Wooddale Station Area / PLACE - St. Louis Park

Twin Cities Suburbs
Multimodal
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Re: Wooddale Station Area / PLACE Proposal - St. Louis Park

Postby Multimodal » January 15th, 2019, 8:42 am

PLACE buys in St. Louis Park, starts work:

https://finance-commerce.com/2019/01/pl ... arts-work/

Ubermoose
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Re: Wooddale Station Area / PLACE Proposal - St. Louis Park

Postby Ubermoose » January 17th, 2019, 11:06 am

This morning I watched as a construction worker started marking the sidewalk just to the south of the Wooddale bridge. This section of sidewalk has hardly had time to dry as it was replaced during the reconstruction of the bridge and surrounding area this fall.
I wonder how many times this area will be torn up in the next few years? I'm sure that there wouldn't be any cooperation between any of the projects so I'm guessing it will be 2 more times. Once for Place and then again when they tunnel the bike and walking path as a part of the Wooddale station project for the SWLRT.

Multimodal
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Wooddale Station Area / PLACE Proposal - St. Louis Park

Postby Multimodal » January 24th, 2019, 8:36 pm

I wonder how many times this area will be torn up in the next few years? I'm sure that there wouldn't be any cooperation between any of the projects so I'm guessing it will be 2 more times. Once for Place and then again when they tunnel the bike and walking path as a part of the Wooddale station project for the SWLRT.
Funny you say that when, in another thread, on the development on the NW corner of Xerxes/York & 66th, someone complained that because a planned project *wasn’t* completed, there weren’t good sidewalk facilities: Southdale Area Development - Edina
https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink?share_ ... are_type=t

The best laid plans…
Last edited by Multimodal on January 24th, 2019, 8:36 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Multimodal
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Re: Wooddale Station Area / PLACE Proposal - St. Louis Park

Postby Multimodal » January 24th, 2019, 8:38 pm

Detailed (and unlocked!) article on PLACE’s Via project (Via Sol and Via Luna):

https://www.hometownsource.com/sun_sail ... aee14.html

Anondson
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Wooddale Station Area / PLACE Proposal - St. Louis Park

Postby Anondson » June 7th, 2019, 6:46 pm

Financing of Via Sol and Via Luna updates in the upcoming June 10 agenda for the study session. https://www.stlouispark.org/home/showdocument?id=13752
PLACE is working with a tax credit investor, R4, that is considering purchasing the housing bonds for the Via Luna apartment building (to be constructed on the South Parcels) prior to their expiration on June 28, 2019. R4 would replace Old National Bank and become the new holder of the Note until the project’s permanent financing occurs. However, the investor is requiring that PLACE guarantee the financial performance of the project’s 33 market-rate units, which PLACE is unable to provide. PLACE therefore is requesting to remove those units from the project and add two more affordable units, for a total of 50 units, all affordable at 60% AMI. This would result in a 38% reduction in units from the currently required 81.
So the south building, the one adjacent to the LRT station, would lose all market rate, gain two more affordable units, but total units would be reduced in the south building. The north building has not unit count changes.

Multimodal
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Re: Wooddale Station Area / PLACE Proposal - St. Louis Park

Postby Multimodal » June 10th, 2019, 9:34 am

It amazes me how complicated these financing deals are.

Is the loss of market rate housing a big concern?

rmc
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Re: Wooddale Station Area / PLACE Proposal - St. Louis Park

Postby rmc » September 11th, 2019, 9:17 am

Not much has taken place at the site this summer. Does not give me warm fuzzies about the timeline. Really guessing the second phase of the project isn't getting secured. The city project site hasn't had an update since December. https://www.stlouispark.org/government/ ... /via-place

Multimodal
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Re: Wooddale Station Area / PLACE Proposal - St. Louis Park

Postby Multimodal » October 4th, 2019, 10:40 pm

That would be a huge loss for the city and the area and the SWLRT.

Unless there’s a for-profit vulture ready to swoop in.

rmc
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Re: Wooddale Station Area / PLACE Proposal - St. Louis Park

Postby rmc » October 8th, 2019, 10:09 am

I'm not worried long-term. SOMETHING will go in there; the property will be too valuable. I commend the city for trying to get something environmentally and civically progressive, but it seems like it might have been a little too much of a reach.

