urbanMSP

Ohferchrissakes.

There are lots of amazing buildings that are only three stories tall. You people and your obsession with height!

Where's the "like" button?

I think a seven story building will look great here. And I'm optimistic with the comments the developer has made so far. It demonstrates some thoughtfulness on his part. As far as a taller building in The North Loop, I think the Hines site is ground zero for that to happen. I think a couple 25-30 story buildings located there would be perfect as the signature tall buildings for this district. But I agree with MS3 we could use some new skyscrapers to grace our skyline, especially towards the core of downtown, DTE, and the convention center.

A rendering of the Shapco site/Be The Match HQ
http://www.metrocouncil.org/News-Events ... -deve.aspx

Woah, that's pretty cool looking. For some reason I was expecting a glass box. I'm a big fan of the way they broke up the massing on this, as well as the way the structure "comes apart" and opens up at the top. I'll reserve full judgement until we know what the reddish material is, though.

Great find!

Yeah, neat! It'd be cool if the building was some kind of metaphor for the cause they support....kind of like the Lutheran Financial HQ (praying hand(s)).

That looks nice enough in a tricky site. Be the Match locating there would seem to be a bit of a blow to the Hines Office Project, then, huh?

An attractively modern building with a good presence at the street level. Will probably look even better when a more detailed rendering is published.

In early renderings of the interchange they showed a building on the shapco site that would allow for diagonal public plaza... do you think that's included? It looks like it could be. I thought that would be cool. Regardless a pretty awesome building. Crosses the traditional shape of the neighborhood with a playful modern theme. HOPEFULLY it's brick or even stone...

That looks nice enough in a tricky site. Be the Match locating there would seem to be a bit of a blow to the Hines Office Project, then, huh?

I expressed the same resentment when the news broke a few months ago for this project, but most people seemed very content with Shapco building anything that the Hines project was pretty much an afterthought. I still much prefer the Hines proposal to this, but am happy to have either.

Street level presence? Why, because it has a plaza across the street. To me this building looks like it should be at the U on the west bank. It screams "here I am, made of brick and glass and too cheap to look like a modern building". I think it's ugly and I'm disappointed that United Properties still can't get past cutting corners on everything they do. Other than that it's a great project.

Very interesting. I think we need a more retailed rendering before people can get bent out of shape, but it's certainly a lot better than what I was expecting.

I actually like it as a modern transition, it is really playful with the Ford Building next door, and ramps up heights from the two new apartment buildings, to the Ford, to the hopefully still future Hines Project... It would be really cohesive in my mind.

I actually like it as a modern transition, it is really playful with the Ford Building next door, and ramps up heights from the two new apartment buildings, to the Ford, to the hopefully still future Hines Project... It would be really cohesive in my mind.

Agreed. A plus in this development would be if they have a restaurant/retail on the corner by the entrance, and/or along the side facing the Ford Building. That would make the building more publicly engaged, and create a more active space beyond the 9-5 life of an office building.

I, too, am a big fan of the proposed, 20-plus-story, glass-clad Hines tower. The height and modernity it would bring to the area adjacent to The Ballpark and Interchange would add much needed architectural diversity to this burgeoning neighborhood.

But like others, I welcome this development and it's own modern twists it incorporates. The interplay between it and the renovated Ford Center are encouraging and fills another vacant lot in the North Loop's expanding business district that will see even more growth in 2015 when Metro Transit Police completes it's four-story headquarters at the foot of the Interchange. I would still love to see Hines find tenants (corporate, hotel, or residential) to build it's tower soon. Maybe the improving economy will attract new outside interest in the area. Or whether any of the large legal firms that are looking for larger office space might be interested in moving their operations to the area.

Bringing 1,100 workers into this area would be great for the existing restaurant, bar and residential businesses, in addition to expanding LRT ridership. But my read of the article makes completion of this sound 50-50 at best. By next March, we should know definitively. The only silver lining, I see, if this deal fell through, would be the possibility of breathing new life into the stalled 20-story Hines proposal.

I'd put the odds of this at 90-10 that it will happen. Nobody ever commits to anything on the record until things are done -- you can't get spooked by the refusal of businesses and developers to give a solid yes.

Who said the Hines proposal is stalled? National Bone Marrow is only one of many businesses looking for space.

Agreed. It's a spec office proposal. They're probably going to need a few tenants lined up before submitting any actual proposals to the city. If there's no tenant interest then there is no project.

It's official. Be the Match is building its new corporate HQ near Target Field in the NoLo. Not sure if the picture associated with the article is the official building but if I'm not mistaken, wasn't this building originally going to be 30 stories or something and all glass? Perhaps I'm thinking of different buildings?

Here's the story. http://www.bizjournals.com/twincities/b ... -move.html