urbanMSP

Two random questions/thoughts on MAC, since the conversation went there: 1. I still think it makes sense to close the Crystal Airport and develop the property with housing. 400 acres of land in a 1st ring suburb, located along the Blue Line extension. This would likely require an infill station as t...

MCAD just bought this property to use as student housing.
https://finance-commerce.com/2023/06/mc ... -students/ (unlocked)

Macy’s furniture store to be redeveloped with housing and offices. Quite overdue. https://www.bizjournals.com/twincities/news/2023/03/16/macys-furniture-store-in-edina-to-be-redeveloped.html Here's the Environmental Analysis Worksheet (EAW): https://www.bettertogetheredina.org/7465/widgets/22453/do...

I really like this one: https://newmnflag.org/designs/letoile-du-nord https://i0.wp.com/NewMNFlag.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/brandon-hundt-north-star.png?w=1000&ssl=1 I'm a tough customer, and I really like this one too. North Star, Snowflake, done. Easy to imagine this being put on hats, t...

Happy population estimates day to those who celebrate. Census estimates were out a few weeks ago, but Met Council's are considered to be more accurate since they are based off of additional data points like the exact number of units added since last year, etc. https://metrocouncil.org/Data-and-Maps/...

Lower fares would be great, but I can't imagine families with multiple kids being a core market for NLX. Maybe once just to try it out, but I'm hard pressed to see how that would make sense either economically or practically, compared to driving. For college students or singles or couples, etc., sur...

It only turns away from Lyndale/Franklin because all of the old window openings were covered up long ago. There's no reason they can't put windows (and hopefully a door) back in many of those ground floor openings. I actually like saving the main building that fronts on Lyndale and Franklin, but wis...

Hillcrest Development paid $2.8 Million for the property and will renovate it rather than tear down and redevelop. the building will be positioned to house commercial tenants seeking retail, creative office, production/light assembly/flex, warehouse, and storage uses. https://finance-commerce.com/20...

The CAC & PAC meetings that were scheduled for this month have been pushed back to "late summer". Can anyone with an insider's view provide a sense for how seriously they are considering a "better bus" alternative? Since the onset of this study in 2017, it's been pretty clea...

Unless United Health or Wells Fargo or Target are moving a division here, I don't see how they'll get the building leased up in under 5 years.

My hot take on this area (going on 10 years now), is that this location east of the Lafayette Bridge is where the OMF should've been built in the first place. Taking that idea further, both the OMF and CHS Field could have been built about 1,000 feet further northeast, as that would've opened up the...

There's a coffee shop now open in The Shale (apt building behind DQ / south of the old strip mall): Falls Coffee https://fallscoffee.com/ Very cool to have a year-round option so close to the park, even though IMO it would've been a better fit in the Portico condo building on Minnehaha (across from ...

IMO the "80,000 units in the next 5 years" is probably somewhat building & construction trades propaganda, not a scientific number. It is true that there's been a bit of stagnation in the metro area's population since 2020, as more households than ever before are able to decouple their...

I know of some Amtrak routes that make use of a wye to reverse into stations that are on dead-end tracks, but that usually happens in pretty close proximity to the station. And in both cases I'm aware of, this is more or less in the middle of the route and is done to serve a major metro's union stat...

I pulled the Wells Fargo Home Mortgage campus conversation into this smaller thread, as I figure it will be an ongoing conversation for a couple years at least. Biz Journals had an article today (locked): www.bizjournals.com/twincities/news/2023/05/03/wells-fargo-south-minneapolis-campus-redevelopme...

As someone not particularly enthused to add another 25-year old DSA member to the City Council, I hope someone at least gives Aurin a run for her money. If she wins and conducts herself like Andrew Johnson e.g. being a swing vote between the progressive* wing and the more moderate wing, she'll be a ...

With the US Bank branch nearby, wasn't there something wacky where they had to open the new branch before closing the old one (to make way for Rafter), something to do with federal banking rules? If Wells Fargo is announcing the closure of this branch and we haven't heard anything about a developmen...

So the new Great River route could eventually be Duluth to Chicago, by way of stops at Target Field Station and SPUD? And that would effectively replace one trip of the NLX (in each direction)? Or is it more likely that one trip would skip Target Field Station and head directly to SPUD? While not id...

It's nuts that no one in Ward 2 wants to run for Council against Wonsley. Especially crazy considering that Wonsley doesn't even seek the DFL endorsement. Anyone that had run for the DFL endorsement would have only needed to beat "no endorsement" and they'd have the party apparatus behind ...

https://metrocouncil.org/Council-Meetings/Committees/Transportation-Accessibility-Advisory-Committee/2023/TAAC-Meeting-5-03-23/2023-05-03-Blue-Line-Lake-update-TAAC.aspx Renovation of Blue Line Lake St/Midtown Station going in front of TAAC on 5/3/23. Improve customer experience: cleanliness, comfo...