Episcopal Homes Loring Park

[seanrichardryan]

SAINT MARK'S EPISCOPAL CATHEDRAL
February 22, 2015
The Episcopal Church in Minnesota (ECMN), Saint Mark's Episcopal Cathedral, and Episcopal Homes, are proud to announce the formation of a partnership for the development of an Episcopal Campus in Loring Park.

This Episcopal Campus will connect our communities, increase available resources, and make these resources readily and easily accessible to our community. Along with 58 apartments of housing for adults age 62+, the Episcopal Campus will include two levels of underground parking, a neighborhood market, and will be home to the offices of the Bishop and Missioners, with additional space available for Episcopal affiliates which will be especially valuable to Saint Mark's. This Missional Innovative Partnership in the Loring Park neighborhood supports our values and ideals, and creates a more connected community.

Sharing their enthusiasm for this partnership, Bishop Prior said, "Episcopalians in Minnesota have long been committed to supporting people of all ages and the communities around them. From active communities of faith, educational institutions, and housing for older adults, Episcopalians understand the power of collaboration to connect one another and share in God's mission." and Dean Paul adds, "I'm particularly excited to cultivate an energetic, creative, multi-generational community in the Loring Park neighborhood - both benefitting from the beauty and resurgence of the neighborhood and also bringing our own gifts and passions to bear on the life we share here."

With half of the capital funds already committed for this project, we are excited to move forward in God's mission.

For more details:
ourcathedral.org/episcopal-campus

They do good work. This one has been working it's way through church committees for the last few months.

[Nathan]

Looks simple and decent, is this going where that mid century office building is now?

[seanrichardryan]

Indeed, at the corner of Clifton Pl and Groveland.

[John]

Nice infill that works well with the architecture of the older buildings in the area, and contributes to the character of the neighborhood. They are doing it right with this project.

[mplser]

This is really great, and a definite improvement over what is there now, but when I first saw it I was really hoping it was going to replace that huge parking lot next to the off ramp. Oh well, cant have your cake and eat it too...

[RailBaronYarr]

Looks nice. I'm assuming the market will be in the courtyard space with access via that walkway? Kinda cool touch if they can connect it back up north to the parking area serving the back of the cathedral and make it more of a plaza where cars happen to park. Our rigidly-gridded city lacks the type of fun semi-public pathways between formal streets you find in older cities.

Side note, I know we kvetch here about details of architecture/materials/urbanism, but does it seem like, on the whole, things have definitely taken a step up in the last 12-18 months? I find myself pleasantly surprised more often each time we see a proposal. Not sure if it's codes or market demand or what. Just my opinion.

[John]

Side note, I know we kvetch here about details of architecture/materials/urbanism, but does it seem like, on the whole, things have definitely taken a step up in the last 12-18 months? I find myself pleasantly surprised more often each time we see a proposal. Not sure if it's codes or market demand or what. Just my opinion.

I agree as well. The projects on the riverfront in particular. The only glaring exception is that awful 10th and Marquette apartment proposal. Of course ,this project is done by the Episcopalian Church which is civically engaged with the community and wants to contribute something positive. This is not always the case with developers where profit is their most important motive.

[Aville_37]

Nice infill that works well with the architecture of the older buildings in the area, and contributes to the character of the neighborhood. They are doing it right with this project.

Totally agree John. I am sure that fact also lies in part to the strong neighborhood association that stresses that new buildings tie into the look/feel of the surrounding area.

[twincitizen]

Laff at this headline: "Loring Park church needs parking, so it’s building apartments"

http://finance-commerce.com/2015/02/lor ... partments/

[John]

Laff at this headline: "Loring Park church needs parking, so it’s building apartments"

http://finance-commerce.com/2015/02/lor ... partments/

Embarrassing Confessions of Urbanist Episcopalians?

[acs]

More (free) info on the project. Apparently cut from 6 stories to 4 because of NIMBY's and will include 175 parking spots for 58 units because that's the real reason it's being built.

http://www.bizjournals.com/twincities/m ... nts-a.html

[seanrichardryan]

The church has been thinking about how to develop this property and green and update the parking adjacent to the Cathedral for some time. The parking is needed and burying it under a four story apartment building is ideal.

[Lancestar2]

What? Nobody wants this project to be taller? Just ONE single subtle hint at it should have been taller? Has the church selected a design we are ALL happy about? Hm.. Sounds like divine intervention to me!

[RailBaronYarr]

So, will the elderly residents of this building be paying for the parishioner parking via their rent? I sure hope they fully spearate out the costs of the 2/3 parking for churchgoers and charge directly or use general donation funds to pay it off.

[twincitizen]

I believe the article stated they were doing a fundraising campaign for the development in general, and needed to raise $6MM to get it off the ground. The article also stated they were halfway to that goal.

If 60 spaces were reserved for the residential use (residents, guests, employees), that leaves 115 spaces for non-residential uses.

Let's run some numbers:
115 x $25,000/space = $2.9MM
115 x $30,000/space = $3.5MM

So yes, if the church indeed raises $6MM for the development, it seems the parking share will be paid for up front and would not be subsidized by the rental revenue, so to speak.

[RailBaronYarr]

Nice thought experiment, and probably accurate enough. The $6m gives enough leeway to account for any parking construction costs well above typical (though it's not outrageous to see underground parking creeping up to $40k/space. Either way, any funds over the top can be counted as a goodwill toward operating costs for the ramp long-term.

[twincitizen]

CoW to discuss tomorrow: http://www.minneapolismn.gov/www/groups ... 141206.pdf

[John]

This is good urban design! A great high quality project that works well with the surrounding neighborhood.

[MNdible]

It wasn't obvious to me how people parking in the lower level will get to the church, short of going through the building itself. You'd think they would try to include a more direct route, if that's really the driver of the project.

It would be great to see Hennepin Ave UMC undertake a similar project -- I'd imagine that this would be very attractive to well-heeled parishioners to whom the church is an important part of their social and spiritual life.

[MSPtoMKE]

There is an exit door on the lower level of the parking in the corner that leads to the alley between the church and this building.