urbanMSP

I am reserving judgment until a sidewalk perspective is shown. I usually view Nicollet Mall from the sidewalk, not the upper floors of adjacent buildings.

So if I counted correctly and I probably didn't, the smaller building is 19 stories and the taller is 31. Give or take.

so a shorter stubbier version of Aqua in Chicago?

Hey John: Where did the estimate of half a million square feet come from? Also, I found it difficult to distinguish two buildings in the photo.

Hey John: Where did the estimate of half a million square feet come from? Also, I found it difficult to distinguish two buildings in the photo.

One perspective is looking from Nicollet and the other is looking from Marquette.

Hey John: Where did the estimate of half a million square feet come from? Also, I found it difficult to distinguish two buildings in the photo.

Oh, yes, now I see the notation: 500K sq. ft. listed on the diagram.

so a shorter stubbier version of Aqua in Chicago?

I think the rendering is very conceptual and will change. And it's actually quite an improvement over Nic on Fifth. I'm more optimistic this time around that even the staid developer Opus will do something more daring here, and it's critical they add a strong retail base to reinforce Nicollet Mall as the major shopping corridor of the city. Otherwise, we are going to continue have the north end of the mall be a great destination for pigeons and vagrants, and not much else.

I'm becoming more convinced finally that a strong key for adding vibrancy to the "Nicollet Mile" is clustering ever more residential on Nicollet. Regardless of the final design, this will be good.

Will also have to save my judgment until the final design is released. Not too excited about the design so far, especially at what I can make out of the design for street-level.

I'm just tired of parking ramp podiums.

I'm just tired of parking ramp podiums.

At the very least it should be far removed from the Nicollet Mall side. And it would be nice to see part of the proposal with something more slender and distinctive than just a box.

Upon delivering material to opus, I was told this project will be at least 30 stories..

While this looks to be alright aesthetically, I for one hope that they're able to break the massing up a little more on this block (and then, hey, maybe go a bit higher). The special thing about this block in my opinion is is adjacency to the library's main entrance. Right now it kinda looks like it's ignoring that and Nicollet Mall entirely.
It would make more sense to split the block the other way, at least, wouldn't it?...

I was always hoping this could include some public green/plaza space across from the library to break up the block and start tying it to the (hopefully still coming?) Gateway Park and the river.

Now if they were going in this direction I would be behind it 100% http://www.onebloor.com/

Or this pair. http://www.harbour-plaza-toronto.ca/

Those are hideous.

I'm quite impressed. I was all set to be disappointed with anything they proposed for this block. I think the massing of the two buildings in right. It would be nice to have one tower was significantly taller than the other and if the switched the orientation so that both buildings faces the mall.

The only issue I really have is with the parking pedestal. I know digging down for parking gets expensive, buy why can't they copy skyscape and wrap the parking with apartments or office space so that it doesn't stick out like a sore thumb?

I'm looking forward to see how this evolves. I'd rather they take another 12-18 months to come up with something a bit more refined than rushing things on this block. This will be the first time in a while that the downtown core will actually be move outward. We need to make it count.

One Bloor- am I missing the pronunciation or is that the worst name ever? Blue-er, blerrrr, blore, blew-er..... It's just ugly.

(yeah, I know it's the street too.)

Well, I hope Opus doesn't do another version of "Nic on Fifth" with its awkward stubby proportions. I'm not much a fan of the tower component of One Bloor, however, the base and street level are good, and do a much better job of animating the pedestrian realm than any building I can think of on Nicollet Mall.

Toronto is, at this point, about as good of a comparison for Minneapolis as Manhattan would be. Which is to say, not a very good comparison at all due to crazy economic and land pressures that are able to support very expensive build-outs.