Buzza Lofts of Uptown

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FISHMANPET
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Re: Buzza Lofts of Uptown (and Phase 2 too!)

Postby FISHMANPET » December 26th, 2013, 4:50 pm

Find me a situation where not a single person has tried to oppose a development by any means necessary.

NIMBYs are always there. Thankfully they're not always the majority, and sometimes even when they are powers that be ignore them, but they're always there.

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Re: Buzza Lofts of Uptown (and Phase 2 too!)

Postby ECtransplant » December 26th, 2013, 5:04 pm

These are the same people that propped up Meg Tuthill. Nuff said

mattaudio
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Re: Buzza Lofts of Uptown (and Phase 2 too!)

Postby mattaudio » December 26th, 2013, 6:09 pm

The "tunnel" was a rail spur to connect industrial uses on the south side of 29th with the MILW on the north side of 29th. Not sure how that can be "historic"

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woofner
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Re: Buzza Lofts of Uptown (and Phase 2 too!)

Postby woofner » December 26th, 2013, 6:39 pm

Because the historic designation of the 29th st cut specifies that the trench walls (or lack thereof) are contributing. [But I'm guessing the language was vague enough that it can be worked around.]
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Re: Buzza Lofts of Uptown (and Phase 2 too!)

Postby mattaudio » December 26th, 2013, 7:01 pm

It's also what prohibits us from building quality, cost effective vertical circulation between Greenway transit and the street grid. Especially lost opportunities to integrate with new development adjoining stations (would be cheaper to kick in a little elevator/public space cash and get a public easement, rather than build new structures). Time for that designation to go.

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Re: Buzza Lofts of Uptown (and Phase 2 too!)

Postby thatchio » January 2nd, 2014, 8:50 pm

Some history on the site, as the tunnel was not a rail spur.

The site on the south side of the tracks between Dupont and Colfax was home to a building material's supplier prior to the depression of the existing railroad. The engineer for the rail project wrote that the supplier was considering moving to St. Louis Park due to rail project's impacts on their business,which was to sever the rail connection to the property. The engineer claims that his idea would cost more than moving the business but not nearly as much as the supplier thought.

That plan, that appears to be what was executed, was to excavate out the site, have 29th Street constructed as a viaduct with a tunnel for access to the railroad, the use of a siding track adjacent the north edge of the 29th street viaduct, the construction of an access ramp for horse carts on the south side of the trench leading from just east of the Dupont bridge to midway between Dupont and Emerson on 29th Street, and the construction of an access ramp from Colfax just south of 29th down into the site.

On the north side of the viaduct, the buttress-style retaining walls were used as separators for building materials and a shed roof was added. Most materials were stored on the south side of the viaduct and hauled by horse cart to the siding area. Then they would drive up the access ramp to 29th. The two side tunnels, that people would assume were pedestrian passageways, were designed to be used for a future electric conveyor belt. I have not seen anything indicating that it was ever installed.

The building supply company appears to have kept their original building and lowered it down into the trench based on images that show the building being moved. Later, the building would be cleared and Buzza used the space for tennis courts and access to the rail.

Why is the tunnel historically significant?

If you accept that the trench itself is historic, then you should consider the tunnel to be one of the more unique contributing items left in the trench. That's because there were very limited trench-level buildings ever constructed and none, from what I've seen other than Sears, on the south side. Most of the industrial uses were located at street level and used conveyers to access the rail, with a number of buildings having basements added and the Bennett site actually being fully excavated with a spur for a coal elevator.

But there is only one tunnel and one place where 29th was created as a viaduct. There was only one business that appears to have had a private access road into the trench from their property and an access ramp out of it.

Why does this matter?

The historical components are being removed as time goes on because they are expensive to maintain, have degraded past the point of preservation, or do not fit the development vision of the site.If there is value in preserving the past for future generations to gain perspective from, then we need to maintain some of these items. This site represents one of the very few trench-level items left.

Dominium went out of their way and fought to have the Buzza building designated as a historic building so they could get historic tax credits. They received a government incentive to preserve the building. Now they are jeopardizing a Nationally significant contributing item because it doesn't fit the development vision and they met, as I understand it, government resistance.

