Page 2 of 7

Re: Sons of Norway block redevelopment - 1455 Lake St W

Posted: August 23rd, 2017, 8:30 am
by alexschief
The location is excellent, and I think I probably reflect the wishes of people on this forum when I say that I think it would be appropriate for a building of some height to go on this site, at minimum five stories. We know already that there will be an office component and it would be baffling to not include retail at this site. Presumably, the rest of the building would be apartments.

I'm also struck by the unique properties of the Sons of Norway organization, who will be the anchor tenant of the new redevelopment. Perhaps it's an implausible dream, but I'd hope that the SoN would advocate for the hiring of a Norwegian architect of note, to design a landmark building for Uptown, which has lots of new development but little really exceptional architecture. Naturally, my pipe dream would be Snøhetta, who are a Norwegian-American firm, and whose architecture I almost always find fantastic.

Perhaps that's too ambitious for a building that could also be a simple ESG shed. But while so many details are still out, here's to hoping that the Sons of Norway will advocate for something that is more than just another building in Uptown.

Re: Sons of Norway block redevelopment - 1455 Lake St W

Posted: August 23rd, 2017, 8:44 am
by Silophant
Without any immediately adjacent SFHs, there's no particular reason not to have 10ish stories up against Lake St.

I mean, won't happen, but still.

Re: Sons of Norway block redevelopment - 1455 Lake St W

Posted: August 23rd, 2017, 1:42 pm
by min-chi-cbus
I know I'll be the least popular person on this forum by saying this, but I am starting to think that the character of Lake Street isn't really defined by it's mid/high-rises, but rather its 1-2 story retail spaces that make up the majority of the corridor. There are some mid/high-rises along Lake that give it some character as well (Sons of Norway is one of them), but to me height takes a backseat to connecting the fabric of the neighborhood -- which is true everywhere, but it's especially true on a street like Lake St.

If they create a site that really meets the street well and gives the street a boost in character (personality), I'll be fine with the height no matter how tall/short it is. A perfect example are the sites lining Lake Street between Holmes and Hennepin Aves. Gimme more of THAT!

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Minne ... 842f7aee07

Re: Sons of Norway block redevelopment - 1455 Lake St W

Posted: August 23rd, 2017, 2:29 pm
by amiller92
If they create a site that really meets the street well and gives the street a boost in character (personality), I'll be fine with the height no matter how tall/short it is.
Right. Which is what's frustrating about discussions of "character" that focus on height. Height doesn't necessarily matter if the street is engaging/interesting.

And then there's the question of whether the existing character is what we're going for or not. Personally, I like the small storefronts on the south side of Lake Street, but think you can get the same effect from a building with housing above and don't really care for the north side (relatively speaking) because it's a poorly broken-up flat wall.

Re: Sons of Norway block redevelopment - 1455 Lake St W

Posted: August 23rd, 2017, 2:38 pm
by David Greene
I was just going to say, I'm not sure any street-level retail in this location would be all that valuable, at least not initially. Lunds is really the very western extent of foot traffic in the area. Plenty of retail west of there has failed.

There should be retail in this project but we have to be realistic about what is possible, too. If we could redevelop the Lunds and adjacent parking lot, it would change things dramatically. In a way it's really too bad Lunds owns its property, as moving it over to this new development to allow redevelopment across the street would be ideal.

Re: Sons of Norway block redevelopment - 1455 Lake St W

Posted: August 23rd, 2017, 3:09 pm
by grant1simons2
David there are like 3 successful restauarants, a bank, a bagel shop, a laundromat, a gallery and even more...

Re: Sons of Norway block redevelopment - 1455 Lake St W

Posted: August 23rd, 2017, 3:24 pm
by at40man
It's an ugly as hell building.
An opinion of ugly doesn't determine whether it's historic or worth saving. I happen to love the styling and the ground floor could easily be made more urban and street friendly without jeopardizing its character.

I, too, happen to like it. It has a nice pattern, and is a good unique in-fill building. I shudder to think of what "Scandinavian" design they come up with. I have a feeling it will look more or less like every other new development in Uptown, stuffed full of IKEA.

Re: Sons of Norway block redevelopment - 1455 Lake St W

Posted: August 23rd, 2017, 3:35 pm
by grant1simons2
Woaaaah that's some good irony right there

Re: Sons of Norway block redevelopment - 1455 Lake St W

Posted: August 23rd, 2017, 7:56 pm
by aeisenberg
So no love around here for Roy Thorshov, huh?
He's among my favorite Thorshovs.

Re: Sons of Norway block redevelopment - 1455 Lake St W

Posted: August 26th, 2017, 9:40 am
by thatchio
Presumably more windows than this new Nordic Museum near me.
http://mithun.com/project/nordic-heritage-museum/

Re: Sons of Norway block redevelopment - 1455 Lake St W

Posted: August 26th, 2017, 9:48 pm
by mplsjaromir
Yikes, good thing that the Nordic people have such little influence in the greater world.

