urbanMSP

A few dispatches from Dinkytown as the fall semester approaches:

"Uncommon" Apartments at 1202 4th St is open. It is an "uncommon"-ly ugly building, IMHO. Lack of retail is disappointing on such a lively street. I was shocked by the complete lack of privacy and screening for the walk-up units along 4th and 12th. The building is set back maybe 3 feet from the sidewalk with bedroom windows right at eye level and clear glass front doors. Felt voyeuristic just walking by.

North Bay/DJR have put out a bunch of proposals for micro-apartment buildings on small lots with ground floor retail in this area. One at 1119 4th, the "Trademark" just opened. Looks pretty sweet and I'm excited to have more small-scale developments in this area vs. just half-block monoliths.

Dinkytown Food Hall (the old CVS space at 15th and 4th) has banners up for a "grand opening". 6/10 (maybe 11) stalls are filled. The tenant mix and marketing seems to be primarily targeting the Asian student population... probably a good business move.

Finally, the street life is really picking up for the first time since March as students move in to off-campus housing. In any other year I would welcome this, but now it's unnerving as many of those students are almost certainly about to start having parties and transmitting COVID-19 all over campus. Numbers could start looking real bad again in September.

Just a general question/statement - all of the new buildings that have gone up or are proposed for Dinkytown and around the UofM include great street-level retail - smaller spaces - that get quickly filled up by quick and go restaurants, etc. Now why can't developers do the same for downtown Minneapolis? Instead we get buildings with either one huge retail space that would involve companies having to spend money to divide it up, or no retail - only "walk up" units, which to me - would be highly undesirable and doesn't add to street life.

Now why can't developers do the same for downtown Minneapolis? Instead we get buildings with either one huge retail space that would involve companies having to spend money to divide it up, or no retail - only "walk up" units, which to me - would be highly undesirable and doesn't add to street life.

I think the City should be more open to giving subsidies (likely TIF) to get the things we say we want. Private sector developers usually aren't as forward-looking as government is, they consider only the short/medium term bottom line. Government is tasked with creating a long-term vision for active storefronts downtown. If that doesn't align with current developer pro-formas, then we (the public) should consider paying for it. I do think we should keep (and possibly expand/strengthen) the current requirements we have for requiring commercial space downtown, but we should also help with paying for it (on a strict, as-needed basis of course). I don't think it's unreasonable to say we should put our money where our mouth is. If there are certain blocks or projects that should really have active ground-level space (or more than bare minimum code requirements, etc.), I'm all for paying for it to make sure it happens. I don't think we're talking about a great deal of money in the grand scheme of the city budget.

I'd also extend this to existing office buildings downtown that have awful frontages in areas with heavy pedestrian traffic.

Now why can't developers do the same for downtown Minneapolis?

One Word: Skyways

What's happening with the lot where the hideaway building used to be? I just saw that it was demolished

Here's a thread about it, though no one seemed to have anything to say when it was proposed.

It’s wild how much controversy this development (and the McDonalds project to an even greater extent) would have generated in 2013 or earlier. Now, not so much. If you told me back then that fights over 6-story development in the Dinkytown core would become basically nonexistent, I wouldn’t have believed you.

The Standard at Dinkytown, another 17 story project. The parking entrance and loading entrance along the 15th avenue bikeway is pretty problematic still. It's crazy the height and density we are starting to see along 15th Avenue. https://lims.minneapolismn.gov/download ... 20Ave%20SE

Good thing the H Line is coming!

So. It's been a while since I've actually been around the dinkytown housing. I think this neighborhood may have the most tear downs in the entire city. At least in terms of multiunit housing. It's simply nuts. I graduated 3 years ago and there's maybe 20 or 30 houses that have been rebuilt? Need to go around and take some photos sometime. It's good to see, since lots of these houses were pretty abismal to live in.

They were pretty abysmal in the '90s!

The young adults going to the U these days have a lot better housing options than I had just 10 or so years ago.

Totally agree with you about the housing options available to young adults going to the University. I am always asking myself how students can afford these types of apartments. When I was going through college I was broke.


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Totally agree with you about the housing options available to young adults going to the University. I am always asking myself how students can afford these types of apartments. When I was going through college I was broke.


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Anecdotally a lot of people’s parents help pay their rent. That’s definitely an equity issue though, as not all parents can afford to do that

A quick search of rentals in Dinkytown shows the value proposition on the new builds is pretty strong compared to the older options which are also generally in worse locations, light on amenities and in-unit laundry and have worse landlord quality. Important to remember it's not just undergrads at the U, in Fall 2021 the campus was:

28,575 FT undergrads
14,030 FT non-undergrads
9,771 part-time students
15,880 FTEs

The UofM buying the Loring Pasta Bar building.

https://finance-commerce.com/2022/12/u- ... -building/

https://www.bizjournals.com/twincities/ ... -corn.html

The UofM buying the Loring Pasta Bar building.

https://finance-commerce.com/2022/12/u- ... -building/

https://www.bizjournals.com/twincities/ ... -corn.html

If the University owns the building, does that automatically remove it from the tax roles? Or is there a separate process for that?

My (limited) understanding of the tax code is that if a non-profit entity owns land but leases it for profit, they do have to pay taxes on it. The University, however, is not your typical non-profit, and as a quasi-independent government body, I have no idea what would apply to this situation.

Typically, off campus land purchases like this have been done through the University Foundation, which I think is a typical non-profit?

tldr, I really don't know.

Delays opening new construction apartments.

https://www.startribune.com/constructio ... 600294909/