Uptown Hotel Discussion

[scottiem]

If it's all the same, then why even mention scaling in the Uptown Small Area Plan? I take is there's a reason why advocates want a gradual progression. Again, I can see why voids in a neighborhood are a problem. I just can't find reasons why this type of scenario is seen as a problem. You know, beyond personal preferences like, "it looks bad," and "it doesn't fit here." Shadowing was mentioned too, but people didn't seem too concerned about Arby's taking the brunt of the shade.

EDIT: I support the building as-is btw. I definitely want the hotel, I think it looks great, and even the scale wasn't initially concerning to me. I just want to be fully informed about the concerns of my neighbors before I dismiss their arguments without good reason.

[Minneboy]

Ha I was just remembering the last time I talked to the people in the house just south of this proposal, over 20 years ago, there were a wide variety of ages of people living here, with an old woman owning it. I think she owned it. I was the one getting the neighbors in the area to sign for that first permit parking restriction for that block. I was able to convince them to sign the petition (96% approval BTW). I had the feeling they would have just as well had me for their dinner as to have signed the petition.

[TroyGBiv]

No ones sunshine will be compromised with this hotel, except for Arby's and Hennepin Lake Liquor's parking lot.. What is the difference of a 5 story and a ten story building. They both will block any city views that mature trees do in the summer time already.

How will I see my Big Beef and Cheddar?

[Wedgeguy]

No ones sunshine will be compromised with this hotel, except for Arby's and Hennepin Lake Liquor's parking lot.. What is the difference of a 5 story and a ten story building. They both will block any city views that mature trees do in the summer time already.

How will I see my Big Beef and Cheddar?

Night time vision goggles!

[Sacrelicio]

I went to the monthly CARAG meeting last night, where there was a 45 min presentation and discussion of the new hotel. Many positives and negatives were brought up, but much of the discussion revolved around scale. The developer seemed to pick certain phrases from the Uptown Small Area Plan which supported the 84' building on the South side of Lake, despite the variances and conditional use permits required per zoning. Various residents mentioned that this building violated the spirit and intention of the Small Area Plan, in that taller buildings should be North of Lake in addition to being positioned closer to the center of block. As is, this 9 story, 84' building is positioned directly adjacent to two-story single family housing. I'm asking: what are the negative impacts of discontinuous scaling like this on neighborhoods? I've always assumed that scaling is necessary to prevent large voids from forming in an area, to which the negatives of livability are fairly apparent to me. I haven't heard much discussion on the negative impacts of, for lack of a better phrase, over-bulking the neighborhood. Thoughts?

What were the positives? I just think it's a weird place for a hotel. Why would anyone need to stay there?

[grant1simons2]

Shopping, lakes, sports (and don't want to be downtown), etc.

There was a whole big discussion about why a hotel would work in Uptown. Go to page 1 to find out more.

[Minneboy]

I went to the monthly CARAG meeting last night, where there was a 45 min presentation and discussion of the new hotel. Many positives and negatives were brought up, but much of the discussion revolved around scale. The developer seemed to pick certain phrases from the Uptown Small Area Plan which supported the 84' building on the South side of Lake, despite the variances and conditional use permits required per zoning. Various residents mentioned that this building violated the spirit and intention of the Small Area Plan, in that taller buildings should be North of Lake in addition to being positioned closer to the center of block. As is, this 9 story, 84' building is positioned directly adjacent to two-story single family housing. I'm asking: what are the negative impacts of discontinuous scaling like this on neighborhoods? I've always assumed that scaling is necessary to prevent large voids from forming in an area, to which the negatives of livability are fairly apparent to me. I haven't heard much discussion on the negative impacts of, for lack of a better phrase, over-bulking the neighborhood. Thoughts?

What were the positives? I just think it's a weird place for a hotel. Why would anyone need to stay there?

Many people live in apartments and even those who live in houses often have roommates. Space for guests, especially multiple guests is limited if even available, so when out of town guests come wouldn't it be nice to stay nearby instead of having to drive all the time.

[Sacrelicio]

I went to the monthly CARAG meeting last night, where there was a 45 min presentation and discussion of the new hotel. Many positives and negatives were brought up, but much of the discussion revolved around scale. The developer seemed to pick certain phrases from the Uptown Small Area Plan which supported the 84' building on the South side of Lake, despite the variances and conditional use permits required per zoning. Various residents mentioned that this building violated the spirit and intention of the Small Area Plan, in that taller buildings should be North of Lake in addition to being positioned closer to the center of block. As is, this 9 story, 84' building is positioned directly adjacent to two-story single family housing. I'm asking: what are the negative impacts of discontinuous scaling like this on neighborhoods? I've always assumed that scaling is necessary to prevent large voids from forming in an area, to which the negatives of livability are fairly apparent to me. I haven't heard much discussion on the negative impacts of, for lack of a better phrase, over-bulking the neighborhood. Thoughts?

What were the positives? I just think it's a weird place for a hotel. Why would anyone need to stay there?

Many people live in apartments and even those who live in houses often have roommates. Space for guests, especially multiple guests is limited if even available, so when out of town guests come wouldn't it be nice to stay nearby instead of having to drive all the time.

