Search found 973 matches

by VacantLuxuries
January 4th, 2023, 2:26 pm
Forum: Transportation
Topic: Amtrak: Empire Builder and Borealis (TCMC)
Replies: 625
Views: 391449

Re: Amtrak Empire Builder and TCMC

I don't know if I necessarily agree that the only worthwhile thing Amtrak can do is to put everything into Acela. Not that Acela shouldn't be a true high speed corridor by now. But when they specifically put aside money for that corridor, Amtrak and the local transit orgs made a laundry list of smal...
by VacantLuxuries
January 3rd, 2023, 11:28 am
Forum: Transportation
Topic: Amtrak: Empire Builder and Borealis (TCMC)
Replies: 625
Views: 391449

Re: Amtrak Empire Builder and TCMC

Exactly. TC-KC is the route I'm most excited about, and was pretty thrilled/surprised to see that even MN Senate Republicans recognize the value in it. Hopefully Union Pacific is open to the idea.
by VacantLuxuries
January 3rd, 2023, 8:28 am
Forum: Transportation
Topic: Amtrak: Empire Builder and Borealis (TCMC)
Replies: 625
Views: 391449

Re: Amtrak Empire Builder and TCMC

which given how long the two takes to build a single bridge connection them could mean years. Is this a regular problem, or is this just the battle in Detroit between US/CA and the privately owned Ambassador Bridge being extrapolated into something it isn't? Also while I'd also like to see faster t...
by VacantLuxuries
December 22nd, 2022, 1:22 pm
Forum: Transportation
Topic: Public Transit News / Current Events (MN only)
Replies: 2909
Views: 702149

Re: Public Transit News / Current Events (MN only)

I don't think it's a matter of denial, it's a matter of "how (and why) is a transit provider expected to fix systemic societal problems when they are already struggling to keep the service operating?" And "if a transit provider reasonably can't solve these issues, is disinvestment rea...
by VacantLuxuries
December 22nd, 2022, 11:13 am
Forum: Transportation
Topic: Public Transit News / Current Events (MN only)
Replies: 2909
Views: 702149

Re: Public Transit News / Current Events (MN only)

How would you study something theoretical like that? You could do a poll of current and former transit riders, but I wouldn't consider that non-biased or fact/evidence based. The only evidence we can collect is by moving forward, and putting a moratorium on any sort of new transit spending is a reci...
by VacantLuxuries
December 21st, 2022, 4:27 pm
Forum: Minneapolis - Downtown
Topic: Hennepin County Medical Center (HCMC) Clinic Expansion
Replies: 124
Views: 96486

Re: Hennepin County Medical Center (HCMC) Clinic Expansion

Maybe I read it wrong, but I took the phasing to mean that reshuffling their current inpatient needs into the new building would free up space for consolidating their operations in the existing buildings. Which would possibly lead to older structures getting demolished and redeveloped.
by VacantLuxuries
December 14th, 2022, 9:06 am
Forum: Transportation
Topic: Green Line Extension - Southwest LRT
Replies: 5265
Views: 1247468

Re: Green Line Extension - Southwest LRT

Didn't the Purple Line in Maryland get a second FTA grant/loan from a 'project restarts' pile of money? This seems like an obvious way to fill what's left of the budget gap, especially since the project is already far along.
by VacantLuxuries
December 12th, 2022, 1:33 pm
Forum: Minneapolis - Downtown
Topic: Downtown Minneapolis Retail News
Replies: 1432
Views: 479730

Re: Downtown Minneapolis Retail News

Even the mayor's most ardent critics will agree that he's got the right connections with downtown power brokers to hopefully get results. And they've got motivation to give him a win, as now that all meaningful power in Minneapolis is consolidated in Frey, they'll certainly want to avoid 2025 going ...
by VacantLuxuries
December 7th, 2022, 2:06 pm
Forum: Minneapolis - Downtown
Topic: Downtown Minneapolis - News & General Topics
Replies: 2027
Views: 783650

Re: Downtown Minneapolis - News & General Topics

Hopefully someone with an eye towards residential conversion?
by VacantLuxuries
December 6th, 2022, 10:23 am
Forum: Local Politics and Governance
Topic: 2023-24 Minnesota Legislature
Replies: 47
Views: 30799

