urbanMSP

Good god it's ugly and cheap looking! I would think Grand Ave would have some fairly stringent design guidelines for developers.

It's a rather lame project for a site that really should having something much more architecturally ambitious with stronger interaction at the street level with Nicollet Mall. A wasted opportunity.

Noticed that they have put up some black something, not sure if it is polished stone, Black dyed concrete, on the outside corners opposite the Xcel building. They also put up some black slates that I'm taking to be supports for the exterior of the parking garage on 3 sides between the 3rd and 4th l...

That being said, the situation in Minneapolis is a lot different than just a few years ago, and we're probably getting to the point where we want to start asking questions about how densely downtown is built out. If things continue clipping along the way they have been since 2012 or so, we're going...

The issue is really developers in our downtown have had the luxury of large empty vacant lots to develop their projects. It's much easier here. There's no need to build more complicated and costlier multi- use projects. This is very unusual for an urban core in most cities in the world. 801 Marquett...

Filed under: "Things I Will Believe When I See Them"

Yeah I'm a little skeptical too, but I think there's a chance. Mozaic West has done very well. It's a great location in a high growth neighborhood. What they need are some committed tenants to get it off the ground.

I'm excited about this project as well! It reinforces the Minneapolis tradition and reputation of being forward thinking in architecture.

Then they have 2 months to get the siding up and rebuild the sidewalks around the place. At the pace they have been going I don't see that happening. The corner section of the complex at Third and Washington looks as if it will be completed in time for the restaurant to open. But I agree the claddi...

^^^ I like the brick as well. The glass atrium /entrance looks nice on the corner. This building is turning out quite a bit better than I expected.

Now that the facade is going up, I'm seeing that they're going for the "Deli Meat Combo Platter" color scheme with the two buildings. Chicken, Pastrami, Honey Roasted Turkey, etc. Speaking of the pastrami/reddish panels on the new building, are they supposed to look patchy and faded? It's...

I don't care as much about the materials. I'd rather just see the Marquette sidewalk-fronting units be easily convertible to live-work spaces that could, eventually, provide much greater sidewalk activation. I like the idea of work/live spaces on the street level, but somehow this location doesn't ...

I would like to see more windows on the short ends of the building as well. Seems like wasted space and is highly visible from that angle. Perhaps worried about future structures blocking the views? It looks awkward and creates a highly visible 18 story blank wall, especially on the south side. Not...

Mondrian & the golden ratio are the inspiration for the glazing? I see...

No, greed and building it as cheaply as possible is the inspiration

I'm all for providing parks that are geared towards kids; I just don't think that this particular site is the right one for this to happen. I'd much rather see an urban plaza that's ringed by active uses. Fingers crossed, that's exactly what the United Properties plan could achieve. Agree, A child ...

Wonderful short documentary on the life changing experiences of astronauts viewing Earth from space:
https://vimeo.com/55073825

Also, put me in the camp (maybe I'm alone in this camp?) that wants this block turned into public space. I know money and The Commons and the park board etc but conceptually a "bookend" to Peavey Plaza (or Loring Park depending on your viewpoint) that could start to create some green conn...

I think the what happens is that we get all these new residents 'settled in' downtown, and then they start organically creating an environment for more development, offices, schools, etc.. But I think that takes, say, 2-3 years before we really know the new levels of demand and what it can support....

Well, I wonder if Mr Duval is watching all of this. If he was ever really serious about his 80 story proposal, this could be his golden opportunity to make a comeback. Sounds crazy but this is the fickle world of development

United Properties guy put the percent chance this development moves ahead at 75 percent. What do you folks think? I think the city should re-bid the project and give a longer timeline to get more responses. They still own the land, right? It is beyond ridiculous that the winner of the bid would eve...

Is there an updated rendering of this project?