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Re: Wooddale Station Area / PLACE Proposal - St. Louis Park

Postby Ubermoose » November 6th, 2019, 11:22 am

The planning commission is holding a public meeting concerning the amendments to this project tonight at 6:00.
On Oct. 7, 2019, PLACE submitted an application for a major amendment to their planned unit development to reconfigure the design of the south site (Via Luna). The request includes:
•Relocating the residential building to the corner of Wooddale Avenue and West 36th Street.
•Relocating the hotel to the east side of the site. The site plan and the appearance of the buildings remain largely unchanged.
•Reduction in the height of the hotel from six stories to five stories
•Relocating most of the parking from an above ground ramp to underground parking and a small surface lot.
•Reduction in the number of residential units on the south parcel from 84 units to 50 units. All 50 units will be affordable at 60 percent area median income.

rmc
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Re: Wooddale Station Area / PLACE Proposal - St. Louis Park

Postby rmc » November 6th, 2019, 12:42 pm

PLACE/Via seems stalled out. They haven't been able to meet any of the deadlines on this project over multiple years. It was a bold plan with lots of neat features, but it's going precisely as its detractors predicted. I was a supporter of this, but the goalposts have continually moved enough where I'm questioning how long this will be allowed to continue.

Ubermoose
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Re: Wooddale Station Area / PLACE Proposal - St. Louis Park

Postby Ubermoose » November 13th, 2019, 9:29 am

I've been trying to figure out why there has been a crane sitting in the fenced area at Wooddale for the past week or two. This morning I saw that there's a train parked to the west full of more track. I'm guessing it will be offloaded soon.

Ubermoose
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Re: Wooddale Station Area / PLACE Proposal - St. Louis Park

Postby Ubermoose » February 11th, 2020, 9:41 am

There's a lot going on here now. It looks like construction on Place is in full swing. Across Wooddale they've started digging the trench for the bike path tunnel. There are signs up for lane closures starting next week as they proceed to cross Wooddale.

Multimodal
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Re: Wooddale Station Area / PLACE - St. Louis Park

Postby Multimodal » April 18th, 2020, 8:58 am

So it looks like the north section will go to completion, but the south section is being abandoned?

Anondson
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Re: Wooddale Station Area / PLACE - St. Louis Park

Postby Anondson » April 18th, 2020, 9:03 am

Huge disappointment if so. But I can see funding right now being a huge cluster f*#&

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Nick
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Re: Wooddale Station Area / PLACE - St. Louis Park

Postby Nick » April 18th, 2020, 10:58 am

Has it been someone’s full time job to work on this project specifically for...ten years?
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Anondson
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Re: Wooddale Station Area / PLACE - St. Louis Park

Postby Anondson » June 11th, 2020, 12:29 pm

Union Congregational on 3700 Alabama is planning a 3 story affordable housing building on one of their parking lots. 3 blocks from the Wooddale station.

Most units for 60% AMI, but some for 30% AMI.

https://www.bizjournals.com/twincities/ ... uispa.html

Neighborhood association is mad at the scale next to single family homes, natch.

Multimodal
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Re: Wooddale Station Area / PLACE - St. Louis Park

Postby Multimodal » June 14th, 2020, 9:51 am

Perfect location. Glad the Planning Commission approved it. Does it go to Council now, or is it done?

And, clearly, 3 stories is a skyscraper.

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Re: Wooddale Station Area / PLACE - St. Louis Park

Postby Anondson » July 28th, 2020, 6:49 am


alexschief
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Re: Wooddale Station Area / PLACE - St. Louis Park

Postby alexschief » July 28th, 2020, 10:06 am

If the SWLRT is to be a success, it's going to have to spark a lot of projects like this.

My concern with the Wooddale area in particular is the pedestrian infrastructure. This station is surrounded by roads that are absurdly overbuilt. 36th Ave, which has a full movement intersection and slip lanes, has an AADT of 12,600 at the eastern end, and a minuscule 4,250 at the western end. Wooddale Ave itself switches between three and four lanes, with an AADT of 11,000 at its junction with Route 7, but just 6,000 to the south.

While that highway to the north is always going to limit development potential in that direction, it's the insane intersection between Wooddale and 36th which is a major barrier to growth on the south. I haven't seen if there are efforts to mitigate that. At minimum, the slip lanes should be eliminated, and lanes should be taken for pedestrian space on the lesser-used western and southern ends. There also need to be efforts to create more crossings over Route 100. Unfortunately, Wooddale becomes an on/off ramp to the SB highway, and there is no pedestrian bridge that would allow access to the Lunds at Park Center Boulevard. To walk to get groceries, residents of this future development will need to take a really unpleasant half-mile route to the Target on 36th.

For this station area to become a successful community on its own, there are certainly good interim steps, like getting a small market of its own so that you don't need to cross a highway to get essential goods. But ultimately, some big changes are needed to the streetscape to upgrade this area from just being a connecting zone between two highways.


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