Xcel Energy HQ - 401 Nicollet

[grant1simons2]

I gotchu

DSC_0214 by grant.simons, on Flickr

DSC_0213 by grant.simons, on Flickr

[Silophant]

Perfect!

[matthew5080]

Looks great! The building has really started to grow on me, most likely as I pass by it on the bus back from the U almost every weekday.

[MS3]

Me too. It's fits well with the two new apt towers Nic/5th and 4 Marq.

[Nick]

This building as a whole looks (completely) fine, but if you get up close to it, the concrete panels are already showing a lot of wear. Must have been kind of rough during installation, there are chips and clips on many of the panels.

[PhilmerPhil]

Can we talk about the alleys on this block?
https://twitter.com/philmrphil/status/7 ... 7323425792
https://twitter.com/philmrphil/status/7 ... 0777999360
https://twitter.com/philmrphil/status/7 ... 7785205760

[grant1simons2]

I have a little sketch of some infill that could go on the Nicollet facing alley. In all seriousness, how did was an alley allowed to face Nicollet? Emergency vehicle loophole?

[twinkess]

Precedent maybe?

https://goo.gl/maps/m3QaH6B2Sfq

[EOst]

Preexisting condition: https://www.google.com/maps/@44.9793258 ... 312!8i6656

[Silophant]

No idea how Xcel/Opus managed to get away with that giant alley. A much narrower one was a preexisting condition, no doubt about that, but the only official alleys on the block according to the Hennepin GIS are the ones surrounding 4Marq (also much narrower than the actual open space that exists). On the tax map, the 401 parcel is directly adjacent to the Nic on 5th parcel.

[PhilmerPhil]

All entries (along Nicollet, 4th, and Marquette) to the alleys are obscenely wide though. The one down on the 900 block of Nicollet is actually quite nice. It's cozy, provides temporary shelter from rain, and hosts street performers regularly. The pre-existing alley was not as wide as its replacement. It's really hard to grasp how much of a gaping hole the alleys create in the streetfront without actually walking past them.

[Nathan]

https://www.instagram.com/p/BCTfZ-CLiql/

[PhilmerPhil]

Might as well stripe a center running left turn lane in there.

[Nathan]

This weekend walking around in the beautiful weather a good friend of mine (with absolutely no goading from me) brought up this building. (He works in 110 Washington so he's watched it go up) he said it would have looked great in Bismark (his hometown) circa 2005. I nearly died. Couldn't have said it better.

[LakeCharles]

This weekend walking around in the beautiful weather a good friend of mine (with absolutely no goading from me) brought up this building. (He works in 110 Washington so he's watched it go up) he said it would have looked great in Bismark (his hometown) circa 2005. I nearly died. Couldn't have said it better.

This would be the tallest building in Bismarck (aside from the Capitol), 40 ft taller than the next tallest. And the largest by square footage. So I would say it would look great.

[Nathan]

It was more of a style comment then a height comment, but yes.

[LakeCharles]

I guess I was just saying you are selling this place pretty low. I know you hate it (goodness knows you've said it enough times), but there were zero buildings (of any style) built in Bismarck between 1984 and 2008 that were taller than 3 stories.

[Nathan]

Again it wasn't my sales pitch. It's what someone from North Dakota would expect to see there and not here.

[grant1simons2]

Anyone know what Opus is spending $250,000 on here?

http://apps.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/PIApp/ ... 2924440039

[Silophant]

Xcel is building a café/lunch counter thing on the skyway level, right by the future connection to 365 Nicollet. The rendering they've taped to the wall makes it look like they're totally disregarding the guidelines for clear space in skyway corridors, but I guess we'll see.