urbanMSP

Pouring floor 11 before the snow hits. More windows and now siding being installed.
(original https://i.imgur.com/AKTgoQj.jpg)

DSC_0178 by grant.simons, on Flickr

Getting higher. It takes patience to wait for the Wells Fargo tower to get lit up too.

Portland tower Minneapolis 2-20-16 by Matt Bappe, on Flickr

32 sold + 5 reserved, for about 33% spoken for.

Source: Portland Tower Facebook page

Biking down 5th/up Portland this morning, this looked (to me) surprisingly nice.

By my count, two more floors and it's done!

Biking down 5th/up Portland this morning, this looked (to me) surprisingly nice.

I was wary of those narrow windows and the podium as it was going up, but it's starting to look pretty good.

Agreed. It's also a nice surprise to see that the Sexton Building's ghost sign will still be (mostly) visible.

This development is visible in the Kraus/Anderson development web cam:
http://oxblue.com/open/ka/blockredev

Standing on 17

Portland tower Minneapolis 3-30-16 by Matt Bappe, on Flickr

This must have topped out today, there is an evergreen at the top in the south-east corner

Sweet. And 38 sold out of 112 units, for 33%.

This looks really good when biking south on Portland right before you cross Washington.

I've been surprised by this one. It's definitely coming together. Here's a pic from a week or so back.

Once the new KA development is finished, the broken wall of mid/high-rises along Portland is going to look great; hopefully that will continue with the Thrivant lot. I know it has been said before, but this area has so much potential to be excited about.

The Thrivent Lot could really be the new heart and gem of Downtown East.

The Thrivent Lot could really be the new heart and gem of Downtown East.

That lot, and getting it done right, has become much more important now.

I always thought the Thrivent lot would have been a much better location for a park (prior to any discussion about the current Commons under construction) since it would tie together Elliot Park, the Armory, had just as many blockfaces fronting it available for development, and could have even had a "Loring Greenway" style cut-through to Chicago Avenue southward.

The Thrivent lots are critical to get right since they are some of the last full-block surface lots in the CBD without a proposal. For that reason, I would support waiting through the tail end of this building cycle for a better proposal the next time around. It needs quality materials and the serious financial backing to make it a large, dense project worthy of the site.