Excelsior and Grand Area - St. Louis Park

[Anondson]

Found some worthy items from the next council agenda for Monday, April 18 regarding the Bridgewater proposal at Excelsior and Monterey.

The Planning Commission passed it on a 3-2 vote. I read the public's comments. Blah, anxiety rising... Anyway, found these drawing of interest.
New Bridgewater drawings by Eric Anondson, on Flickr
New Bridgewater drawings by Eric Anondson, on Flickr
The second one above was interesting because it shows the stepping down to the west along Monterey, away from Excelsior Blvd.
Seems like the proposal is going to build over 100 more parking spaces than the city requires. They probably felt going on the high side was to their benefit knowing the parking battles around Trader Joes?

[grant1simons2]

Edit: Ground floor facing street,

Capture by grant.simons, on Flickr

[Anondson]

Thought about taking screenshots of the floor layouts. Wasn't sure if I had posted them before though I thought I had...

I'm really sympathetic to the worries over traffic at Monterey and Park Commons. It's pretty hectic. I wish the city would get off its rear end and finally build out the network of streets. The city preserved right of way for extending Wolfe Parkway straight north to Monterey, about where 36 1/2 meets Monterey. Likely over $1 million in cost, I think it's the only thing holding the city back from building the Wolfe extension. Excelsior and Grand needs it today.

[Anondson]

Sounds like most of the council is against this as proposed right now.

http://sailor.mnsun.com/2016/04/29/most ... ect-plans/

"So big for the site"
"Canyon on Excelsior"
"Too many turns into site"
"Will make Park Commons/Monterey worse"

I dunno, the city was close to being willing to drop $10–18 million to build an underpass on Xenwood for the P.L.A.C.E site, but the estimated $1 million for the Wolfe Parkway extension is too much? *headdesk*

[acs]

"They want to turn SLP in to Minneapolis Jr !" and "what about all the traffic and parking?!"

http://www.startribune.com/protesters-o ... 382305271/

Sounds like the NIMBY's are gonna torpedo the Bridgewater

[Anondson]

They really think 167 units will have an effect on traffic in the area, when it's the thousands of units getting added in Minneapolis that have much more an effect on traffic here. Minikahda Vista is my nemesis neighborhood, lovely place filled with so many selfish privileged people. They think the traffic around there is all about them.

[min-chi-cbus]

My wife and I want to buy a home there someday so maybe we'll replace a pack of NIMBY's that cant handle the crushing density of "Mpls Jr".

[twincitizen]

I find it interesting that some (longtime?) residents of inner ring suburbs see "Minneapolis Jr" as some kind of a slur, but coming from a planning & land use mindset, that's actually a pretty apt description of exactly what inner ring suburbs like St. Louis Park and Richfield are. And the idea that this is the building that finally broke the camel's back WRT urbanism/density/rapture is pretty laughable. Not only did St. Louis Park just recently approve a 6-story building for the western endcap of Excelsior & Grand, but there are taller buildings scattered all over the damn city (36Park & the senior building next to it, MetroPoint building, Park Place & Doubletree hotel, etc.)

[twinkess]

Haha, from the comments of that article:

bapster
JUN. 8, 16
11:41 PM
What is "overbuilt"? It's supply and demand. And who is "they"?


colonel715
JUN. 9, 16
12:31 AM
@bapster Are you familiar with the concepts of zoning and city planning?

[mister.shoes]

I giggle every time I see someone from here comment over there and the crazies respond, well, like crazies.

[Anondson]

In the city staff documents and traffic studies for this area it has been abundantly clear that development is far below what was expected by now. The two six story project end capping Excelsior and Grand both don't even come close to filling the expected, PLANNED, development for the area.

The only reason the "But, Moar Traffic!" is getting any traction is no one had any idea what Trader Joe's was going to do to traffic at Park Commons and Monterey, it's pretty out of control at some hours.

