urbanMSP

On the upside, the development on the Bloomington side of Lyndale makes even Shops at Lyndale look like a higher and better use...

Hilton’s new Tru hotel brand planned near Mall of America

http://www.bizjournals.com/twincities/n ... ll-of.html

I've got a slogan for them: "Ain't that right, Boo? Tru!"

Has anyone brought this up yet:

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

7-story, 175,000 SF office building for Alina Health near hwy. 100 and I-494 at the current site of a Days Inn hotel in Bloomington? If the project goes through, United Properties has tentative plans for future additional offices and apartments in the vacinity.

Fascinating they just didn’t take space in the earlier phases of the Pentagon Park redevelopment. I mean I think this is a better result with the changed Pentagon Park now proposed to have fewer offices and more residential now, residences along the park/trail in the Pentagon Park redevelopment and this medical office along the highways.

If this goes through, and even if they don’t add apartments until later, I hope the cities of Edina and Bloomington get around to upgrading/adding sidewalks along Computer Ave. or the service road to connect to Nine Mike Creek trail.

Also... what about the crazy hexagon castle building next to this site?

Fascinating they just didn’t take space in the earlier phases of the Pentagon Park redevelopment. I mean I think this is a better result with the changed Pentagon Park now proposed to have fewer offices and more residential now, residences along the park/trail in the Pentagon Park redevelopment and this medical office along the highways.

If this goes through, and even if they don’t add apartments until later, I hope the cities of Edina and Bloomington get around to upgrading/adding sidewalks along Computer Ave. or the service road to connect to Nine Mike Creek trail.

Edina is the complete gap on Computer, but yeah given the higher-intensity uses, this is barely an industrial area at all. It really needs sidewalks on all developed sides of all streets.

This whole area is really weird to me. A lot of individually nice buildings (the two newish office buildings at 78th and Johnson, Burgundy Place, old Radisson), but it all lacks any sense of cohesion. Massive, empty sites and underdeveloped sites, and roads that are terrifying to walk or bike on. I get that it's a large area to see developed, but I really wish Edina could lead the charge by upgrading the streets to support the higher-intensity development that's already here.

I work west of 100 in this area and i have coworkers who will walk along Industrial to Caribou or JJs or wherever. I can't ever see myself doing that it's such a mess. At least Edina is requiring(?) sidewalks now. The new bus barn and the JJs/Starbucks and a few other dev'ts all have them.

Neighbors are fighting the redevelopment of a golf course in Bloomington along Normandale Blvd.

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

City wants residential with affordable mixed in. I dunno, this feels like time to grab popcorn and sit back.

Not too far north of here Edina is getting rid of the Fred Richards nine hole.

My understanding is that this is only the redevelopment of the old driving range, not the golf course itself. If you look at google maps aerials, it's pretty clear what the piece of land is (immediately abutting Normandale).

I live just down the road and couldn't care less if the driving range land is sold. My parents on the other hand...

I hope the cities of Edina and Bloomington get around to upgrading/adding sidewalks along Computer Ave. or the service road to connect to Nine Mike Creek trail.

… I really wish Edina could lead the charge by upgrading the streets to support the higher-intensity development that's already here.

It seems premature to do anything street-related with the area in such flux.

Pentagon Park redux is changing, as you said, to include residential. Also the new Nine Mile Creek Trail (still not officially finished) caused a re-think of Fred Richards Golf into a park, which only this year has been finalized in terms of what will be done. That re-do of the park potentially also induced the re-think of Pentagon Park uses.

All this means is that streets in the area will almost certainly be re-aligned, if not completely re-thought.

So while we all want better streets, sidewalks, and bike-ability, it seems financially prudent to see how this all shakes out.

I hope the cities of Edina and Bloomington get around to upgrading/adding sidewalks along Computer Ave. or the service road to connect to Nine Mike Creek trail.

… I really wish Edina could lead the charge by upgrading the streets to support the higher-intensity development that's already here.

It seems premature to do anything street-related with the area in such flux.

Pentagon Park redux is changing, as you said, to include residential. Also the new Nine Mile Creek Trail (still not officially finished) caused a re-think of Fred Richards Golf into a park, which only this year has been finalized in terms of what will be done. That re-do of the park potentially also induced the re-think of Pentagon Park uses.

All this means is that streets in the area will almost certainly be re-aligned, if not completely re-thought.

So while we all want better streets, sidewalks, and bike-ability, it seems financially prudent to see how this all shakes out.

I was referring less to 77th St specifically as the whole area -- especially west of 100. Metro Blvd, Picture Dr, 78th St. Tons of fairly high-intensity uses, wide streets, and basically non-existent sidewalks. There's also a relatively recently constructed portion of 77th where it becomes Johnson where there is no sidewalk on either side in a 2-lane divided section -- no place for a human to go, yet it's less than a block from hundreds of jobs.

It's possible things could realign (it'd be nice to get rid of that awful 15 mph curve on Parklawn/76th), but seems likely it will stay on the 77th St alignment for most of it. I think at least making a higher-quality southern sidewalk would be money well spent.

The closure of the county courthouse at Southdale Library won’t get relocated to Bloomington because of county budget tightening when the estimates came in way over budget.

http://www.startribune.com/hennepin-cou ... 463778133/

Instead cities will just be reassigned to downtown or Minnetonka.

