urbanMSP

Picture from yesterday...on the southeast corner of the property looking northwest. Four stories tall!

Cool.

Love seeing this one rise from the 35W bridge! This and The Bridges will bring the city right up to the freeway.

I'm that kind of dork who would get great pleasure living above a freeway, watching the cars and trucks go by! Especially a busy interstate thoroughfare with lots of traffic and lots of freight transportation (trucks)!!

i have a friend who has a condo facing 35w in grant park. the views are awesome.

agreed this project is filling a gap and completing the riverfront. funny to think what little existed down there just ten years ago. the guthrie aggreing to build on the river really spurred development.

I think the architectural look and design of this building fits well in this area of downtown

I think the architectural look and design of this building fits well in this area of downtown

Agree. It's really a better version of the nearby Bridgewater condo building which was designed by the same architects.

demand for riverfront housing is high. i've heard if you bought low into places like the falls or pinnacle a couple years ago the value on those units has skyrocketed.

I'll ask again since it's somewhat related to this area of DT.. with continued development eastward toward the freeway basically filling up every block between Washington and the river, along with the development going on at the U (The Bridges come to mind, plus all the existing Seven Corners and Riverside stuff) closing in from that side.. is there ANY chance the value capture for this plan this plan to gain some traction? Reconnecting the grids across 35, adding developable land and park space all would seem to continue this great expansion of downtown residences. With the Vikings stadium being re-worked, doing the LRT/street changes would be a natural timeline.

I'll ask again since it's somewhat related to this area of DT.. with continued development eastward toward the freeway basically filling up every block between Washington and the river, along with the development going on at the U (The Bridges come to mind, plus all the existing Seven Corners and Riverside stuff) closing in from that side.. is there ANY chance the value capture for this plan this plan to gain some traction? Reconnecting the grids across 35, adding developable land and park space all would seem to continue this great expansion of downtown residences. With the Vikings stadium being re-worked, doing the LRT/street changes would be a natural timeline.

I cannot believe that demand is anywhere near the point that you would ever see this be a realistic alternative.
#1. It seems to me that it would be cost prohibitive.
#2. There is still plenty of open land in these areas that could be developed. At some point there are enough smaller and older semi-industrial buildings that could be torn down for development at a much cheaper cost than the hundreds (?) of millions it would take to cover this area of freeway.
#3 I can't imagine the DOT wanting to disrupt this stretch of freeway so soon after the bridge collapse, they'd never hear the end of it.

Nick, feel free to move this quick side discussion, I'm just trying to equate the value of space/demand to the area.

#1. It seems to me that it would be cost prohibitive.
#2. There is still plenty of open land in these areas that could be developed. At some point there are enough smaller and older semi-industrial buildings that could be torn down for development at a much cheaper cost than the hundreds (?) of millions it would take to cover this area of freeway.
#3 I can't imagine the DOT wanting to disrupt this stretch of freeway so soon after the bridge collapse, they'd never hear the end of it.

#1: The plan calls for 22.5 acres of developable land/air rights to open up. Right away, you could assume ~$1M per acre of developable land (parking lots are valued at that, which is likely conservative for what it would sell for). Let's say the city could recoup $20M by selling the land immediately. Property taxes vary by what is put on it (another case for land-value tax..) but let's be conservative and say the city could realize $450k/acre/year (Mill City Apts pays 483k on 1.26 acres, American Academy of Neurology pays $330k on .39 acres). That's $10.12M per year in value capture (which would go up over time). I don't know what the project would cost, but if the city simply broke even with incremental prop taxes, that would allow a $400M project financed over 40 years at 3.25% interest.
#2: My only point is that these buildings continue to go up, there is obviously something brewing demand-wise for the Strib lots (even if Ryan doesn't have a tenant yet, there's still demand for residential and retail there), and land will certainly start disappearing in the next 10 years. If the city wants to keep some historic properties along Washington, this is a great way to do it while reconnecting neighborhoods, transportation options, etc.
#3: Political will shouldn't trump good neighborhood and city design. Especially given the benefits for 35W car, HOV, and bus users would see upon completion.

My quick take on this building.. really glad to have a great bookend to the development, but I'm a little disappointed by how it doesn't interact with the street on pretty much any side. But glad it's finally starting to move a little quicker, and the upper floors on any side will have great, great views.

The point is that it would potentially be a totally legitimate use of TIF, since it would turn land from a long-term public liability to a long-term passive revenue stream.

Even with StoneBridge there are at least two sizeable areas with no development right in this area.

One being the surface lot kitty-corner from Gold Medal Park at 11th Avenue and 2nd Street, the other being the big space between Bridgewater and Zenith. There's also that massive two-block surface lot between 3rd and 5th Avenues, although that is apparently being developed into a retirement community?

^ I agree there are open spaces nearby. Again, my point is that this would need to be a 3-5 year development minimum from the onset of the project, at which time some or many of the spaces may be developed on or in-process. There are intangible benefits to reconnecting the grid, and the municipality doing this would mean they wouldn't hold on to it speculating on land value or continuing to use it for parking for their own private use, which I think are the 2 major reasons many underutilized lots downtown are not being developed. This will be my last post on it (at least here) since it's definitely off-topic. Sorry guys.

IMG_3557 by UrbanMSP, on Flickr


IMG_3559 by UrbanMSP, on Flickr


IMG_3560 by UrbanMSP, on Flickr

I count 9 out of the 12 floors.

I can't tell if what you're counting as the first floor is actually two floors or one large one...

Looks to me like they are working on the 10th floor:


Izzy's Ice Cream Factory by MSPdude, on Flickr

Driving north on 35W through downtown this one looks huge, but then you get closer and see it's not.

How many stories to go until this thing is topped out?