urbanMSP

http://www.bizjournals.com/twincities/b ... ments.html

CPM is planning their first non-University-adjacent project near the Minnetonka/St. Louis Park border.

93 market-rate units in a 4-story building at the SW corner of US-169 and Minnetonka Blvd.

Site Plans & Renderings: http://www.eminnetonka.com/news_events/ ... _plans.pdf

I like how Minnetonka organizes their ongoing developments and construction projects on their website. Way better and more accessible than most Cities: http://www.eminnetonka.com/news_events/ ... newproject They also accept online feedback on projects during the approvals process, which is a nice step towards the 21st Century that most cities have not taken.

I've been hearing rumors about this one since I lived in the apartments just north of there on Waterstone Pl. I thought for sure it was cancelled.

I drove past last week and see that they finally extended the bike/ped path under 169 on the south side of Minnetonka Blvd. This will be an island and commuter apartments. Waterstone Pl apartments rarely saw anyone leave on foot or bike.

I'm at that intersection all the time. So you know what that means...photo updates.

Funny that it never occurred to me that housing would ever go there. I just thought it was some woods.

I'm glad they upgraded that trail through there.

This would be a pretty easy walk to Knollwood if people were allowed to walk around there. I walk as far to the grocery store than the residents of this building would to Cub if there were a way to walk parallel to 169.

Yeah, it does seem like adding a walking path on the (probably west) side of 169 between 36th Street and Cedar Lake Road would help connectivity in this area quite a bit.

If they canoe or kayak on the creek it's an easy commute! Ha!

Actually with the expansion of the bike path, this will be an easy ride over to the cedar lake trail which hits Mntka Blvd near the elementary school. It's probably double the mileage vs as the crow flys, but still very doable.

When I lived near there I would often see someone walking or biking the little segment of 169 between Mtnka Blvd and 36th st. SO dangerous!

I imagine the problem with creating a walking/bike path on the west side of 169 is that there is so much swamp area and changes in terrain. It would likely be very expensive. Desirable, but expensive.

A reasonable trail option might be to construct a floating wood boardwalk. As an example, the Westwood Nature Center in St. Louis Park uses this through its swamp and marshland and has worked excellently for decades. But a such a trail on the west side of 169 there would also serve the apartments just north of this proposal too, folks in the Amherst neighborhood in SLP that this would connect to I can see using this too.

A significant concern against this would be that it crosses more than one city boundary. St. Louis Park's last vision plan advanced putting trails through its part of the minnehaha creek and could theoretically come along.

A four to five story proposal at the southeast corner of Excelsior and Shady Oak Road to include retail, apartments, and a medical center with emergency services. Anticipating the LRT station right next door, the city of Minnetonka discussed the proposal by developer Lowell Zitloff and Hennepin Health Services.

Minnetonka city document (.pdf): http://www.eminnetonka.com/your_governm ... _e_14b.pdf

Sun sailor article: http://sailor.mnsun.com/2013/09/05/minn ... -facility/

The development doesn't seem to have a catchy name yet.

We've discussed this project earlier when the original proposal to reuse the existing building underwhelmed people for its site right next to the LRT. Was that in the SW LRT thread?

Yup.

It comes across that this new proposal intends some design inspiration from a Zitzloff property in Wayzata. Images and preliminary design sketches were in the city .pdf.

The discussion bright up the loss of the Park Nicollet medical facility in Hopkins, where Gallery Flats are being built coincidentally, and how this could return medical access to the vicinity. Also discussed was whether this was a worthwhile development even if LRT were to not be built, which to that point it was mentioned that this industrial area was "urbanizing" any way. Overall this new preliminary proposal seemed to get a positive nod.

Clearly it was influenced by the LRT overlay district and the city, but the some on the council are leaning that this is a good and appropriate design even without the TOD requests.

Moving forward. Being called a "Gateway" for Minnetonka. TIF to include 20 income assisted units. Some invasive species eliminations. Proposal for a public trail down to a canoe landing. 100 total units.

http://sailor.mnsun.com/2014/03/11/minn ... -approved/

Drove by, looks like site clearing is underway.

The foundation is pretty far along.

Foundation is complete and work on the first floor is underway. Very easy to see from 169.

I've caught glimpses of development scattered around this second ring suburb and skipped posting anything about them. But with Ridgedale area and the SWLRT line seeming to become a target for density maybe a thread could be used here to gather those all up.

Starting it off, a developer is proposing a 270+ unit rental complex in the Opus II business park and razing a single story warehouse. Right along the future SWLRT line.

http://www.bizjournals.com/twincities/b ... ments.html

Opus II was intended to be a mixed use area, but residential has been very minimal. Instead it's nearly all offices and manufacturing spaces. It really is a sort of retrofit from one way of thinking about it.

Wooo! This is like 8 minutes from my house and is one of the areas I envisioned for some mass change when light rail came through. There are a lot of aging offices in that area that could easily be redeveloped. There's already a trail that weaves through the entire office park, just needs better access.

Here is the city page for this Roers/Scicom apartment project in Opus II.

http://eminnetonka.com/current-projects ... cicom-site

Minnetonka does a pretty decent job making access to projects available online.

Seen on Facebook today.

https://scontent.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-x ... e=56683793

https://scontent.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-x ... e=5671DD10