urbanMSP

Me likey

I just realized that the parking fronting Hennepin ( and most of it fronting 4th) is wrapped in apartments. This building is wonderful. Build it now.

I just realized that the parking fronting Hennepin ( and most of it fronting 4th) is wrapped in apartments. This building is wonderful. Build it now.

Agreed, this is really gorgeous. Very much like a lot of new buildings in Seattle.

For a tall building, it's proportions seems surprisingly squat.

Squat and peculiar. Thumbs down.

It has the recipe of a great building... but for some reason it's not there. It's really obtrusive and note so in the tower portion which is crazy because usually in complaining about the lower portions of large projects. This is amazing at street level and at covering parking and then they just petered out and it's a big rectangle.

Mortenson Residential Development: Looking good compared to Opus since 2013.

I'd propose an extra 10' setback on the North elevation of the tower and move the 6' setback to 10' on the South elevation as well to make it appear slimmer when you're heading down Hennepin.

The biggest problem is the squat, boxy proportions of the tower which are very similar to Nic on Fifth. In other words: it needs to be narrower and taller. The base looks very good.

Gotta say, the rendering on page 21 is pushing the limits of "artistic license" a bit with the glassy reflective streets.

I like it. I'd love to see one rendering of all the towers proposed in NE. Anyone have that modeled?

Props to the street level and podium design! The tower...well the design, like others have said, has huge potential, but isn't there yet. Sure narrower and taller would help, but I really think there's too many big horizontal elements. The large box cutouts and the top hat it's wearing. It's like wearing a horizontal stripe shirt when you're already short in stature.

I like it. I'd love to see one rendering of all the towers proposed in NE. Anyone have that modeled?

My model for the alatus tower, along with not being colored and detailed, is 5 floors and around 50' too tall. My model for 333 Hennepin is not yet detailed. I haven't yet created a model for the superior plating site. This is the best I can do right now...

Thanks. I appreciate it. I would love to see NE thrive and have all of these and the streetcar happen in the next 5 years.

Initial impression: that building has three shiny Band-Aids.

I like it. It breaks the mold a little bit by not using the 'eyebrow' design popular for many of the new structures going up and introduces unused design elements, like the glassy rectangular breakouts in the tower. Not only do they breakup the offset-checkerboard patterning of the windows, but adds good visual interest. The street level is great, especially with apartments blocking the view of the garage.

Not sure I'm perceiving the squat nature of the tower negatively though. I guess you could introduce vertical elements into the cladding, but many towers in Minneapolis already have that. The proportions feel visually similar to the US Bank Tower, and even IDS looks squat from certain angles, like Lake Calhoun.

I am kind of surprised by all the praise...or maybe not, as it is "tall"...but I think it is a bit boxy and unattractive! 4Marq is turning out nice though, so maybe this would too.

Design peculiarities aside...
I really like the site lay out with the new bank, it's pretty urban for what it is.
I really like that it has a lot of 2 bedroom, and almost 20 3 bedroom units, mixed with studios.
the parking podium also isn't nearly as large as I supposed.

*also the other perspectives of the building make it look a lot nicer. The street level is amazing.

If a slightly boxy and unattractive (which I think it actually looks pretty interesting) design is what it takes to get a tower+base without exposed podium parking, apartments screening structured parking for 2-3 stories, and only one curb cut along the streets, all on barely over 1/4 of a square NE block, then I'll take it!

If anything, my only complaint is that US Bank will build a new structure on the remaining surface parking along 1st/4th. Given the parking spaces dedicated to them in the new development, I'd hope the city can push for a more urban-friendly design than the rough sketch shown on pg 8 (pdf pg 10). I know the bank will still cling to wanting a drive-thru, but that can be accommodated while having good frontage and hopefully another story or two above.

EDIT: ha, Nathan and I disagree on the new bank design

I like it. I'll probably live there if I'm still in town when (if?) it's completed.