urbanMSP

Wow. Think about paying that kind of money for a site, and then only putting up a 7 story building. Yikes.

They are stuffing an astonishing amount of density into those 7 stories. Two fully enclosed courtyards! Great for packing in units.

Yeah, a seven-story building fully filling a lot can feel much more oppressive than a significantly taller building that blesses some frontage with two- or three-story elements...or a little landscaped area. Residents fighting height without considering density can end up shooting themselves in the foot by hurting rather than helping the feel of a neighborhood at street level. I seem to recall that an early offender in this regard was the GrandMarc Seven Corners, which was originally proposed as a taller building but ended up looming over every street front. It has enclosed courtyards, too.

Good points on density and history of the GrandMarc building - I had no idea it was proposed as taller. Also disappointing to hear.

Enclosed courtyards can be done well. I think they fly in Texas and the South because you have pools open year round and landscaping that generally stays green, for some visual interest, but I'm glad we've mostly steered clear in MSP. You can get away with it for student housing (GrandMarc and The Marshall) but I would think it's exceptionally dark and dull in winter. We would never see an enclosed courtyard for new luxury/market rate in this market.

The 6 stories doesn't bug me - I think 4th St is wide enough to warrant that (maybe some setbacks on 14th and 5th would be nice). But when we lost the tower proposal we went from what was probably a 100-year trophy class asset to just another 5 over 1, which kind of stings.

They’ve restriped the roads surrounding the site to make way for construction, and closed off some street parking as well. The construction for TCF to move into the old Gina and Will space has been under way for a few weeks. Seems like demolition may start fairly soon...

We were supposed to start tomorrow, but it’s been pushed back slightly.

Demolition will start tomorrow morning.

Bye Bye two-story McDonald's

So, what's up with the footprint of this thing? Every building other than the Subway/TCF (former Hollywood Video) has been cleared, but the Subway and TCF are still open? Is this getting done is phases?

Top Ten Liquors will be opening in the big retail space at the corner of 5th and 15th.