Brunsfield Place - 915 Washington Avenue N

[seanrichardryan]

It's the same apartment project, different colors. The angled bay windows were done on Eitel and Park Vista. Glad its getting something better than beige, but eh.

[Nathan]

I think the plan was obviously scanned poorly. I would say that the building is supposed to be grey and charcoal with red panels.

In the elevation drawings (faintly) it actually looks like the siding runs up the building in about the same width as the windows which is impossible to see in the color rendering. There are also things stated like 'black vinyl coated chain link fence' Julie Snow is out there to have timeless modern architecture, and it wouldn't surprise me if there was wood soffits in the decks, and a fantastically outfitted plaza.

I also think it's really difficult to see the dimensions that the angled balconies make in the rendering.

Admittedly the site plans seem underwhelming, but I really think the architect and developer are playing to win, and hopefully we'll see better renderings, and even better results.

[min-chi-cbus]

Well I like it, and also think the colors may be off in the scan, but even if they weren't this thing would stick way out from the rest of the pack -- in a good way!

[John]

Looks reminiscent of early 20th century De Stijl architecture. The project looks like it has potential to be very attractive. Love the sophisticated composition and almost musical arrangement of the windows. The coloration is unique and stands out from the rest of the crowd. The street level looks nice with all the clear, transparent glass. This should be a winner.

[nasa35]

Looks like a huge rectangle took a colored bowel movement.

[John]

Looks like a huge rectangle took a colored bowel movement.

Nasa, I'm so glad you said that. Maybe it can take some of the heat off me with everyone disliking my perseveration on the crappiness of concrete board and the scaling back of Nicollet Residences!

[nasa35]

Looks like a huge rectangle took a colored bowel movement.

Nasa, I'm so glad you said that. Maybe it can take some of the heat off me with everyone disliking my perseveration on the crappiness of concrete board and the scaling back of Nicollet Residences!

No problem....I read complaints about 350; and the same fellas like this abomination!!!!

It's infill....I guess. Just finishing off my first G&T of the evening!

[John]

Looks like a huge rectangle took a colored bowel movement.

Nasa, I'm so glad you said that. Maybe it can take some of the heat off me with everyone disliking my perseveration on the crappiness of concrete board and the scaling back of Nicollet Residences!

No problem....I read complaints about 350; and the same fellas like this abomination!!!!

It's infill....I guess. Just finishing off my first G&T of the evening!

I think you should give this project a chance. When a better rendering surfaces, I think it will look better. Julie Snow has done some pretty good stuff. I really like urban infill with low rise projects and they are contributing to filling up our vacant lots downtown. However, there are certain sites where this is no question a tall and prominent tower would be better. It's been sad in this development boom we haven't seen more towers go up. It further delays Minneapolis' maturation into a true big city. You and I are older than some here. We watched the tallest skyscrapers like Wells Fargo , Capella Tower, and Piper Jaffrey go up. 30 years ago, there was a stronger sense in our community of optimism and confidence that we were evolving into a national , if not international urban showcase. That pride seems to have weakened for some reason.

[nasa35]

nice post...I agree 95%!

[min-chi-cbus]

I think you should give this project a chance. When a better rendering surfaces, I think it will look better. Julie Snow has done some pretty good stuff. I really like urban infill with low rise projects and they are contributing to filling up our vacant lots downtown. However, there are certain sites where this is no question a tall and prominent tower would be better. It's been sad in this development boom we haven't seen more towers go up. It further delays Minneapolis' maturation into a true big city. You and I are older than some here. We watched the tallest skyscrapers like Wells Fargo , Capella Tower, and Piper Jaffrey go up. 30 years ago, there was a stronger sense in our community of optimism and confidence that we were evolving into a national , if not international urban showcase. That pride seems to have weakened for some reason.

I don't think developers developing what they deam feasible is "sad" in any way, shape, or form. It's not like the city can (or even would, for that matter) tell the developers "you know what, I want you to build a tower because we're progressive damn it! I don't care if you lose money on the project, we care mostly about how we look!". Projects like this one are what are being supplied in response to demand and market prices. The good news is that the more things are filled in the higher the prices go up, so in the future things will almost surely be taller. In the meantime, I can't say 6-10 floors sucks. I've been to Paris for example and never thought to myself: "this city would look less ugly if there were a few more skyscrapers".

[go4guy]

The big projects will come in time. Right now, infill is what we sorely need. And all of these projects bring that.

[Nathan]

Looks like a huge rectangle took a colored bowel movement.

Nasa, I'm so glad you said that. Maybe it can take some of the heat off me with everyone disliking my perseveration on the crappiness of concrete board and the scaling back of Nicollet Residences!

No problem....I read complaints about 350; and the same fellas like this abomination!!!!

It's infill....I guess. Just finishing off my first G&T of the evening!

nasa, great to see you back seems like it's been a while. On some of the other boards we've had some discussion about really qualifying our complaints about buildings. I totally respect your opinions on a lot of things, and I understand your desire to get the biggest and best, but I really want Minneapolis to have livable and kick ass neighborhoods. To me it seems (especially in a recovering market) like we could build 2 or 3 cool towers DT and leave the surrounding neighborhoods in the lurch, or we could fill in a lot of these awkward smaller surrounding lots and incredibly improve the street scene, culture, desire to live in an urban environment, and then just when people are really digging Minneapolis build some crazy awesome towers to capitalize on a confident market. It just doesn't make sense to bash EVERY smaller scale project in the mean time. especially one by a great architect and a new developer who are putting something a little edgier out there.

[nasa35]

i was so optimistic about this. Good post. Thanks.

[Nathan]

I'm optimistic, and hope that a successful Brunsfield Place, and good relationship between the developer and architect, will lead to some of the larger scale developments that we see on their website! They are dipping their toe into the US market and they CHOSE Minneapolis! I think it's a great vote of confidence on their part.

[woofner]

Temp fencing and a pedestrian detour are up, and there is some heavy equipment on the site. Looks like the existing building will come down soon.

[Nick]

Demo is chugging along here. What was the building that used to be here? The painting on the walls in the basement of the old structure was interesting.

[woofner]

It was a grey partially brick-clad one-story industrialish building. One of the tenants was the All-Safe company, the sign for which is still standing and partially included in your top picture. The other was a sign company whose name escapes me and who had a typo in their own sign. I think All-Safe might have owned the building. Anyway nothing to do with the paintings in the basement, which is a nice reminder that all kinds of weird creepy stuff might be going on in the nondescript buildings we pass everyday - makes the city feel much more interesting than it is.

[Nick]

Anyway nothing to do with the paintings in the basement, which is a nice reminder that all kinds of weird creepy stuff might be going on in the nondescript buildings we pass everyday - makes the city feel much more interesting than it is.

Walking around the North Loop on a cold, grey Saturday afternoon was odd enough as it was. Felt very zombie apocalypse-y.

[5th Ave Guy]

Anyway nothing to do with the paintings in the basement, which is a nice reminder that all kinds of weird creepy stuff might be going on in the nondescript buildings we pass everyday - makes the city feel much more interesting than it is.

Walking around the North Loop on a cold, grey Saturday afternoon was odd enough as it was. Felt very zombie apocalypse-y.

This really amazes me sometimes. I can take my dog on a 15 min walk on the weekend and literally see no one in the neighborhood. Always reminds me the area still has quite a ways to go. Hopefully all these new apartment buildings will increase the foot traffic.

[John]

The 222 development with Whole Foods and the proposed Velo apartment complex will increase foot traffic in that area of The North Loop during the day. And Washington Ave in general should become more lively as the population grows and retail activity increases on that street.