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Re: Mall of America - Bloomington
Posted: February 23rd, 2014, 3:05 pm
by contrast
Is this a spec office building or do they have a tenant lined up?
The report is vague, but I did find this:
Construction Operations Plan
The Construction Operations Plan for the previously approved MOA Phase IC indicated a 24-month construction period (November 2013 to November 2015). It is now anticipated that Phase IC will begin construction in January of 2014. This Construction operations Plan takes into consideration the addition of the Phase IC Office Building. The Office Building is currently in the leasing process and the actual construction start will be determined when the office tenant(s) have been identified and leases executed. The Construction Operations Plan for the Phase IC Office Building will be consistent with the Construction Operations Plan for Phase IC.
In addition to what you noted above, I found this comment on p51 (from their Q/A discussion period after the formal presentation):
Kurt Hagen (Triple Five) – Reviewed the proposal and timeline to have the office tower enclosed (crane
off site) by the opening of the hotel and retail of Phase 1C in August 2015.
So I speculate that they are going to proceed even if they haven't announced an anchor tenant. The cost of delaying the tower, then trying to build on top of occupied retail must be prohibitive- if even possible. Cheaper to just proceed and have some vacant office space to market. Why make your new hotel guests and retail tenants angry with more construction? If they are going to build the office tower in this location, they will do it at the same time as the retail underneath. Just for fun I'll state: IMHO
Re: Mall of America - Bloomington
Posted: February 23rd, 2014, 5:22 pm
by nordeast homer
They're going to have to get moving to get this done by August of '15. I'm surprised dirt isn't flying already.
Re: Mall of America - Bloomington
Posted: February 24th, 2014, 9:56 am
by min-chi-cbus
It sounds like it was supposed to be flying already, perhaps the cold is causing some trepidation...
Re: Mall of America - Bloomington
Posted: February 24th, 2014, 10:52 am
by Wedgeguy
I think there was a ground breaking already. But the extra snow made have move the start time line back some.
Re: Mall of America - Bloomington
Posted: February 24th, 2014, 3:29 pm
by Yourpalborno
Are there any plans to improve the east and west parking ramps? One would think that with all the expansion to the north and south they would want to beautify, if that's possible, the concrete ramps.
Re: Mall of America - Bloomington
Posted: February 24th, 2014, 4:01 pm
by web
why they serve as utilitarian places to park......The point of the mall is to spend money in the mall.
Re: Mall of America - Bloomington
Posted: February 25th, 2014, 10:51 am
by Wedgeguy
Are there any plans to improve the east and west parking ramps? One would think that with all the expansion to the north and south they would want to beautify, if that's possible, the concrete ramps.
If you happen to have a spare couple hundred thousand you like to use as an art project I'm sure that the mall would be happy to improve the exterior of the ramps. But they will not spend money on that, and the tax payers would balk at a give me to do that. It is what it is, so we will have to live with it. Hopefully in the next phases they can incorporate the ramps and hide them better.
Re: Mall of America - Bloomington
Posted: February 25th, 2014, 12:10 pm
by mattaudio
I always thought it would be cool and relatively cheap to install a grid of LEDs on the east and west faces of the ramps... but my guess is that would be a distraction for freeway drivers on the west and airplane traffic on the east.
Re: Mall of America - Bloomington
Posted: February 25th, 2014, 2:44 pm
by Mdcastle
The Mall developers wanted to build more in the way of walls to make them prettier, but the city of Bloomington was worried about "security" and made them build the ramps more open like that.
Re: Mall of America - Bloomington
Posted: February 28th, 2014, 2:49 pm
by Didier
I think the exterior of the mall is a huge detriment to the building. There couldn't be less charm or excitement for an out-of-town visitor driving up 494 and arriving at this uninviting fortress.
Re: Mall of America - Bloomington
Posted: February 28th, 2014, 4:15 pm
by HiawathaGuy
I think the exterior of the mall is a huge detriment to the building. There couldn't be less charm or excitement for an out-of-town visitor driving up 494 and arriving at this uninviting fortress.
They also feel the same and address that with the new addition to some degree.
http://bloomingtonmn.gov/pccases/08235A14.pdf
While reading through this document, you can find lots of tidbits about outdoor signage, etc. All very, very, very prescribed by Bloomington. I'm amazed at how they micromanage things down to materials used. But I'm hopeful that they'll continue to push the envelop on this Mega Mall and make some tasteful updates to the outside.
Re: Mall of America - Bloomington
Posted: February 28th, 2014, 5:48 pm
by Mdcastle
I remember Bloomington was fighting them over the color of the parking lot light poles...
I haven't liked the changes inside. They took out a lot of the trees in the amusement park and crammed it full of garish colored rides, and remodeling has softened the individuality of the four quadrants, especially the east where they took out all the neon. (It was probably due to be replaced and it's becoming a lost art to make new, but still).
Having different colored lights over the walkways in the parking structure was an idea I liked too.
Re: Mall of America - Bloomington
Posted: February 28th, 2014, 9:06 pm
by contrast
Phase 1C ground breaking ...? Stay tuned.
Correction: Tuesday, March 18th at 9:30 AM
Re: Mall of America - Bloomington
Posted: March 1st, 2014, 11:50 am
by min-chi-cbus
I always get confused about this but when does the MAJOR mall expansion happen -- the multi-million SF retail expansion -- 2C or 3A?
Re: Mall of America - Bloomington
Posted: March 3rd, 2014, 2:25 pm
by maxbaby
MOA phase 1C expansion to start by the end of the month.
http://www.bizjournals.com/twincities/n ... nsion.html
Re: Mall of America - Bloomington
Posted: March 10th, 2014, 12:25 pm
by kregger22
What a terrific addition to the East side of Bloomington. Excited for this to get rolling.
Re: Mall of America - Bloomington
Posted: March 11th, 2014, 1:53 pm
by maxbaby
Re: Mall of America - Bloomington
Posted: March 11th, 2014, 2:25 pm
by maxbaby
Re: Mall of America - Bloomington
Posted: March 11th, 2014, 8:34 pm
by Minneboy
Logically I'm psyched for the Star Trek and it's nice that Hard Rock is coming back.
Re: Mall of America - Bloomington
Posted: March 17th, 2014, 8:32 pm
by contrast
Will they build spec office or not? My guess remains "yes".
http://www.bizjournals.com/twincities/p ... hoice.html