Culver's (1491 University Avenue)

[mulad]

Just keeping an eye on the Culver's on University.


Image link

[spectre000]

I saw another building just east of this is being demolished to make way for a new retail building as well. So much change in store for University Ave.

[spectre000]

http://kstp.com/article/stories/S265481 ... ?cat=12196

Culver's Coming to University Avenue Amid Light Rail Construction

"A pair or Twin Cities brothers are taking a chance, hoping it will pay off in the long run.

Chad and Jim Liston are opening a Culver's two years before the light rail construction right in front of their location is finished. The Listons believe getting up and running in the neighborhood early will pay off for them and may attract new businesses along University Avenue.

The business should open in August; light rail won't be up and running until 2014."

[Nathaniel]

Shouldn't zoning have prohibited a Culver's drive-thru on University? Wasn't this the type of development we were looking to rid University Ave of in the first place?

[mulad]

Yeah, it's a bit frustrating. St Paul doesn't seem to require site plans to be published in the same way Minneapolis does now, so I've certainly been flying blind with this project. I don't think they're going to make the space appreciably worse than what it was though -- it had been a 1-story building with a parking lot, and it'll still be a 1-story building with a parking lot.

I'm not sure when their proposal went through, either -- they might have been able to sneak by under the old rules if they did it long enough ago, though it seems more likely that they got some points for "reusing" an existing structure (even though it was completely gutted).

[spectre000]

Sometimes you can find site plans on the city's website under Planning Commission homepage. You gotta dig hard though. I recall it was approved with a bit of reluctance by the commission. They didn't like the design much either. But it was this or having to live with another vacant blighted building.

[mulad]

From today:



The building on the east end of the block is also getting a similar treatment to the exterior. For a while it looked like it was being torn down, but it's just getting remodeled. The Big Wheel/Rossi store on the western half went away several months ago (maybe last year), but there was a mobile phone store (Boost Mobile, I think) in the eastern half of it for quite a while longer (this was the first time I'd noticed they'd gone, so it's probably only been a few weeks).

[aguaman]

i wish all of the rehab would stop and these low-density blocks would get redeveloped to at least four levels.

[mattaudio]

I think there's plenty of opportunity for rehab and for denser mixed-use. And we won't see it all at once... patience...

[mulad]

According to Finance & Commerce, this opened on Monday. I think this is a free article: http://cl.publicaster.com/ClickThru.asp ... oQ&sysid=1

[editcostarica]

A fifty-car parking lot? That is precisely what I did not want to see along University. I'm saddened by this news.

[mulad]

Bing has imagery from different years for much of the Twin Cities depending on how much you zoom in, so we can do a bit of a before/after comparison of the site, although the "after" is only partway through construction:

culvers-mid-2000s.jpg

culvers-early-2012.jpg

I'm surprised to see that the buildings have all been chopped roughly in half so they aren't as deep anymore -- that definitely wasn't obvious from the street. I visited the area the other day, and the new parking lot is very different from what used to be there -- not to say that it's magically better or anything, but there are some fairly big islands with grass and wood chips. It's a lot like many other rebuilt parking lots I've seen in recent years, which I think must be designed in response to new water runoff regulations or something. It's not just one big expanse of asphalt, but it's not particularly space-efficient either.

I count roughly 35 or 36 spots in the old two parking lots, plus there was some dead space that might have been used for parking at some point.

The optimist in me makes me think that this opens up more possibilities for infill along University Avenue itself, since parking could just exist in the rear and allow a continuous street wall. But I think there's a new drive-through which probably prevents that from working...

[aguaman]

based on what i have seen, i don't think there will be a drive-thru provided, which seems obvious for a site adjacent to lrt.

[Scott Wood]

based on what i have seen, i don't think there will be a drive-thru provided, which seems obvious for a site adjacent to lrt.

From the article mulad quoted: "The move meant the building fell under older density standards, allowing them the space needed to add 50 parking spaces and a drive-through.

The drive-through was seen as critical because, despite being immediately north of the LRT line, the brothers expect half of their customers to arrive by car."

...and apparently the 50 space parking lot wasn't enough to handle that.

[Wedgeguy]

based on what i have seen, i don't think there will be a drive-thru provided, which seems obvious for a site adjacent to lrt.

The drive thru is similiar to the drive thru at the White Castle up in NE. on Central.

[MNdible]

The drive thru is similiar to the drive thru at the White Castle up in NE. on Central.

Meaning that it gives you diarrhea?

[Wedgeguy]

The drive thru is similiar to the drive thru at the White Castle up in NE. on Central.

Meaning that it gives you diarrhea?

Nothing like a smart a$$! Not quite, I've never had diarrhea from eating at Culvers. But the Drive thru design has the same layout as the above mentioned.

[aguaman]

mcdonalds has a drive thru on university near this site but it is entered from the side street and empties out into the alley so it's impact on the pedestrian environment was minimized. i hope the city at least asked for that much. what a shame if there is a curb cut on university to facilitate parking lot/drive-thru access.

they should have gone with a walk up design. this was a great opportunity for culvers to try a new design that has been proven successful for ice cream and custard places for decades. dairy queen has walk up windows, as does michael's custard in madison, just 40 minutes away from culvers' headquarters.

[Wedgeguy]

mcdonalds has a drive thru on university near this site but it is entered from the side street and empties out into the alley so it's impact on the pedestrian environment was minimized. i hope the city at least asked for that much. what a shame if there is a curb cut on university to facilitate parking lot/drive-thru access.

they should have gone with a walk up design. this was a great opportunity for culvers to try a new design that has been proven successful for ice cream and custard places for decades. dairy queen has walk up windows, as does michael's custard in madison, just 40 minutes away from culvers' headquarters.

You enter and leave the drive theu from the same street which is on the opposite end of the building from the driveway enterance. You have to drive past the backside of the restraunt to get to the drive thru.

[1200onthemall]

i wish all of the rehab would stop and these low-density blocks would get redeveloped to at least four levels.

I could not agree more, I drove University from the Capital to U of M yesterday and the potential redevelopment of the Ave is huge. There are several projects in process and I am sure there will be many more, I just hope we do not see more of these low-density projects. IMO this is going to be a hot area for projects over the next 5-10 years.