urbanMSP

It was still closed tonight. That's got to be an expensive closure for the developer.

As expensive as turning Hennepin into a water slide?

Tower crane is gone. It looked like it took almost all weekend to get it down.

Perhaps I missed this but does anyone know what is going on across the street from here at N 2nd St & 1st Ave? The building on that block was recently demolished.

Velo Flats by Opus. http://www.opus-group.com/Projects/VELO+(TM)

The Whole Foods storefront glass is going in!

5-27-2013 Construction Photos

http://www.bizjournals.com/twincities/m ... e-add.html

From 2.3 to 9.3 million in 30 months from the Whole Foods by Minnetonka. If something like this happens after 222 is done, watch out

This would be great for the value capture district. Though it's a completely different scenario in Minnetonka, they turned around a foreclosed former Circuit City, this is new construction.

What I really hope happens is the auspicious presence of Whole Foods and 222 spurs development on the blocks immediately to the north and south along Hennepin Ave.

Agreed. And also spurs something to happen sooner with the surface lot next to the library.

^ THIS

IMG_3539 by UrbanMSP, on Flickr


IMG_3542 by UrbanMSP, on Flickr


IMG_3543 by UrbanMSP, on Flickr


IMG_3548 by UrbanMSP, on Flickr

This is looking reeeally top heavy. Towers look good though.

The towers look great and echo the architecture of the Federal Reserve and Hennepin Ave bridge nicely. The towers will soften the heaviness of the upper floors when their stone facade is completed. Some people don't like the balconies, but I think it makes the exterior look better with a more sculptural and urban feel.

Is this growing on anyone else? It is looking better to me!

It looks pretty great coming down Henn or Washington, but I think they really slacked on the north and west (soon to be neighborhood) sides which is a bummer :/

They probably should have divided the structure walls into different heights and various colors of brick so it would have looked like a dense collection of different buildings vs a large luxury fortress.

I don't know if I've ever seen that done well, short of using actual old storefronts, it usually ends up looking fake. Though I'd love to see any examples that look good, because I haven't seen very many either way.

Yeah I will admit the ones I have seen do seem quite tacky, as developers do always seem to design their developments kind of bland which in turn gives it that fake look. I just wish they would mimic the detail seen in old storefronts and apartments, it's definitely more work but in the end it just looks better overall in my opinion.

Hopefully some developer can do that someday, I like modern buildings but I am a sucker for older brick buildings like you would see in the Warehouse District and Lowertown. They are bulky as well, but they have enough architectural detail in the exterior to look really good.