urbanMSP

I agree that it is sad to see that building go away (though inevitable considering its location). Unfortunately there are a lot of nice old buildings that get demolished in this city and they disappear without any comment. Minneapolis has always been a knock-it-down town.

I walked by this weekend. That alley like space between the new and old buildings would be a great spot for a sidewalk cafe.

Goodfellow's restaurant was in that space for almost 18 years. So to say that it's tough for a restaurant to survive there is a bit exaggerated. Goodfellow's was in business for 18 years total, but it was in City Center for only half of that time. It was previously in the Conservatory. It opened in...

It's a shame that the old Forum space doesn't have a better facade; something that both makes it stand out more and is sympathetic with the interior. I think that's one of the main reasons why no restaurant has ever been very successful there.

Perhaps it's for the best. Hopefully a new owner will do a better job at attracting tennants. There was a recent report that City Center was one of the busiest pedestrian hubs downtown: http://www.startribune.com/local/minneapolis/275837411.html It seems hard to believe that it's that impossible to ...

It definitely is not pretty. It's fine for infill, but it just looks cheap.

I live near by as well. Yes, it certainly does look cheap, but does it really look any different than about 80% of the rental that's being built in minneapolis right now?

Someone should call Erin Brocovich. http://www.journalmpls.com/news-feed/cl ... e-problems What a disappointing development. There are several things in the article that I don't understand. They said removing the soil down to bedrock was supposed to remove the contamination, but yet from what I can...

It would be interesting to know what changes they plan to make to the ramp. Will there still be public parking? How will they separate/secure the resident parking from the rest of the ramp? Will it be enclosed or climate controlled? It's a pretty upscale proposal, and yet the parking provisions don'...

It may stick out like a sore thumb now, but it certainly ups the ante for Superior Plating. There are other parcels that could be good filler for this neighborhood too. I would actually rather see this on the Superior Plating site (along with an expanded retail base and townhouses), where the two f...

It was probably always their intention to tear down the old club. I never really believed that stuff about relocating it on the site. Probably just building a case for why they couldn't save it. I can't imagine that the HPC will go along with that. They certainly shouldn't.

I'm sure the other buildings on the block will get torn down at some point That's not likely (fortunately). Maybe the Conga building (an old building that lost its upper floors in a fire), but not the others. They are all very nice historic buildings that have been restored and renovated in recent ...

I never noticed how much the TCF Bank looks like a giant size 1970's McDonalds.

by nickmgray » July 16th, 2014, 7:12 am Really excited to see this project finally get the green light. It's a disappointment that they are not going to be doing much work on the exterior of the building to restore its previous look, but a Conrad is definitely a great addition to the city. I'm a li...

by FISHMANPET » July 11th, 2014, 1:19 pm Stupid question, and maybe it was brought up before, but is cleaning this site going to require digging a big hole to get out all the bad dirt? If so, will a developer be given a huge hole in the ground (preferable) or will it be filled in with clean dirt (t...

Does anyone know what the minimum ammount of land is that is required before MPRB will consider creating a new park? I've heard that it's fairly substantial, far more than just a city block. I think as density increases in the city we really need more smaller parks scattered around than the really b...

Thanks for the old pics, very interesting. It shouldn't be difficult to restore at all. The original entrance is still there behind some landscaping. I am a little skeptical of the feasibilty of moving this building around on the sight. I guess anything can be moved (schubert Theater), but it would ...

by Chef » July 3rd, 2014, 12:13 am Am I the only one who thinks this building is ugly? It looks to me like a cheap 90s era university science building and is proof that brick doesn't necessarily make buildings more attractive. Flo Co across the street is much nicer. Sorry, Flo Co is just about the ...

I wonder what they plan for the space between the buildings. There's a lot of potential to do something really cool - maybe an alley-like courtyard.

I'd actually like to see the city study prohibiting future development of skyway level commercial space. I think this would be a great compromise. A lot of people love skyways, and just to be completely anti-skyway just closes down the dialog and doesn't solve anything. In addition to no new skyway...

by FISHMANPET » June 13th, 2014, 9:14 am So the developer said they'd walk if they couldn't build their stick six building, is anyone worried that concrete construction just isn't financially viable right now? If you ask me, this is the most pressing housing affordability issue we face right now. I...