Here's what it looks like today (well, how it looked a year ago):
And here's the proposal again:
I usually think something has gone awry when the area being allocated for asphalt/parking approaches and goes beyond a 1:1 ratio compared to the area occupied by buildings. In this case it seems closer to a 2:1 ratio. Even for suburbia, I'd say that's pretty bad. Developers and property owners are just dropping money on the floor when they do that, because that area could be used for other buildings, or you could put just as much square footage on a smaller footprint. They're tossing away revenue.
It's still not clear to me where the Gateway Corridor line is supposed to cross over from the north side of I-94 to the south side. It would potentially make a lot of sense for it to come in on Hudson Road from the west and go straight through this site (the eastern portion of Hudson Road could be realigned to go straight to the west part, rather than dumping everyone into the Tamarack shopping center, though the roadway would need to be calmed somehow and streetified.
I would say Woodbury suffers from a lack of transit service right now. There are a few express routes that serve the northwest area of the city, but primarily only feed from park-and-ride lots (route 351 gets closest, but wouldn't be of any use to most people trying to get here). Woodbury really ought to get some local service running.
This really reminds me of my favorite old Kunstler talk, particularly around 4 minutes in where he talks about an area a few miles from where he lives:
They're clearly adding quite a bit of new parking.
Re: State Farm Corporate Campus redevelopment - Woodbury
Posted: August 13th, 2014, 4:14 pm
by mattaudio
Looks like they're not retaining *any* of the existing parking - it's *all* new.
Re: State Farm Corporate Campus redevelopment - Woodbury
Posted: August 13th, 2014, 4:56 pm
by Wedgeguy
Looks like they're not retaining *any* of the existing parking - it's *all* new.
So much for saving a few bucks, They really did not do any cost analysis on this project at all. They could have at least worked to do something like the West End and actually use more of the land to produce revenue and not stock pile automobiles. I see this as an out of the way development, even with it's location. There is really no traffic pattern to allow for good customer, worker, or residential people to get around. IT will be more work to get to anyplace in there and most customers would care to bother with the retail. Workers will probably not really care until they are all sitting at the same light trying to get out of the development. I see changes happening in a few years due to their poor circulation plans.
Re: State Farm Corporate Campus redevelopment - Woodbury
Posted: August 15th, 2014, 8:40 am
by stp1980
As a child of the 'Wood-hood' I will have to say that I am glad this land will be used in some way and people will be working here as the building has been vacant almost more time than it was occupied.
That said the urbanist in me cringes at the 'asphalt acres' concept. The development pattern here is no different than across the street or across almost all of Woodbury. I would view this as a (serious) missed opportunity. At some point developers may see the parking lots as assets in terms of space but unless the city pushes that with zoning this is what you will get. As a side note when State Farm built the place the land around it had big signs touting the 'prairie restoration' around the parking lot and some of the non-mowed areas.
Re: State Farm Corporate Campus redevelopment - Woodbury
Re: State Farm Corporate Campus redevelopment - Woodbury
Posted: September 30th, 2014, 2:20 pm
by twincitizen
I think I speak for all the mods here, and say we cannot simply allow language to be abused and misused like that. "CityPlace" is a slap in the face to both cities and places. I refuse to change it
Re: State Farm Corporate Campus redevelopment - Woodbury
Posted: October 3rd, 2014, 9:12 am
by stp1980
It will also to annoy you that Woodbury has a "City Centre" and a "City Walk" in a similar pavement to building ratio as this project. Although City Walk has apartments and a little less pavement
Re: State Farm Corporate Campus redevelopment - Woodbury
Posted: October 3rd, 2014, 1:41 pm
by mulad
Yeah, CityWalk does a relatively decent job with its residential side, including an actual mixed-use building -- though I ding them for not being able to distinguish the front versus back on their townhomes. The retail stretch along Woodbury Drive definitely has a lot of asphalt.
Re: State Farm Corporate Campus redevelopment - Woodbury
Posted: October 3rd, 2014, 2:52 pm
by Snelbian
City Walk strikes me as a good example of why one development in isolation doesn't make a functional urban environment. In and of itself it's not bad and does a lot of things right. But if you go 1,000 feet in any direction you're back in cul-de-sacs and overbuilt arterials stretching across the horizon. Want to get to that Walmart on foot? Good luck with that!
The sad thing is that cities like Woodbury dabble in these sorts of developments here and there, don't see it work out the way it was supposed to (why are residents in City Walk not acting like it's the 1st Arrondissement?!), and conclude that the problem is in the development style itself rather than the scope of the change and the ped-hostile built environment very nearly a stones throw away. So the experiment is aborted and the self-fulfilling prophecy is repeated in some other suburb.
Re: State Farm Corporate Campus redevelopment - Woodbury
Posted: October 3rd, 2014, 2:55 pm
by mattaudio
Yep. A large part of the problem stems from "master planning" and having one master developer. This is the reason Maple Grove has four "main streets," three of which are within a mile but separated by gulfs of parking. In a real city, this would be one primary node, built up incrementally by dozens or hundreds of actors.
Re: State Farm Corporate Campus redevelopment - Woodbury
Posted: October 7th, 2014, 7:40 pm
by metro411
Does this mean "State Farm Way" will exist no more?
Re: State Farm Corporate Campus redevelopment - Woodbury
Posted: October 8th, 2014, 8:42 am
by mattaudio
The farm is clearly being replaced by city, thereefore I assume so.
Re: State Farm Corporate Campus redevelopment - Woodbury
Posted: October 8th, 2014, 12:53 pm
by Tcmetro
Sometimes these streets named after companies keep their names after said company is gone. For instance, Northwest Dr at the airport.
Re: State Farm Corporate Campus redevelopment - Woodbury
Posted: October 8th, 2014, 1:44 pm
by mattaudio
Northwest Pkwy in Eagan, Rosemount Drive in Burnsville, Armour Ave in S. St. Paul, etc.
Re: State Farm Corporate Campus redevelopment - Woodbury
Posted: October 13th, 2014, 12:03 pm
by MN Fats
Ford Parkway in Highland
Re: State Farm Corporate Campus redevelopment - Woodbury
Posted: October 14th, 2014, 8:07 pm
by Minneboy
Was driving around here today and there is little grass left. It's all being bulldozed.
Re: State Farm Corporate Campus redevelopment - Woodbury
Posted: November 5th, 2014, 6:48 pm
by iNviNciBL3
Its so nice driving by this and seeing they are finally doing something to this site...
