Hines Speculative Office Project - 350 N 5th Street

[Tyler]

Hmm... is this area even viable for retail at all? It's basically empty all day. Whatever gets built here will bring some activity on it's own but a truly urbane, vibrant development seems like a pipe dream in this location. Am I missing something?

[min-chi-cbus]

I guess I'll go out and say it: I think these look awkward and out of place here.

With that thinking we wouldn't have the IDS tower.

It is good to have discussions about a project (that is exactly what this forum is for), but I am really surprised about the negative feedback. Adding density and removing surface parking are what everybody wants right?

I am too, especially considering this thing came up out of nowhere! If we had expected a 25-35 story tower here and we were somehow disappointed with this rendering, I could understand that. But at least for me and I assume many others this was going to be not much more than surface parking for a LONG time, and now we're looking at 2 (tall) modern-looking towers in a very historic neighborhood. I like it......but I would rather this be the exception in the area rather than the norm, because I think modern glass CAN fit in very well surrounded by historic brick structures but only if done in isolation/extreme moderation (there's a building in Columbus, OH that is essentially an 1800's brick building that was gutted and renovated with a modern glass addition, and it looks so cool it's become my favorite building in the city).

[612transplant]

I guess I'll go out and say it: I think these look awkward and out of place here.

With that thinking we wouldn't have the IDS tower.

It is good to have discussions about a project (that is exactly what this forum is for), but I am really surprised about the negative feedback. Adding density and removing surface parking are what everybody wants right?

Not just density-- downtown job density. Not enough of that off of Nicollet and, say, maybe LaSalle?

[612transplant]

I agree with this as well. How are the towers awkward? I'm not in love with the dead plazas/lobbies but the buildings themselves look very nice. And they fit great in the spot, IMO.

If those renders are any indication, those plazas will be daaarn busy!

Seriously, though, if there's something interesting on the other side of this thing, those plazas will get some great gameday foot traffic....

[Ubermoose]

I like the look of it and think it's great for that spot. My only question is how reflective this will be and is it going to be positioned in a way that it will cause glare for the fans and/or players in the stadium as the sun sets?

[Nathan]

I like the look of it and think it's great for that spot. My only question is how reflective this will be and is it going to be positioned in a way that it will cause glare for the fans and/or players in the stadium as the sun sets?

Hopefully the windows will have that automatic tilt so that they can reflect down into the opponent team's batter's eyes, and away when the Twins are up!

[Nick]

I got an email from the Be the Match people today (I'm on the registry) about a 25th anniversary tribute dinner on September 5th. Might be a good time for them to announce a new headquarters building?

[John]

350 North Fifth Street would be a great project if built. I think the architects concept of a modern glassy design for the headquarters would look great here, and give the area some architectural diversity. They would be building on vacant land so no older buildings would be destroyed (which I'm opposed to). It would give some new height and density to the skyline expanding it westward. I hope they "go for it"!

[Konante]

350 North Fifth Street would be a great project if built. I think the architects concept of a modern glassy design for the headquarters would look great here, and give the area some architectural diversity. They would be building on vacant land so no older buildings would be destroyed (which I'm opposed to). It would give some new height and density to the skyline expanding it westward. I hope they "go for it"!

I agree wholeheartedly. I like having different areas of the city identifiable by certain core architectural characteristics but we don't want uniformity either. These buildings would fill up an eyesore, bring more life to downtown, and add some wonderful diversity to the skyline/streets.

[min-chi-cbus]

I got an email from the Be the Match people today (I'm on the registry) about a 25th anniversary tribute dinner on September 5th. Might be a good time for them to announce a new headquarters building?

Interesting point! You've been right on other prognostications before regarding future development (Xcel Energy HQ comes to mind).

[min-chi-cbus]

Found it!

Does anyone have any updates on this one lately? It's been almost a month and I haven't heard anything. Nick is a donor and works with them I guess, and was supposedly going to go to this tribute dinner in 2 weeks on September 5. Maybe that'll be the next time we hear back about this one -- the only significant office development in the pipeline (for now.....read Office Market thread).

[Nick]

Found it!

Does anyone have any updates on this one lately? It's been almost a month and I haven't heard anything. Nick is a donor and works with them I guess, and was supposedly going to go to this tribute dinner in 2 weeks on September 5. Maybe that'll be the next time we hear back about this one -- the only significant office development in the pipeline (for now.....read Office Market thread).

Oh I mean I'm on the actual bone marrow donor list, not like financial donor ha . I actually got a call about a potential match about a year ago and turned out to be a suitable match but something happened to the patient and it wasn't needed anymore.

Aaaanyway, not going to the dinner, sorry.

[min-chi-cbus]

Don't be sorry. Hopefully they announce something around that time though, like you said!

[dmdhashw]

I spoke with an acquaintance of mine, and she said that Be The Match is deciding between the Shapco site, "another site", or simply staying put.

[612transplant]

Shapco as in a block away from the 350 N 5th site?

[MNdible]

Presumably, yes. Shapco is just across the street from the Ford Center.

An aside -- does anybody know how property taxes work when a non-profit rents out a building from a for-profit landlord?

[min-chi-cbus]

Presumably, yes. Shapco is just across the street from the Ford Center.

An aside -- does anybody know how property taxes work when a non-profit rents out a building from a for-profit landlord?

Well, the lessee wouldn't be responsible for the property taxes, just the landlord/building owner. Like, for instance, I don't pay property taxes for my apartments -- at least, not directly (indirectly, through my rent I certainly do). I'm no Tax Accountant but I'd say that renting from a for-profit owner probably doesn't change anything towards how a non-profit would be taxed......but I'm not an expert, like I said.

So now Be the Match may not even relocate whatsoever? And is "another site" presumably this site? If this "Shapco site" is literally a block over -- but further away from Target Field and its (presumably) impeccable free advertising and high visibility opportunities -- I wonder how/why it would even be in contention. In fact, if it were on a site closer to the official "Warehouse District", wouldn't that prohibit the height and other building aspects of a potential development? Seems cost-prohibitive and less efficient on the surface to me, but clearly I'm in the dark on this project. It's too bad we still don't know what's going on with this project....

[MNdible]

Hmmm. The internet tells me:

On the other hand, few nonprofits are exempt from property taxes when they rent space belonging to a for-profit
entity. Only seventeen states exempt such property.

Doesn't say which seventeen states. Based on this, why would a non-profit ever lease property rather than owning it?

Anyway, as to why they might choose the Shapco site over the Hines site, I'd wager that the Shapco site would be quite a bit cheaper to develop and has easier site access. Most of the benefits at a better price.

[Nick]

Maybe, in theory, they could give the space to the non-profit for free and write it off as a donation on their taxes?

[nickmgray]

Maybe, in theory, they could give the space to the non-profit for free and write it off as a donation on their taxes?

You can write off anything you want on your taxes, but you only get to deduct your expense for the item and not the market value.