Yeah I get that. Small hotel would work. Not against the plan, I think it would be really cool, just didn't see why a company would want to put one there.

[MattW]

Moxy hotels is a perfect fit for this part of the city. What you're getting with them is a simple, trendy hotel, at a modest price point. They will do well with you travelers looking to experience Minneapolis, family and friends of Uptown residents and people my parents age that live in Delano looking to experience city life for a weekend. Additionally, there are a lot of small companies in the uptown area that will use this over hotels downtown.

Basically, it comes to the point that Uptown is the second largest hub in Minneapolis and doesn't have a viable hotel option. It will do well.

[Sacrelicio]

Moxy hotels is a perfect fit for this part of the city. What you're getting with them is a simple, trendy hotel, at a modest price point. They will do well with you travelers looking to experience Minneapolis, family and friends of Uptown residents and people my parents age that live in Delano looking to experience city life for a weekend. Additionally, there are a lot of small companies in the uptown area that will use this over hotels downtown.

Basically, it comes to the point that Uptown is the second largest hub in Minneapolis and doesn't have a viable hotel option. It will do well.

I am sold. Bring it on Moxy!

[Nathan]

I think it will be a great amenity for the uptown restaurants as well. Imagine another 50 to 100 people who are definitely eating out every night to the area.

[MNdible]

Basically, it comes to the point that Uptown is the second largest hub in Minneapolis and doesn't have a viable hotel option. It will do well.

I'd definitely say that the UofM East Bank is the second largest hub in Minneapolis, but yes -- I'm pretty sure that Uptown can support at least one modestly sized hotel.

[MattW]

I think it will be a great amenity for the uptown restaurants as well. Imagine another 50 to 100 people who are definitely eating out every night to the area.

As a limited service hotel, they won't have an in-house restaurant. This is definitely true.

Found this quick write-up for those curious about the brand:

https://blog.shermanstravel.com/2015/5- ... xy-hotels/

Check out those price points!

[RailBaronYarr]

As a limited service hotel, they won't have an in-house restaurant. This is definitely true.

http://www.startribune.com/graves-hospi ... 347175432/

Graves would include a ground-level restaurant that would be open to the public.

That said, 50-100 people won't be eating breakfast, lunch, and dinner here every day of their stay. It will still be a win for local bars/restaurants.

[MattW]

As a limited service hotel, they won't have an in-house restaurant. This is definitely true.

http://www.startribune.com/graves-hospi ... 347175432/

Graves would include a ground-level restaurant that would be open to the public.

That said, 50-100 people won't be eating breakfast, lunch, and dinner here every day of their stay. It will still be a win for local bars/restaurants.

Ah! you got me!

It must be a Graves addition, because restaurants are not standard for that brand.

[Archiapolis]

This looks like a really nice project. I hope this gets built as shown.

[PhilmerPhil]

From Lisa Bender's FB:

Hotel Update, for Ward 10 folks and CARAG in particular --
I have heard a lot of concern about the height and size of the proposed hotel at Lake and Emerson and not too much support. I've asked the project team to go to another CARAG meeting which will be Tuesday, December 8 at 7pm at Bryant Square Park
I hope folks can come, especially if you want to see a hotel in Uptown, to provide feedback. I'm still hopeful we can get to a design that will be a good addition to the neighborhood and that a lot of people will support but I think the project needs more design work.
If you can't come to the meeting and have feedback, give me a call or email.

So I hope to see lots of you there tonight!

[twincitizen]

There has been some consternation over the height on CARAG's Facebook page. People are wrapped around the 9 stories thing, and most are probably not aware that the proposal would actually be the same height or shorter than several nearby buildings.
I jotted down some building heights in the area. Fill in the blanks if you can.

Proposed hotel: 84'
Cheapo site proposal: 89'
Walkway: 82.5'
Buzza's tower: ???
MoZaic: ???

I don't love this proposal TBH, but I will go to the meeting in cautious support, and try to balance misinformation/hysteria with facts and reasoning.

I'm going to make a radical statement that a single-family home just 90 feet from Lake Street is more out of scale than this hotel proposal would be, regardless of how long ago it was built.

[Silophant]

Emporis lists Buzza as 100' and MoZaic as 124'.

Of course, I'm sure the argument will be that all those are north of Lake, and thus basically downtown, and this is south of Lake, and thus basically farmland, so none of that matters.

[RailBaronYarr]

Well as everyone knows I'm in the pocket of Big Developer so of course I support it. Truthfully, hotels pull less at my heartstrings than actual housing for renters or Real Humans, but I generally support massing regardless (the way I support the ghastly teardown McMansions because someone could just as easily be building a 4-plex with the same size).

I'll be there tonight. This thing fronts Lake pretty darn well, adds another restaurant and tons of people who will be walking, biking, or even catching a bus around Uptown (but likely not driving given the valet nature of parking). It casts no shadows on residents to the south, and has a fairly generous buffer at ground level between the lot line and the building. I'd guess that mitigating the height along Lake will result in that space being a 3-4 story section, so I'm not really sure what's worse.