urbanMSP

Two possible developments presented at Planning Commission-Council-HRA work session:

The first was at 66th & Queen. Developer owns a large (0.5 acre) single family home parcel, and is considering an apartment project as small as just that parcel, or as large as 6 additional parcels + vacation of part of Queen Ave. The site is between the Fraser apartments and CVS.

...

I attended a neighborhood meeting for this project this morning, which now has a name: "Novo". The developer is moving forward with Option C (pending approvals, etc), the ~180 unit building. The design has changed slightly, basically rotated 90° counter-clockwise, so the open end faces Russell. Russell is also connected to 66th, so that apartment traffic can go directly to 66th.

Pretty unusual for a 4-story building -- they are proposing a two-level underground parking garage. Essentially all resident parking would be interior, with just a few surface spots for guests.

A few neighbors were against it outright, but mostly people seemed really interested in how to get the details right. I think the biggest concerns were the frontage to the north and west, and traffic/parking due to unusually narrow streets for Richfield.

Nice. Virtually all the parking underground is a great land use.

So was that already zoned for multifamily? Or are Richfieldians natural, docile urbanists by nature?

Nice. Virtually all the parking underground is a great land use.

So was that already zoned for multifamily? Or are Richfieldians natural, docile urbanists by nature?

The entire "block" of 65th to 66th, Queen to Russell, is guided for high density residential, but only three of the six properties are currently zoned for it. If a property owner applied to rezone, it would almost certainly be approved, since that is what the comp plan calls for.

I believe this area was designated as such in relation to the Penn corridor plan, providing a space for high-density housing that complements the small business corridor on Penn. However, it may precede that. Even next door, there has been an apartment building since the 80s, Fraser. And just a few blocks farther west, there is Southdale Parc apartments.

As for parking underground -- I think it is a good thing, although I do have slightly mixed feelings when you consider the 70-100 year lifespan of these buildings. It seems highly likely that transportation as a service will replace much of privately owned cars at some point in that lifespan -- and those spaces could be difficult to use for much else. Ironically, those ugly podiums you see on some high-rises are probably easier to repurpose than underground! But whatever, of course we need to design for today's needs, too. And if nothing else, every unit will get a super plush underground storage room in 50 years

Notice went out that approvals for the project will be at November 26th Planning Commission meeting. Kind of a zippy pace compared to what's been the norm for other projects.

Rendering posted to the city website (http://www.richfieldmn.gov/departments/ ... evelopment):



I gather this view would be from the middle of 66th facing northeast from just west of Russell alignment. I think in real life the Fraser retaining wall would partially block the view, but it gives you a sense of the shape of the building on Russell. Primary entrance is in a courtyard off of Russell, and there is a secondary pedestrian entrance from 66th shown.

Rendering posted to the city website (http://www.richfieldmn.gov/departments/ ... evelopment):



I gather this view would be from the middle of 66th facing northeast from just west of Russell alignment. I think in real life the Fraser retaining wall would partially block the view, but it gives you a sense of the shape of the building on Russell. Primary entrance is in a courtyard off of Russell, and there is a secondary pedestrian entrance from 66th shown.

Good density, but the materials scream $155 sf construction cost.

Dunkin Donuts at 66th and Penn is open, and I'm not sure that's a good thing for Richfield.

Dunkin Donuts, is good

Good density, but the materials scream $155 sf construction cost.

Don't they all kinda look like that? At least everything in the 4-to-6-story-plus-underground-parking family

The proposed corrugated metal got some negative reactions at the neighborhood meetings. Although I have liked the look of this material in the past, a certain breathtakingly ugly building on Lyndale has tampered this opinion. I asked the architect if there was a cost savings over brick veneer. He said no, it was just for aesthetic variation.

Which makes me wonder why everyone doesn't just throw up brick. It seems to be the least offensive of materials, and conveys an appearance of quality people are after.

Over a decade since construction, I think the materials on Kensington Park still look great. Stucco panel, brick, and some metal accents. Townhomes are the same stucco panel and brick, with greater proportion of stucco.

