Nicollet-Lake Area - to Kmart...and beyond!

[Mdcastle]

What should go into this space that's both desirable to the neighborhood, desirable to the city and economically realistic for developers? Not trying to snark for once, just curious.

[MattW]

What should go into this space that's both desirable to the neighborhood, desirable to the city and economically realistic for developers? Not trying to snark for once, just curious.

That's the million-dollar question. I think it will need to have a significant amount of affordable & workforce housing. I'd love to see some sort of business incubator that is focused on the needs of the neighborhood.

[thatchio]

There are a lot of ways the site could be redeveloped. Something I've noodled on is having the city acquire the properties north of the Greenway between Blaisdell and First to 29th/Cecil Newman and create a new bridge, new Nicollet, and a terraced gateway between the Greenway and 29th and a housing project on between Cecil Newman and the Greenway. The SW side of the Greenway/Nicollet may be a better site for larger retail on a podium and market rate or workforce on the upper as I think it may be difficult to do affordable housing + big retail undertaking but the site is large and could be broken up to provide more diversity of buildings and uses, though ideally with a shared podium (difficult). Then do more community-oriented retail and affordable housing on the SE site - though that site is big enough potentially for two buildings.

A community-driven engagement process should really help scope the goals for the project, informing both the short and long term goals. For example, due to the size of the site, it may be difficult to marshal enough resources at one time to build multiple affordable housing buildings in one phase so maybe the community would prefer to phase the project over time and see every two years additional affordable housing buildings come online. Additionally, the community may have certain retail-related goals and the question will be raised about what type of entity is able to deliver on them. Sometimes, as an example, affordable housing developers have limitations on how much retail they can build due to source of funding issues. In those cases, it may inform where retail and affordable housing should be targeted within the larger site.

It's a really exciting opportunity to reshape that area that was poorly shaped decades ago. The question for practitioners is determining how to effectively engage the community, especially those typically excluded from public processes, as to ensure that the goals established will equitably benefit the community, and then, how to deliver on those goals by designing a selection process that results in a capable team that is committed to those goals and can build trust and partnership with the community.

[Tiller]

Would anyone like to purchase a large Kmart "K" sign from the city of Minneapolis?

THIS IS YOUR CHANCE

https://www.govdeals.com/index.cfm?fa=M ... ctid=16611

[SurlyLHT]

The description made me laugh. I guess we had to brag. Maybe there should also be a plaque there for future generations to read?

"The 'K' sign was from the Lake Street Kmart and was often called the most financially successful Kmart in the country. "

[TroyGBiv]

I worked as an agency guy on Kmart 20 years ago... it was a profitable Kmart because there was not target or Walmart nearby... and they never spend a penny renovating or repairing the building... I’m glad it will be gone and the street will reopen.

[uptownbro]

Project for pride in living is partnering with wells fargo to redevelop the branch on Nicollet and lake that was damaged this past year. The new proposal will include the bank branch as well as affordable housing.

[Blaisdell Greenway]

So... I'm on the most recent wedgelive podcast. The first 30 minutes are about caucuses but the second half is about random city topics, and I go on about using re-opening Nicollet as an opportunity to create a Nicollet Mall South and to save the amazing battleship mural on the back of the Kmart building.

https://anchor.fm/wedgelive/episodes/It ... air-ets3tg

[Minneboy]

I'm hoping that when they reopen Nicollet they help to make the entire Eat Street an all inclusive district, much like the Gaslamp District in San Diego. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaslamp_Q ... _San_Diego