Re: Sons of Norway block redevelopment - 1455 Lake St W

Posted: August 27th, 2017, 6:51 am
by Nathan
Yikes... over react much?
you all realize that museum's often don't have a lot of windows because of their need to control light and preserve art and artifacts right?

Re: Sons of Norway block redevelopment - 1455 Lake St W

Posted: August 27th, 2017, 6:10 pm
by grant1simons2
Another museum without many windows...

Image

Re: Sons of Norway block redevelopment - 1455 Lake St W

Posted: September 6th, 2017, 7:54 am
by Palmetto
http://www.citypages.com/news/best-in-c ... /442823923 "Best in class" apartments coming to Uptown. "The Sons of Norway building on West Lake Street in Uptown will be razed, replaced with a mixed-use development that features retail space below multiple stories of high-end rentals."

Re: Sons of Norway block redevelopment - 1455 Lake St W

Posted: September 6th, 2017, 9:45 am
by Silophant
Competing with Greystar, huh? Hope that means concrete construction and a break in the 6-story monotony.

Re: Sons of Norway block redevelopment - 1455 Lake St W

Posted: September 6th, 2017, 10:49 am
by RailBaronYarr
It's weird to have that piece be mostly about the viability of whether or not luxury apartments can sell here (and lol at that term shifting from how CP/etc usually use it to now mean the ultra-luxe). Like, I get it, purchased single-family homes are a different sub-market for folks beyond their 20s than nice rented apartments (and part of that is due to the incentives we give to buying). But even still, we don't need to wonder if wealthier older people, maybe even those with kids, will co-mingle with all the 20s bros in Uptown. Rich people are buying $500k-$1m homes a block south of the SoN lot today! They eat at Lucia's and walk the lakes just fine. Some people even buy $4-500k townhomes, or $300k condos.

This site is big enough that the developer could fit some concrete condos/upscale apartments on one part, slap some wood-framed walk-up units wrapping a 6-story apartment building toward the back for those with a lower budget, and still have room for office/retail space along Lake.

Re: Sons of Norway block redevelopment - 1455 Lake St W

Posted: September 6th, 2017, 7:41 pm
by twincitizen
I can't fathom why any developer (especially big leaguers like Ryan) would talk to City Pages. Hang up the phone!

Re: Sons of Norway block redevelopment - 1455 Lake St W

Posted: September 7th, 2017, 6:47 pm
by LyndaleHoosier
I agree that I think the format can work. I live in what is the only newer condo building on the north side of the midtown greenway between Hennepin & Lyndale (all others are rental) and we have a very diverse mix of homeowners. We have several couples that are retired and have cabins up north and a condo here in the city. We have younger (late 20s) single folks, 40 something couples, a few babies and kids in the community all a block off of Lake street. It's awesome to have this diversity as my neighbor across the hall is in her late 70s, retired, very active in the arts community and a great neighbor to have to let in repair folks during the day while I'm at work! :)

Re: Sons of Norway block redevelopment - 1455 Lake St W

Posted: September 13th, 2017, 7:08 pm
by twincitizen
Lisa Bender just shared on Facebook that Ryan Cos and Weidner are hosting an open house tomorrow 9/14, 4-6pm at the Sons of Norway Building:
Ryan Companies and Weidner Apartment homes, in cooperation with Sons of Norway, are excited to continue their community outreach with a neighbor open house to discuss their proposed redevelopment of the Sons of Norway property. Their goal is to create an active, mixed use project that is anchored by a newly envisioned Sons of Norway office space, featuring retail, green space, and Uptown's newest premium residential community. They would like to gather feedback from the community on the current conditions in the area and other key concepts that they should keep in mind as the project completes its conceptual design work. Ryan Companies representatives will be at the open house to show some initial site plans and to gather additional feedback about current site conditions so that this feedback can be incorporated into architectural concept plans.
Full architectural concept plans for the project are still under development and will be presented at upcoming ECCO Livability community meetings and to the City of Minneapolis Committee of the Whole in late September or October.
I very likely cannot attend. Can anyone go and take some notes & photos?

Re: Sons of Norway block redevelopment - 1455 Lake St W

Posted: September 14th, 2017, 8:18 am
by RailBaronYarr
I was going to try to make it, but it might be toward the tail end. Gonna push them to go with my vision for the Calhoun Square block :) In all seriousness, I'd like to see them push the envelope along Lake St given the surrounding context. It's too bad the Mozaic Phase 3(?) office building isn't completed to give Ryan Cos a little more confidence in the Uptown office market.

I'll snap some pics and post them when I get the chance, or maybe have someone without a locked-down twitter account post as well.