Some are angry this will displace a small batch of local small businesses. I am too, but with the amount of vacancies just down Excelsior on the other side of 100, or at Walker and Lake street. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Last year a residence on Excelsior was proposed to be rezoned Commercial and zoning and planning denied the rezone because this area already had enough commercial where this proposal is going. I'm a bit ticked off zoning and planning denied the rezone because I thought it was obvious coming redevelopment at Excelsior and Grand would displace cheap small sites and rezoning a house to commercial for a coffee place would have been perfect.

Zoning and planning of Excelsior Blvd next to Minikahda Vista has been nothing but a puppet show reacting to angry anti-change voices. I'm a bit disappointed the city council is showing some sympathy towards listening to the LOS ratings as a reason to swat this down. St. Louis Park seems still pretty beholden to the LOS mantra.

[bapster2006]

I would love new stuff at Walker / Lake St. I heard a rumor the American Legion might move over there but nothing more about that.

I giggle every time I see someone from here comment over there and the crazies respond, well, like crazies.

Yea, I have fun on the StarTribune comments every now and then! I especially love the downtown haters. I'm surprised I still haven't been murdered after my thousands of trips downtown.

[min-chi-cbus]

Wow....what was the planned development, if Excelsior & Grand fell short of its expectations? Excelsior & Grand seems almost like a regional epitome of what suburbs can do to recreate "urban" design.

[Anondson]

Major expansion of the Park Nicollet campus was expected. It was partly why Park Nicollet was allowed to sever the street that because Auto Club Way and Park Commons, (that Effing Kmart style). You can kind of see signs of an incomplete campus forming... It was supposed to.

Park Nicollet will almost certainly never expand the campus by Excelsior and Grand now, having been merged with Health Partners and the Methodist Hospital campus has vastly more potential around it for expansion and access. The expectation was that thousands of jobs would be filling in the area. It hasn't come to be and honestly I wonder if clinic operations would be better served in a building over on the abundant amount of land over by the new Louisiana LRT station by Methodist and the land by Excelsior and Grand sold for redevelopment.

[mattaudio]

I feel like there's an opportunity to rethread and simplify the grid in this corner, if Park Nicollet land was open for ROW. I'd love to see Wooddale reconnected across Hwy 100. Thoughts on how this could happen? Obviously Granite City would have to go, and possibly the theater too.

[Anondson]

The city has looked at bridging Wooddale over 100 many times because the nearest fire station to the southeast side of the city is on the opposite side of 100. Emergency response must run the gauntlet of traffic lights at Excelsior and Xenwood then Excelsior and Wooddale. The delay isn't yet seen as worth the millions the city would need to foot the bill.

The city did have foresight enough to start preserving ROW through the abundant Park Nicollet parking lots to someday allow a street connecting Park Commons to where Target is.

I had fantasy hopes that something like Columbus did with the I-670 cap, is done to Excelsior over 100. Granite City could go on the cap, Wooddale and the 100 ramp moved over... Something like that.

[mister.shoes]

Here's another one of those "I could have sworn we talked about it before but I am too lazy to search right now" comments: somewhere I remember reading/discussing that the residents (the church?) on the west side of 100 don't want Wooddale reconnected because it'll bring "too much traffic" to their now-sleepy section of a once-busy/crucial connector.

[Anondson]

The pressure from Minikahda Vista residents over traffic fears has pushed the city council to reject the latest design of the Bridgewater proposal. Now the land owner is suggesting a six-story office building that won't require a rezone and thus need council veto.

http://sailor.mnsun.com/2016/12/22/offi ... velopment/

The developer points out the council approved the Fresh Thyme project that has much higher density a few blocks from this. The strip has entirely vacated except from a single business so redevelopment to something is a certainty. Six-story multiuse or six-story offices.

[Architorture]

Bridgewater & Housing development died last night. The city council voted against it 6-1.

Too Big, Too Much Traffic, Too Tall....

What a disappointment! This would have preserved SF of retail, added more office/ day time users, added density on a corridor, and vastly improved Monterey.

[Anondson]

Argh! Minikahda Vista remains my nemesis.

Can't wait for Bridgwater to return with their promised, by right and by zoning, office proposal.