Junction Flats - (643 Fifth Street North)

[Le Sueur]

I don't think twincitizen meant the county missed it's only opportunity to sell. More they dug in their trenches and regardless of land value, for the foreseeable future have said, "this is the way we want things."

[Chef]

[offtopic]

Why is it unrealistic to assume that some point in the next 10 years the HERC land will be prime real estate and a new garbage burner can be relocated somewhere out of the city's core?

Because it is unrealistic. What neighborhood or suburb would ever accept a garbage burner being built? Also, garbage trucks still run on gas. Some of the benefit of having the burner centrally located is that you don't have to truck garbage 30 miles away. Private trash haulers would not do that.

HERC will not be relocated. If it closes, that's it, done. No more burner, no more energy recovery. All that waste winds up in landfills. Target Field and the surrounding area lose free/cheap steam heat. HERC is by far the lesser of 2 evils. Get used to it (everyone), because I'm sick of making this point.

However, HERC should definitely be painted and landscaped to help it blend in a little better. The Interchange will help create pressure for this to happen[/offtopic]

Kasota Avenue - it is already an industrial area, it doesn't have any neighbors and it is centrally located.

[contrast]

It would be difficult (impossible?) to suppy steam to the downtown district heating system from power plants that are not located downtown. Same goes for the one south of Accenture Tower on 3rd Ave. They may not always be pretty or well located after decades of growth, but district heating is a good economical solution for most downtown buildings. Although HERC seems to focus on electriciy generation- which doesn't need to be adjacent to the end user, steam is different situation.

When this was pretty much all industrial, the sighting for the HERC plant made sense. What other downtown block would have been a better alternative at that time?

[min-chi-cbus]

^Somewhere downwind? Northeast?

[Didier]

"The Minneapolis Planning Commission approved a proposal for a new six-story apartment building near Fulton Beer called Junction Flats at its meeting Monday night."

http://www.thejournalmpls.com/news-feed ... ulton-beer

[jet777]

I will certainly say this development would be an incredible win for that ghost town of a block. That pool and deck will have one hell of a view of either the 4th street viaduct or the HERC!

[John]

I will certainly say this development would be an incredible win for that ghost town of a block. That pool and deck will have one hell of a view of either the 4th street viaduct or the HERC!

I doubt that area will remain a ghost town for long!

[Archiapolis]

@jet777 and @ fotoapparatic have the right idea, it just needs a bit of fleshing out.

We have to stop thinking about "moving the HERC" because that won't happen.

BUT,(wait for it) what DOES seem feasible/desirable is also somewhat likely IF we push for a progressive future which the city is already pursuing.

Bags of leaf waste going to landfill = gone! Single-sort recycling = here! Follow the trend and we are going to start seeing compost becoming a mandate. A ban on bottled water would be welcome in this city that is lucky enough to have an excellent drinking water source. The net effect of all of this is last "trash" to burn thus obviating the need for a HERC!

Enter the "River First" plan looking for "green industry." The HERC transforms and gets integrated into a composting/recycling center in the North area.

I'm being optimistic about a more hopeful and less petroleum based future here but that is what all of this "urbanism" is about right?

[MNdible]

I'm being optimistic about a more hopeful and less petroleum based future here but that is what all of this "urbanism" is about right?

Except, of course, for all of the petroleum required to move around our new "organics" trucks and then drive them to some exurban site where the composting will actually happen. Until I see some evidence otherwise, I find it very hard to believe that organics composting at a city-wide basis (as opposed to individual on-site composting) makes any more sense than burning these organics at HERC and generating electricity and steam where it is needed.

Composting must be green, right?!

[Avian]

I agree with your point. But I think Archiapolis is not talking about an exurban site. Just one in the new "green" river corridor north of downtown. That's only a mile further north than HERC is now. And it's in the middle of a light industrial center.

[seanrichardryan]

...Bags of leaf waste going to landfill = gone!

Leaf / yard waste is already composted. It's your daily 'scraps' that are not.

[Archiapolis]

You guys are wrecking my utopian dreams with your "realities." Curse you! =^]

In seriousness, MNdible has a good point about trucking waste "further" but Avian is right, I am talking about the "green" river corridor proposed for north of downtown. Some material would be trucked farther than the current HERC, others areas (North, northeast, etc.) would see less trucking. My point about yard waste is that it currently is NOT composting at a "central" location like the HERC (correct me if I'm wrong here). In my scenario, this "new HERC" would primarily be dedicated to composting and recycling.

With all of that said, I agree that composting on one's own site makes great sense. I am currently vermicomposting but for the average person, there is a LOT that can't be composted because of our climate/compost piles being too cold to consume a lot of material. This "new HERC" that I am proposing would fill this need.

[twincitizen]

Looks like this one is still humming along, as the city is about to appropriate various grants from the Met Council's Tax Base Revitalization /Contaminant Cleanup Account.

$550k for this stinker (HERC reference)

http://www.minneapolismn.gov/www/groups ... 103970.pdf

Would you live here if you worked for Metro Transit? Or would that be a little too close to work for you?

[twincitizen]

All systems go for an April groundbreaking: http://finance-commerce.com/2013/03/tra ... -in-april/ (paywall)

[MotorCity2TwinCities]

From the interchange webcam, it appears that they have started demolition of the building for this project today.

[Nathan]

Beat me to it! I drove by this morning to see a bunch of activity in that neighborhood!

[dingo]

Live close by and noticed half of the old building was torn down today with more to come.

I personally would not choose to live there. Just driving down 6th Ave in the morning and evening it is tough to describe just how many buses are constantly turning into the Metro Transit. The buses will drive literally next to the Junction Flats all day and night pulling right behind the Holiday.

[seanrichardryan]

I really like the one bakery building with the glazed blond brick; it's very unfortunate it is being demolished. It would make an awesome restaurant space and it anchors the street nicely. Alas, more hanging balconies and oil-canned facades.

[seanrichardryan]

A bit of history on the buildings: http://www.criticalminneapolis.com/2013 ... hern-auto/

[MotorCity2TwinCities]

JunctionFlats420.jpg