urbanMSP

Per this article from the Buisiness Journal:

http://www.bizjournals.com/twincities/n ... hotel.html


It sounds like United Properties will purchase the hotel (a first for their portfolio of investments) and hold it as a potential redevelopment opportunity for the future. How far into the future is unknown, since according to the article the hotel's current operations are profitable and there is no pressure to redevelop the site. However, given the site's proximity to the Central Corridor and the TCF stadium for the Gophers, one would have to think that this site could (should?) potentially be redeveloped into a MAJOR mixed-use TOD project, including a hotel and probably apartments as well.

This will be interesting to follow...

I hope they provide new space for the Tea House when they redevelop. Though its quality has declined a bit since it opened, Tea House is still the best Chinese food within walking distance of campus.

I hope they provide new space for the Tea House when they redevelop. Though its quality has declined a bit since it opened, Tea House is still the best Chinese food within walking distance of campus.

The Tea House is redeveloping? That's a bit surprising as their business seems to be going downhill. Their quality has definitely declined.

The Days Inn is a dump so I'm happy United Properties is willing to upgrade it.

This is one of the most important areas to redevelop around the CCLRT in my opinion. Good news, although it sounds like we shouldn't expect anything for years.

I hope they provide new space for the Tea House when they redevelop. Though its quality has declined a bit since it opened, Tea House is still the best Chinese food within walking distance of campus.

The Tea House is redeveloping? That's a bit surprising as their business seems to be going downhill. Their quality has definitely declined.

The Days Inn is a dump so I'm happy United Properties is willing to upgrade it.

I meant that any redevelopment of the Days Inn site would surely include the Tea House building.

Nothing new here, but the NAIOP University Challenge has this site as its competition. Teams from various Universities around the region (U of MN, Madison, SCSU, etc) pitch a development proposal, with a complete pro forma and financial plan, along with a mock design.

I am on the U of MN team this year and have a pretty cool project proposed, which will be revealed at the competition (and I will post what we and other teams had afterwards on here).

http://www.naiopmn.org/NAIOP/Events/Uni ... _2014.aspx

That is exciting! I look forward to seeing what you all come up with. I see that space out office window and often walk by it and fantasize about it being redeveloped.

Nothing new here, but the NAIOP University Challenge has this site as its competition. Teams from various Universities around the region (U of MN, Madison, SCSU, etc) pitch a development proposal, with a complete pro forma and financial plan, along with a mock design.

I am on the U of MN team this year and have a pretty cool project proposed, which will be revealed at the competition (and I will post what we and other teams had afterwards on here).

http://www.naiopmn.org/NAIOP/Events/Uni ... _2014.aspx

Will you be able to keep us periodically appraised about the project, both your proposal and the other proposals (if that information is privy to you)? Even if it's just general scope stuff like the range in the # of units, SF, primary uses, etc. that would be really great! If not, no worries, but would still love to hear updates on this school project (I'm so envious that you guys get to do this as part of your class-work!).

Related to this site: I walked from near the KSTP tower to the U of M last week along 4th St. It's very industrial, lacking sidewalks for much of that stretch, but I think that the western section of 4th (from TCF Stadium to Prospect Park Station) has a lot of potential. It's bookended by LRT stops, and already has some development going on, but it could be quite a good little neighborhood if done properly.

The Days Inn property could be a great entry point for this. Its proximity to the stadium also makes it very attractive for sports-related development (restaurants, bars, etc.). It looks like a lot of this has made its way into the Small Area Plan, so I'm excited!

Nothing new here, but the NAIOP University Challenge has this site as its competition. Teams from various Universities around the region (U of MN, Madison, SCSU, etc) pitch a development proposal, with a complete pro forma and financial plan, along with a mock design.

I am on the U of MN team this year and have a pretty cool project proposed, which will be revealed at the competition (and I will post what we and other teams had afterwards on here).

http://www.naiopmn.org/NAIOP/Events/Uni ... _2014.aspx

Will you be able to keep us periodically appraised about the project, both your proposal and the other proposals (if that information is privy to you)? Even if it's just general scope stuff like the range in the # of units, SF, primary uses, etc. that would be really great! If not, no worries, but would still love to hear updates on this school project (I'm so envious that you guys get to do this as part of your class-work!).

This should help.

http://naioppulse.org/2014/04/18/event- ... challenge/

Let the complaints begin about parking near a light rail station.

It is pretty amazing that it sounds like their sole criteria for deciding between them was parking.

I'm not sure I can say anything about that link that would get through a profanity filter.

I'm traveling around Europe this summer and haven't checked this site in a month (crazy, I know), and wasn't planning on typing anything... but, I felt very compelled to mention this subject since I was involved.

First off, there were 6 total teams, 3 of which were chosen for the final presentation, including the U of MN team. That NAIOP pulse blog pretty much tells the story of the projects - Minnesota had a large scale, very urban mixed-use project with a design reflecting TCF Bank Stadium, Madison had a cool phased project with similar components, and Marquette had a hotel and... yeah, a huge automated parking ramp.

Here were some of others thoughts as well as my own:

- This competition was advertising to a group of developers, not neighborhood groups, city council, or LEED. It was almost purely money-driven, and although iffy sounding, thats what almost all developments are based on anyways. Building design, use, and sustainable components were not really judged unless they affected the bottom $$$ line.