My view is that the developer should at minimum build their parking ramp such that a later connection to their project could be made. That would require installing the parking ramp in a way that the floor lines up with the floor of the tunnel or leaving enough space so that the elevation difference could be made up on the inside of their project. They would also need to have a knock out wall where it would meet.

Preference is that they install frameless glass on the north edge of the tunnel and utilize the tunnel for a connection to green space and/or the Greenway if they can get the approvals. The old rail siding provides additional trench-level space in the Greenway that would presumably not be used by future transit, so even if a Greenway trail connection was not feasible, a dog run or other green space could be utilized by the residents of this building (this presumes that there wouldn't be a way to cross the rail tracks and get to the trail at grade and presumably therefore this space is cut off from the public, in which it then may be acceptable to lease out that isolated portion of the Greenway to a private use since it would add eyes to the greenway).

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Re: Buzza Lofts of Uptown (and Phase 2 too!)

Postby min-chi-cbus » January 2nd, 2014, 11:11 pm

I agree!

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Re: Buzza Lofts of Uptown (and Phase 2 too!)

Postby MNdible » January 3rd, 2014, 12:10 am

Another typical NIMBY comment.

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Re: Buzza Lofts of Uptown (and Phase 2 too!)

Postby mplsjaromir » January 3rd, 2014, 8:09 am

Another typical NIMBY comment.
LMAO

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buzz
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Re: Buzza Lofts of Uptown

Postby buzz » January 24th, 2014, 5:37 pm

A Buzza mention here:

"Minneapolis seeks more people, not more cars"

http://www.startribune.com/local/west/241222861.html
Chris Barnes, a vice president of Dominium, said most people still view Minneapolis as “a car town.” The developer is building a project in Uptown, next to the new Buzza Lofts, that will have one spot per unit. “It would be a different conversation if we had a trolley car stop at our front door that latched into the light rail and you could go … anywhere in the city in 20 minutes, 30 minutes,” he said.

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Re: Buzza Lofts of Uptown

Postby twincitizen » January 29th, 2014, 3:03 pm

That's such a bizarre quote because they are going to have a "trolley car stop" on the Midtown LRT (well, they're halfway between Hennepin and Lyndale) that will connect with the Blue Line on one end and the Green Line on the other. Granted, we're probably 8-10 years from the Midtown line actually operating, if ever, but the plans are there. At the very least, Lake Street is getting aBRT hopefully just a year or two after this Phase 2 building opens.

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buzz
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Re: Buzza Lofts of Uptown

Postby buzz » January 30th, 2014, 10:19 pm

nice picture!

Architorture
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Re: Buzza Lofts of Uptown

Postby Architorture » January 31st, 2014, 9:59 am

Don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you've got til its gone
They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot.

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buzz
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Re: Buzza Lofts of Uptown

Postby buzz » March 13th, 2014, 10:53 pm

I've heard this phase two project is not moving forward. possible soil issues?

Archiapolis
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Re: Buzza Lofts of Uptown

Postby Archiapolis » March 14th, 2014, 7:34 am

I assume that you mean contamination...not impossible to overcome but it can make financing tricky.

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Re: Buzza Lofts of Uptown

Postby mplser » March 14th, 2014, 2:15 pm

damn... I guess we have an open pit parking lot for now....

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Re: Buzza Lofts of Uptown

Postby lordmoke » March 21st, 2014, 4:24 pm


Minneboy
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Re: Buzza Lofts of Uptown

Postby Minneboy » March 21st, 2014, 5:28 pm

Bummer.

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buzz
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Re: Buzza Lofts of Uptown

Postby buzz » March 25th, 2014, 6:28 pm

A bit more in depth article on why the phase 2 project isn't moving forward...
http://www.southwestjournal.com/news/ne ... -roadblock

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TommyT
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Re: Buzza Lofts of Uptown

Postby TommyT » March 25th, 2014, 8:08 pm

There they go again using "tower" where it doesn't belong!


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