Xcel Energy HQ - 401 Nicollet

[MNdible]

Leamington Ramp, Government Center Ramps, Orchestra Hall Ramp, ABC Ramps, etc. Even if these ramps were ugly and bad sidewalk neighbors, they were at least built before the era where we totally dismissed the concept of human beings walking along sidewalks.

Good lord, man. The era has nothing to do with it -- it's all about the location (location location) and the particular circumstances. There are lots of older ramps that have no respect for the human scale and lots of newer ones that do.

[FISHMANPET]

Yeah, the 9th & La Salle and 4th & Marquette ramps are a pretty big middle finger to anybody walking by.

Hell, the 9th & La Salle ramp is a pretty big middle finger to anybody in the ramp.

[Silophant]

Just got a corporate email warning that ramp demolition was starting this week and continuing through August. Apparently, concrete recycling is slooooow.

[nordeast homer]

That seems reaaaaaaaaly slow when you consider that the dome completely disappeared in half that time. Are they going to have Laurel and Hardy out there with a pick axe and shovel?

[Nathan]

Yeah especially since my friend just sent me a picture, and they've doubled what's down already... might they be including excavation I'm that time line? or maybe it'll be down and they'll just be grinding on a bare lot for a while.

[Silophant]

I hope its that. It also could just be they wrote the email last summer based on the original 'Ramp demolition in 3Q 2014' schedule and didn't bother to edit it before sending. We'll see, I guess.

[lordmoke]

It might also include demolition of the underground ramp at the 4Marq site. I have a difficult time envisioning these two projects happening simultaneously without at least a little cooperation between Mortenson and Opus.

[Wedgeguy]

What is coming down right now is very thin flooring. They have some very thick structural supports that will not come down with the swipe of a backhoe. I walked by yesterday as was very surprised by how thin the deck floors were. Separating the rebar from the concrete will start taking them some time as the thickness of the structure increases.

[VAStationDude]

On Twitter Opus says demo will be complete in June and above ground complete by mid May.

https://twitter.com/theopusgroup

[Silophant]

That's more reasonable. Maybe, since the email was mostly warning of loud construction noises, the August timeline is demolition and pile driving a well?

[bapster2006]

To see this in person is just a gorgeous site.

Xcel Energy HQ 4-20-14 by bapster2006, on Flickr

[spearson]

Today. Right before I took the picture they had dropped those top two floors. It was awesome to watch.

[aeisenberg]

We should organize a grill-out across the street from this demolition and invite all the anti-development folks we disagree with and say "Hey. At least we can all agree about not holding a vigil here."

[mattaudio]

Or we could have a spoof vigil for this ramp.

[aeisenberg]

Or we could have a spoof vigil for this ramp.

Let's save that for the Famous Dave's in Linden Hills.

[spearson]

Almost gone!

The corner at Nicollet and 4th already feels 100x better with this beast gone. I hope when Xcel moves that whomever takes over the old building utilizes some of the sidewalk space for some dining. There is such good potential here.

[mplser]

I thought Xcel was keeping their old building and expanding to the new one? no?

[mister.shoes]

That's how I understand it, mplser. This is additional HQ, not replacement HQ.

[Nathan]

read as: campus

[Gman12]

I thought Xcel was keeping their old building and expanding to the new one? no?

Xcel will be vacating Marquette Plaza in 2016 and consolidating in the new building and 414 with a skyway connecting the offices. There are also long term plans, 30+ years out, for 414 and the substation below it.