefully the new Interchange station has the finish quality that Morgan does! Really excited about this.

The vast majority of people in New York and Manhattan for that matter live below the fifth floor. Urban living is not about being above the 27th floor, its about having access to a vibrant city. 27 floors will provide lots of foot traffic, I am not sure how tenants will interact with Nicollet, but ...

Oops, I forgot to attach this:

Agreed - like the mobile version.

I notice minnescraper is down once again as of 6-6-12

FWIW, I crawled and archived the site during the last couple days it was up. I don't have a place to put it or anything, but I have it.