Uptown - LynLake - The Wedge - News & General

[Nick]

I clearly need wealthier friends...

[TheUrbanGopher]

Ran into this interesting old article just now:

http://www.bizjournals.com/twincities/s ... l?page=all

I didn't realize Solhem was originally going to be a hotel, and is a total bummer that it didn't end up being that. But I also find it interesting that the president of the wood-framing contractor company thought the market was slowing down in 2010, considering that looking retrospectively it was the beginning of the building boom. I'm crossing my fingers and knocking on (6-story apartment) wood that the doubters stating 2014 as the saturation year are wrong.

[Wedgeguy]

Saw a sign today on the door saying welcome to CoCo. With that I would assume that they are up and running or up and, maybe putting finishing touches on. Did not go in as I was on my way to an appointment.

[lordmoke]

A facade fell off a building on the 3100 block of Emerson last night. The picture would seem to suggest that we've been doing the whole stick-frame-with-a-sturdy-looking-shell thing for a while now.
http://www.startribune.com/local/228325951.html

[Nathan]

F & C article, looks open!

http://finance-commerce.com/2013/10/bui ... co-uptown/

*lots of cool pics

[John]

Really neat project for Uptown and great reuse of the space.

[mamundsen]

I used to live in an old brownstone at 2875 Irving S, the outer walls always looked like they were going to fall due to bowing. Keep an eye out for more falling bricks.

[RailBaronYarr]

From what I can tell, that's 3140 Emerson Ave, and according to county records, it was built in 1925. I'm not saying buildings today will absolutely last 88 years before something like this happens, but this at least proves that 1) construction methods back then weren't all that different than now, and 2) they're not immune to unexpected issues.

[min-chi-cbus]

Most of what's built today will not last 88 years though.....not before something like this happens. However, ANY building that isn't well maintained and changes hands too many times like a small student apartment building may be in more desrepair than one that is.

[seanrichardryan]

I wouldn't draw to many conclusions from this. Likely a poorly waterproofed parapet wall or window sill allowed water intrusion. Straps holding the brick rusted allowing for failure. It's happened many times. The five year old Loop Calhoun condos on Lake and Excelsior had it's exterior stripped and replaced last year. Same with the Lake Point down the block. Water is the enemy in all building systems.

[seanrichardryan]

The groundwater debacle at 1800 Lake continues.

http://www.southwestjournal.com/news/ne ... d-to-court

[MNdible]

Wow. Holy debacle.

[Wedgeguy]

The groundwater debacle at 1800 Lake continues.

http://www.southwestjournal.com/news/ne ... d-to-court

What happens when you build below the water line and your Lake is within 100 feet!!

[Tyler]

The groundwater debacle at 1800 Lake continues.

http://www.southwestjournal.com/news/ne ... d-to-court

What happens when you build below the water line and your Lake is within 100 feet!!

You pump the water into a sewer and hope no one notices?

[FISHMANPET]

It sounds like this isn't a problem with the buildings not knowing they'd need to pump the water, but a permitting problem. The developers either mistakenly thought they had a permanent permit to pump into the sewer or knew they only had a temporary permit but didn't care. It sounds like they were trying to pull the wool over people's eyes or where genuinely confused, because it doesn't sound like they have any kind of long term plan.

[Wedgeguy]

They apparently did not have very good soil sampling done to determine the soil type and depth of the water table to figure that would not have had a greater degree of water to pump compared to other properties up the hill. My speculation is that the park land between the building and the lagoon is probably old swamp that was fill about 100 years ago like they did around Lake of the Isle. The ground probably has the ability to hold a lot of water and goes back underground a block or two.
A possible reason why there are not much for basements in the apartment buildings along the Mall. I also believe that the two apartment building that are between the Mall and Lagoon don't have their parking levels as deep and are built shallower than the 1800.

[seanrichardryan]

Indeed, Lake of the Isles and Calhoun once were connected by marshes with several more islands. Filling was done when the railroad went through in the 1870s and later around 1890. Soil conditions and a high water table were known conditions with this project. Responsibility regarding pumping groundwater into the storm sewers seems to rest soley on the shoulders of CPM.

[twincitizen]

Sooo, this begs the question: why did they build a 2-story deep parking garage? It sounds like one of the options will be to simply close the lower level (and fill it with sand?).

The best outcome would have been possible with lower parking minimums: allowing the developer to build a 1-story underground parking garage. I'm not blaming the City's parking requirements for the issue at this building. As Sean said, this lies solely on the developer to fix. I'm just saying it could have been avoided entirely by simply having lower parking requirements.

[Tyler]

I'm just saying it could have been avoided entirely by simply having lower parking requirements.

Ehh? Was the developer pushing for less parking?

[Wedgeguy]

I'm just saying it could have been avoided entirely by simply having lower parking requirements.

Ehh? Was the developer pushing for less parking?

You would have had a difficult time finding any off street parking close by as Lagoon and Lake have some parking restrictions and the rest of the apartments in the area pretty much have people who already look to what little off street parking as theirs.