Re: 2023-24 Minnesota Legislature

Sure wish we had kept studying a public version of the Zip Rail instead of falling for private company vaporware right about now. But it's not like we're hurting for ways to put a surplus like that to good use, and especially glad we aren't going to spend another year doing nothing.
by VacantLuxuries
December 5th, 2022, 1:35 pm
Forum: Minneapolis - Downtown
Topic: Downtown Minneapolis - News & General Topics
Replies: 2027
Views: 783650

Re: Downtown Minneapolis - News & General Topics

Great catch. Referring back to the conversation I had read, I believe those are the costs to purchase the property, not leasing rates. Sorry for the confusion, I read the thread a month ago and mixed up that detail. Which I guess makes some sense as well - if you're in commercial real estate, more t...
by VacantLuxuries
December 5th, 2022, 12:11 pm
Forum: Minneapolis - Downtown
Topic: Downtown Minneapolis - News & General Topics
Replies: 2027
Views: 783650

Re: Downtown Minneapolis - News & General Topics

I've lurked on some LinkedIn conversations between commercial real estate brokers in other markets talking about either renovating office buildings back to Class A+ or converting to residential, and it takes a significant drop in the going rate per sq ft of office product before a residential conver...
by VacantLuxuries
December 3rd, 2022, 1:23 pm
Forum: Minneapolis - Downtown
Topic: Downtown Minneapolis Office Market
Replies: 1291
Views: 813852

Re: Downtown Minneapolis Office Market

Well the article said the owner was an out-of-state pension fund. I can't imagine they had the expertise to do any of that and were relying on the people they hired to manage everything. I don't know enough to say for sure, but I can't imagine that sort of ownership/management arrangement leads to g...
by VacantLuxuries
December 1st, 2022, 10:21 am
Forum: Minneapolis - Downtown
Topic: Downtown Minneapolis Office Market
Replies: 1291
Views: 813852

Re: Downtown Minneapolis Office Market

Rumors that 800 LaSalle was on shaky financial footing turned out to be true. The previous owners turned it over to their lender to avoid foreclosure and will be going up for auction next week.

And Fifth Street Towers might be next.
by VacantLuxuries
December 1st, 2022, 10:09 am
Forum: Suburbs
Topic: Maplewood, North St Paul, & Oakdale - General Topics
Replies: 34
Views: 17353

Re: Maplewood, North St Paul, & Oakdale - General Topics

287 units is close to the 241 units proposed to replace Myth, but there's nothing else on the City of Maplewood's development project site. I wonder if the current owner had as-of-yet unrevealed redevelopment plans in the works that they're including with the sale, in case the new owner wants to jus...
by VacantLuxuries
November 23rd, 2022, 2:21 pm
Forum: Local Politics and Governance
Topic: 2023-24 Minnesota Legislature
Replies: 47
Views: 30799

Re: 2023-24 Minnesota Legislature

I vaguely remember the state Supreme Court ruling red-light cameras were unconstitutional under the MN Constitution but I absolutely could be making that up/remember that incorrectly IIRC last word on it was they concluded that if the fine was applied to the vehicle, not the person, it's constituti...
by VacantLuxuries
November 16th, 2022, 2:29 pm
Forum: Minneapolis - Downtown
Topic: Downtown Minneapolis Retail News
Replies: 1432
Views: 479730

Re: Downtown Minneapolis Retail News

This is wishful thinking given labor conditions and that many of these organizations are family run. TIL Taco Johns and LeeAnn Chin are small struggling businesses we can't expect more than the bare minimum from. And I'm not particularly fond of 'labor conditions' as an excuse, given that plenty of...
by VacantLuxuries
November 16th, 2022, 11:58 am
Forum: Minneapolis - Downtown
Topic: Downtown Minneapolis Retail News
Replies: 1432
Views: 479730

Re: Downtown Minneapolis Retail News

Yeah, sorry, it's not all the skyways...and some other cities have their versions of them and do just fine. But if it was all the fault of the skyway, we would have a thriving active retail (whatever form that may take) scene on the 2nd level...we don't have that either. To be clear, my comments ab...
by VacantLuxuries
November 15th, 2022, 11:44 am
Forum: Minneapolis - Downtown
Topic: Downtown Minneapolis Retail News
Replies: 1432
Views: 479730

Re: Downtown Minneapolis Retail News

I think it's also worth asking the question - is an empty retail parcel worse than a leased one with a tenant that doesn't draw anyone/provide value to the residents of Minneapolis? From the building's perspective - obviously leased space beats empty space. But I'd argue for any other interested par...