Which makes me wonder why everyone doesn't just throw up brick. It seems to be the least offensive of materials, and conveys an appearance of quality people are after.

The material costs are similar but the labor costs for installation are usually wayyyy more. It takes like 3x as long as metal panel/Hardie/EFIS/etc.

Takes more skill too.

And the 30ft brick line is annoying - gotta throw in some steel angles. Which accounts for why we see brick the first two stories then switch, which I hate.

Some people are afraid of the expansion and contraction with stick construction as well.

The material costs are similar but the labor costs for installation are usually wayyyy more. It takes like 3x as long as metal panel/Hardie/EFIS/etc.

Takes more skill too.

And the 30ft brick line is annoying - gotta throw in some steel angles. Which accounts for why we see brick the first two stories then switch, which I hate.

Some people are afraid of the expansion and contraction with stick construction as well.

Interesting. Aren't most of the classic brick brownstones wood frame construction? Around Stevens Square, etc.

In terms of more modern stick construction,I just recently learned that City Bella Plaza, the shorter sibling of the concrete tower, is a wood frame condo building. They wrapped with a matching brick. No idea if it's been a maintenance headache, but it does appear to have held up OK so far. (Not my style per se, but it looks well-cared for).

Surprised to hear about the labor. I gotta see how this stuff actually gets applied -- I assumed it came in a sheet format, similar to stucco board. Are they actually laid like traditional bricks?

I've heard they're basically tiles: like a brick with a 1/2" or 1/"4 veneer shaved off (no idea how they're actually manufactured) and so you've gotta mortar the whole thing and lay them like tiles.

This website does a decent job of explaining the different types of brick installs.

What is Brick Veneer?

If solid masonry is so good, why is it that most brick houses built in the last 30 years are brick veneer construction?

Firstly, we have to understand the difference between brick veneer and solid masonry. The biggest difference is that with solid masonry, the brick is holding up the house. With brick veneer, the house is holding up the brick!

When we say brick veneer, we don’t mean those little thin slices that you glue on your kitchen wall. We mean an honest to goodness brick. However, the wall is only one wythe thick. Behind the brick veneer is a wood frame wall which is actually holding up the house. The brick veneer is, in effect, siding!

Interesting. Aren't most of the classic brick brownstones wood frame construction? Around Stevens Square, etc.

Brick in those cases are used structurally - and the wood frame is just for delineation of space. Nowadays its the opposite, with brick acting as a rainscreen and the wood giving the building it's structural properties.

Thin brick / brick veneer is applied like tile, like someone stated - while full wythe brick is actually still used more often than you'd think, especially on the lower levels where it is more visible. At work, we will commonly use "real" brick for the first two/three stories and then switch to thin brick for the upper levels. A lot of manufacturers will have the same color in both thin and full brick so that this is possible.

Either way, I'll always support brick construction. Feels classic to me.

Isn't wythe vs thin brick the result of the expansion contraction discussed earlier? For maybe 4 stories or so the difference in expansion and contraction between wood and brick is the same so you can use full brick, but any taller than that and you switch to veneer?

Or do you switch to veneer at that point because a single course of brick can't support all that weight anymore?

https://www.startribune.com/met-council ... 501215761/

Met Council transportation chair to become Richfield city manager

Katie Rodriguez, the chair of the Metropolitan Council’s Transportation Committee, will become the next city manager of Richfield.

The city announced her selection last week after interviewing four finalists for the job. She will replace Steve Devich, who worked for the city for more than 38 years.

“The City of Richfield is enjoying a renaissance and is well positioned to benefit from expected demographic, investment and cultural trends,” Rodriguez said in a news release. “I am excited to work together with the City Council, staff and residents to ensure Richfield is a place everyone can thrive.”

Locked: https://finance-commerce.com/2018/11/ri ... n-decades/

Can anyone see what this is about?

This is the NOVO project shown above by sdho on 11/15 (post #186)

Apartments pitched at the NE corner of 65th and Lyndale. That strip mall is definitely a blight but man I will miss Lynn65 if this goes through.

https://finance-commerce.com/2019/09/en ... richfield/