- Marquette's project, although cool and unique in its own right, would be a terrible - and I mean TERRIBLE - use for this parcel, and almost every urbanist on this thread would agree. If Zigi ended up building in Arden Hills, their project would pair nicely. The U of MN area is not Arden Hills.

- I was extremely proud of the U of MN team for making it to the top 3. Out of the 6 teams, we were the only school without a formal Real Estate program, and work very hard to appease people concerned with the financial development aspect of it all, as well as including progressive elements into our project (as stated in our project description on the NAIOP pulse site). We got many compliments on our design and overall use saying it was the best thought out, which was a nice consolation. We used many resources, alums in the development world, and others as references.

- We included almost 400 parking stalls in our project. For an area with as many transit connections as it has, that is plenty in my mind, and our number hits all Minneapolis minimums. Not to slander any of the judges on this, but I was pretty pissed about their parking expectation, and so were others (Madison people included). Putting a shit ton of parking on this site would extremely hinder this very promising site.

- Let me reaffirm: This project was based on profits and was more of an excercise. Its not an illustration of what will actually be built there. In fact, I talked to the CEO of United Properties after the event (who wasn't a judge, btw) and he said that our project was the closest thing that they would actually want to build, which was extremely exciting to hear. (If I remember correctly, he also agreed that more parking here would be a terrible idea, which was even nicer to hear.) However, don't look for any proposals on this site until all the stuff around Target Field is done (probably 2018ish).



tl;dr --- Good competition, proud of the Minnesota team, ridiculous expectation on parking, new proposal issued in a few years down the road.

I'm very envious that you were even allowed/able to work on this project! Hell, I'd do it for free (I'm not a student)!!

I agree that the judges had the wrong aspects in mind when they made their final judgements. I couldn't believe how many times they mentioned parking when it seems like that would not be the primary aspect of the development. I realize profits are important but a lot of assumptions have to come true for those profits to materialize. For instance, a group may propose 100% office and a giant ramp that gets filled in, but if occupancy is only 70% nd everybody commutes via train or bus, then the actual profits would be very different from a model that may project 95% occupancy and lots of single-occupant vehicle drivers.

Good job nonetheless! How does the developer take what you guys put together and work with it? Do they have to use your ideas, or is there flexibility, or do they have free reign and the competition has no impact whatsoever on the actual project?

I'm traveling around Europe this summer and haven't checked this site in a month (crazy, I know), and wasn't planning on typing anything... but, I felt very compelled to mention this subject since I was involved.

First off, there were 6 total teams, 3 of which were chosen for the final presentation, including the U of MN team. That NAIOP pulse blog pretty much tells the story of the projects - Minnesota had a large scale, very urban mixed-use project with a design reflecting TCF Bank Stadium, Madison had a cool phased project with similar components, and Marquette had a hotel and... yeah, a huge automated parking ramp.

Here were some of others thoughts as well as my own:

- This competition was advertising to a group of developers, not neighborhood groups, city council, or LEED. It was almost purely money-driven, and although iffy sounding, thats what almost all developments are based on anyways. Building design, use, and sustainable components were not really judged unless they affected the bottom $$$ line.

- Marquette's project, although cool and unique in its own right, would be a terrible - and I mean TERRIBLE - use for this parcel, and almost every urbanist on this thread would agree. If Zigi ended up building in Arden Hills, their project would pair nicely. The U of MN area is not Arden Hills.

- I was extremely proud of the U of MN team for making it to the top 3. Out of the 6 teams, we were the only school without a formal Real Estate program, and work very hard to appease people concerned with the financial development aspect of it all, as well as including progressive elements into our project (as stated in our project description on the NAIOP pulse site). We got many compliments on our design and overall use saying it was the best thought out, which was a nice consolation. We used many resources, alums in the development world, and others as references.

- We included almost 400 parking stalls in our project. For an area with as many transit connections as it has, that is plenty in my mind, and our number hits all Minneapolis minimums. Not to slander any of the judges on this, but I was pretty pissed about their parking expectation, and so were others (Madison people included). Putting a shit ton of parking on this site would extremely hinder this very promising site.

- Let me reaffirm: This project was based on profits and was more of an excercise. Its not an illustration of what will actually be built there. In fact, I talked to the CEO of United Properties after the event (who wasn't a judge, btw) and he said that our project was the closest thing that they would actually want to build, which was extremely exciting to hear. (If I remember correctly, he also agreed that more parking here would be a terrible idea, which was even nicer to hear.) However, don't look for any proposals on this site until all the stuff around Target Field is done (probably 2018ish).



tl;dr --- Good competition, proud of the Minnesota team, ridiculous expectation on parking, new proposal issued in a few years down the road.

Well done. Cheers for your participation and recap.

I noticed they've started painting the outside of the Days Inn over the last few days. Now the west end has a big M logo in yellow, with a yellow line around the building about 3/4 of the way up. Anyone have any idea what's going on there or what it'll look like?

I snapped this picture week or two ago, of the new paint job:

Good to know the University of Michigan will always have a place to stay near TCF Bank Stadium.

Dude, know your Block M's.