I was referring less to 77th St specifically as the whole area -- especially west of 100. Metro Blvd, Picture Dr, 78th St. Tons of fairly high-intensity uses, wide streets, and basically non-existent sidewalks. There's also a relatively recently constructed portion of 77th where it becomes Johnson where there is no sidewalk on either side in a 2-lane divided section -- no place for a human to go, yet it's less than a block from hundreds of jobs.

It's possible things could realign (it'd be nice to get rid of that awful 15 mph curve on Parklawn/76th), but seems likely it will stay on the 77th St alignment for most of it. I think at least making a higher-quality southern sidewalk would be money well spent.

West of 100 is kinda wonky: the Edina/Bloomington border wiggles back & forth. No part of Picture Dr. is in Edina, and 78th weaves in & out.

As for Metro Blvd. and the whole industrial area… that, too, will be undergoing redevelopment over time. The city just kicked off the 70th & Cahill Small Area Plan Working Group, which is sort of a transition area in the northwest to residential areas. And Three Rivers Parks is looking for feedback on how to connect Nine Mile Creek Trail with Highlands to the south—so that could add a trail or wide, combined path to the industrial area. There is already a brewpub going in just west of the city’s new public works facility, and it appears the city is considering keeping the area industrial-heavy, but perhaps with some mixed use (residential & commercial) buildings to bring more diversity & daytime/nighttime use (think Jane Jacobs). There are a number of dead-end streets in that area, and I recently discussed with the chair of the Planning Commission the idea that we could re-connect the streets, if only for bikes & peds, if not cars. And why shouldn’t Nine Mile Creek Trail have a back door connection to the shops at Cahill & 70th? That’s another potential (very short) sidewalk/trail.

East of 100, yeah, I’m not sure why 77th @ Johnson has no sidewalk. Maybe the redevelopment north of Minnesota Drive will include sidewalks? This is where the lack of effective communication between the Planning and Transportation commissions comes into play. It’s something both commissions will be discussing in 2018. We’ve tried various things over the past 15 years, but nothing has worked quite right. We hope to fix that.

As for 76th, 77th, & Parklawn, take a gander at the final renditions for Fred Richards Park, where they show options for completely realigning the streets south & east of the park. Maybe it will be the end of your “awful curve”! See page 4 of this PDF: https://www.edinamn.gov/DocumentCenter/Home/View/3075

West of 100 is kinda wonky: the Edina/Bloomington border wiggles back & forth. No part of Picture Dr. is in Edina, and 78th weaves in & out.

I see you are right -- I was actually referring to the western Normandale Rd/Blvd frontage road. I was under the impression that was called Picture Dr, but I see Picture Dr technically starts at the border. Anyway, the frontage road is what I mean to say need improvements. Obviously the stuff on the Bloomington side needs work. (OTOH, things like Computer Ave have sidewalks in Bloomington but not Edina)

As for Metro Blvd. and the whole industrial area… that, too, will be undergoing redevelopment over time. The city just kicked off the 70th & Cahill Small Area Plan Working Group, which is sort of a transition area in the northwest to residential areas.

I do not get Edina's singular fixation on charming-but-limited areas like 70th & Cahill. Sure, it should have access to the Nine Mile Creek Trail (I've used the "backdoor" access through the apartment lot). But when the bicycle plans prioritize 70th & Cahill over the entire heart of the Southdale District -- which must have 50x or 100x the amount of retail, jobs, and residents -- that's a really distorted sense of priorities.

As for 76th, 77th, & Parklawn, take a gander at the final renditions for Fred Richards Park, where they show options for completely realigning the streets south & east of the park. Maybe it will be the end of your “awful curve”! See page 4 of this PDF: https://www.edinamn.gov/DocumentCenter/Home/View/3075

Thanks for pointing that out. The plans look awesome! But it doesn't look like that new 76th St extension is designed for through traffic -- looks like a supplemental loop to serve the park and new development between 76th and 77th. For my specific purpose (access to Burgundy Place building on the west end of the park) that's great, but still doesn't address the need for a meaningful, through bicycle route crossing 100.

Scott Neal posted this last night: an actual development proposal as opposed to those theoretical ones near Fred Richards Park.



And, yes, a safer crossing over Hwy 100 is one of many Edina needs for pedestrians & cyclists.

I apologize for derailing “Bloomington - General Topics”.

Does anyone know what's going on with the earthmoving going on kitty-corner to the MoA at the Old Shakopee Rd/Killebrew Dr/24th Ave intersection?

Also, I don't have any pictures right now, but there's a small apartment building near the intersection of Old Shakopee Rd and Old Cedar Ave that looks nearly complete. I think it's set to open in 2018, is managed by "Palacio Del Sol", and is 2 stories/32 units.

I think the apartment building you described is an extension of the one next to it -- I want to say I've seen that name associated with the existing building, but am not sure.

Does anyone know what's going on with the earthmoving going on kitty-corner to the MoA at the Old Shakopee Rd/Killebrew Dr/24th Ave intersection?

Also, I don't have any pictures right now, but there's a small apartment building near the intersection of Old Shakopee Rd and Old Cedar Ave that looks nearly complete. I think it's set to open in 2018, is managed by "Palacio Del Sol", and is 2 stories/32 units.

Per the Bloomington Development Map: WhirlyBall Twin Cities Addition