Target Field Station (the Hotel) & Target Field Station (the Station)

[twincitizen]

Time has told, and we now have our 3rd very abstract preliminary rendering: http://www.journalmpls.com/news-feed/un ... ld-station



They want to include 1 level of below grade parking, fine. But having it partially exposed at the intersection of 5th St & 6th Ave should be a non-starter for the city. They need to either include retail space at the corner, or ditch the parking entirely. I get that they want the restaurant site to face the plaza and ballpark side, but leaving a blank wall at the intersection is unacceptable, grade change be damned.

[SixOneTwo]

http://www.startribune.com/blogs/282424371.html

United Properties announces new 10-story office building next to Target Field Station

United Properties plans to build a 240,000 square foot office building on the final parcel adjacent to the Target Field light-rail station in Minneapolis' North Loop neighborhood.

The developer announced Wednesday that it is moving forward on the 10-story building without any tenants, a sign of the company's confidence in the rebounding market and its location.

...

United's project concept is for a transit-oriented building with all the amenitites office seekers are now desiring -- a roof terrace and lounge, bike storage and fitness center. Additionally, this project will have a restaurant and the ground level and offer underground executive parking.

But first, United must purchase the 0.75-acre parcel from Hennepin County. The company intends to go through the city's entitlement process in early 2015. United hopes to break ground next fall with a target completion date of late 2016.

[mullen]

at least the Hines project is unique in it's all wood construction. this united project looks like another suburban space filler.

[Nathan]

They have a better location than the proposed Hines T3 project but none of the appeal. I think they should probably evaluate their competition a little better. It would not be hard to put a small retail spot on that corner at all.

Also now where do we put a new North Loop Hotel since they seem to be bailing on that concept?

[twincitizen]

Where the Holiday gas station is, duh

Wishful thinking, I know, but man... You just have to hold out hope that eventually the gas station land becomes too valuable. The building is only 5 years old, and yes, it makes an absolute killing there, but someday...

That said, soooo many hotel rooms are being added on Hennepin, a very walkable distance from here, I'm not sure the area can support any more in the near term (between the AC Marriott, Conrad, & Hampton, plus any possible hotel component at the Ritz or Nicollet hotel blocks)

[xandrex]

^The Strib reports this will have a restaurant (and maybe more...there's a typo that kind of obscures some of it), presumably on the ground level. Doesn't that make it at least as active as a decent chunk of new apartment buildings (that most people aren't saying are suburban)?

http://www.startribune.com/blogs/282424371.html

[Wedgeguy]

With two LRT rails going next to it. I think that the office market is a better fit all around. Not to mention the garbage burner next door as well, would make residential a tough sell.

[GrowMPLS]

With two LRT rails going next to it. I think that the office market is a better fit all around. Not to mention the garbage burner next door as well, would make residential a tough sell.

Speaking of the garbage burner......isn't there a way to hide this eye sore somehow with some screening and lights. It couldn't look worse!!! I have to believe that SOMETHING can be done???!!!

[mister.shoes]

Man, that Holiday station is sure looking like a waste of a lot now, isn't it? A nice triangular building would have looked pretty awesome sitting there instead.

[mullen]

i wish we could go into the hot tub time machine and reverse the county's decision to site a behemoth industrial use smack in the center of the city. mistakes of the '80s. c'est la vie...

the only thing i can think of was that it's a centrally located site and at the time the north loop was considered a sort of no man's land.

[Silophant]

Yep. Hindsight is 20/20. 30 years later, yeah, that was a terrible location for HERC. But, in the 80s, when they were looking for a site, they needed somewhere pretty close to downtown for the steam pipes, reasonably close to a substation to tie the transmission line into (and for various reasons, it had to be Aldrich), and ideally on or at least close to rail line to bring in the large equipment. At the time, the existing site made sense.

[John]

In the present rendering, it looks somewhat better than the Bone Marrow building, but I agree with Mullen it's yet another suburban style project plopped in the middle of the city. Such a great site to do something interesting. I would think in the North Loop you would want to do something a little more unique to attract the innovative companies that want to locate or grow here. At a minimum they should at least add some retail to the first level.

[MNdible]

In the present rendering, it looks somewhat better than the Bone Marrow building, but I agree with Mullen it's yet another suburban style project plopped in the middle of the city.

There's that phrase again. What does it mean? In terms of its massing, scale, and facade organization, this building is very clearly responsive to the context of the north loop warehouse typology.

[EOst]

There's that phrase again. What does it mean?

"I don't like it."

[mattaudio]

Except it looks like it has blank walls and is insular and it ignores the sidewalk. A warehouse? For office workers, maybe. But when we built warehouses a century ago at least they had brick, timber, and a street presence.

[Nathan]

I agree that the building has an urban context in its design in relation to the historic neighborhood around it. What's lacking is the acknowledgment that this building is in a pedestrian friendly high transit area and creates an unfriendly street level realm just a half block from our "grand" central station. People should be able to walk from there and be encouraged to venture further - not be greeted with a street of at grade parking garages.

[MNdible]

Because I know I'll convince you...

Not that this is an excuse for not designing the perfect building, but it's pretty clear to me that the grade of this building is being set by its frontage on the Target Field Station Plaza, where (by the written description) it does have an active and engaged facade. The way that this site slopes away means that its difficult to maintain that active engagement all of the way around. Could it be done? Yes, probably, at significant cost and little benefit to the developer.

I could also point to about umpteen examples in the north loop where the warehouses have really quite bad interactions with the sidewalks on their non-primary facades.

[twincitizen]

I'd expect a few City Council members and the Planning Commission to make a stink about that. It's our job to make sure they do. When plans reach CoW, we'll have to be vigilant and send in those comments. A blank facade should not be tolerated along 6th Ave. I'll give them 5th St, due to the grade change, but not the hard corner.

There was a lot of language about Target Field Station being the gateway to downtown from the North Loop (western part anyways) and vice versa. For all intents and purposes this building is an extension of Target Field Station and should aspire to meet that "gateway" criteria. The architecture doesn't have to be breathtaking or anything, but it should be at least above average, fit in well with its surroundings, and offer a seamless experience for pedestrians.

That said, we should probably wait to see floor plans and more detailed elevations before we go off the deep end. But from this angle it does not look good.

[mattaudio]

But it comes down to if we will tolerate a building giving the finger to the human experience on 5th St and 6th Ave N, or if we expect better for our neighborhoods.

[mattaudio]

Also, the corner of 5th St / 6th Ave will be quite prominent for the North Loop since this building encroaches into the downtown viewshed looking down 5th Ave S. That corner is an opportunity for the neighborhood, and shouldn't be blank walls.