Richfield - 66th Street - General Topics

[Qhaberl]

I did not know that the entire area was owned by one individual / group. I live near the hub apartments, so I shop at the Rainbow almost every other day. I love having rainbow there. It makes getting groceries very convenient for someone who is unable to drive. Each time I crossed 65th and walk through the endless parking lot, I die a little inside. Obviously there's no chance of this happening, but it would be great if a Master developer could turn the entire area into a new urbanist community. The area already has access to a wide array of transportation options, I think redevelopment could work, if there was a good mix of uses.

[sdho]

Obviously there's no chance of this happening, but it would be great if a Master developer could turn the entire area into a new urbanist community.

I wouldn't say there's *no* chance of it happening. But it would take a community vision and, as twincitizen notes, financial backing to make it happen. Given the Hub's central placement on the lot, a start might be incremental things on the perimeter. I'm surprised Walgreens hasn't tried anything else since their plans for the Holy Angels lawn were shot down.

[Qhaberl]

I wonder how feasible it would be to build a small speculative office development near the north west corner of Nicolet and 66th. Obviously nothing large, small would be just fine. The only condition I would place on the office development, is that it must have very little setback from the sidewalk.

On another note, they really need to improve the lighting along the west side of Nicolet Avenue. The current lighting schematic does not foster a healthy public relm.

[twincitizen]

For Phase 1, I would leave Rainbow/Flex Academy (former Bally's) alone, and focus on redeveloping the actual Hub mall (and the Burger King/GNC outbuilding). I wish an incremental approach were possible, like tearing down the east "wing" towards Nicollet and starting with a mixed use building at the corner, with Walgreens as an anchor tenant. Unfortunately, I've heard that Marshalls has some covenants in their lease preventing any visual obstructions from 66th St, from the corner, etc. Marshalls is THE anchor tenant of The Hub. They're a big player that would probably have to be involved in any redevelopment. Walgreens is an anchor too, but I'd guess that Walgreens will throw their bajillions of dollars at a nearby standalone site (with drive-thru, etc.) several years before The Hub finally redevelops. Right now I'm pretty worried Walgreens is going to pick up the Old Country Buffet / Best Buy Mobile building. No actual rumors or anything, it just seems like such an obvious move if you're Walgreens.

Step 1 though, is that someone has to purchase The Hub from Brixmor. Brixmor owns properties like The Hub (and SunRay) all over the country. It's what they do. Redevelopment isn't their thing. I think it begins with a city-led planning effort and community vision for increased density, walkability, etc., followed by rezoning the property. Hopefully this planning effort gets the attention of a developer(s) and a big local player steps up and purchases the property from Brixmor, with an eye toward future redevelopment.

[sdho]

I wonder how feasible it would be to build a small speculative office development near the north west corner of Nicolet and 66th. Obviously nothing large, small would be just fine. The only condition I would place on the office development, is that it must have very little setback from the sidewalk.

On another note, they really need to improve the lighting along the west side of Nicolet Avenue. The current lighting schematic does not foster a healthy public relm.

There seems to be relatively little interest in building new office space in Richfield, except along the 494 strip. There is some old, cheap office space scattered throughout the community that's good for accountants, attorneys, etc, but the larger-scale, newer, and nicer stuff seems mostly limited to the strip. There are a couple of offices in City Bella, but they seem to be the exception.

What area have you noticed the lack of lighting? I've noticed a gap just south of 67th where the tall shoebox lights end and the metal cobraheads begin, but I had the impression right around 66th was pretty good, with those shoebox fixtures on both sides and lots of ambient parking lot light.

When Nicollet Ave is reconstructed (hopefully in 2019), it will probably have the shepherd's hook lights like many other new streets have gotten. 66th will definitely have those fixtures, including the Nicollet roundabout.

[Mdcastle]

How busy is the Hub? Is it like Southtown where it's almost fully leased and jam-packed with shoppers, so the owner isn't receptive to spending a lot of money changing what's working out pretty well for him or her just because some people don't like it?

[Wedgeguy]

Opposite of Southtown. There are a few sections that have business. The rest of the land/building is a waste of potential money. One would think that an owner would want to maximize their potential profits. Find uses for land that does not make them any money, but are taxed on anyways.

[Qhaberl]

It would be so great to redevelop this. Just out of curiosity, Has anyone on this website made any fictional maps of what The area could look like? If done correctly, you could probably fit a ton of housing, retail, office, and potentially even an elementary school, if the population density were high enough. I know I'm just dreaming, but it's still fun to think about.

[Qhaberl]

Opposite of Southtown.

I have not had the opportunity to visit the South Town area. I would be very interested in comparing and contrasting me the amount of empty parking spaces, to the amount of empty parking spaces left at the hub, during different times of the day.

[sdho]

How busy is the Hub? Is it like Southtown where it's almost fully leased and jam-packed with shoppers, so the owner isn't receptive to spending a lot of money changing what's working out pretty well for him or her just because some people don't like it?

The spaces are mostly filled. Hallmark is closing right now, but AFAIK that's the only vacancy. The Bally Fitness site was a gap for a while, but has been fully leased and renovated for Flex Academy.

So I think the site is working pretty well for the owner now, which is a disincentive to redevelop. On the other hand, as Wedgeguy notes, the land is completely underutilized. The parking lot in the back is almost universally empty, and the front parking lot is mostly empty. As I think is well known, the parking lot is notoriously confusing, with narrow driving aisles at 45° angles to the streets.

It would be so great to redevelop this. Just out of curiosity, Has anyone on this website made any fictional maps of what The area could look like?

Not that I've seen -- but you should do it! Share some ideas.

[HiawathaGuy]

I believe the Blockbuster location is still vacant, and has been for years (aside from being a Halloween store in fall from time to time).

[twincitizen]

Hub tenant map/directory on page 2: http://properties.brixmor.com/property/ ... 456778522/

Soon to depart or recently departed are Hallmark and HCMC Clinic.

If Walgreen's decamped for another site and Rainbow (the women's clothing store) were relocated over west of Michaels, that whole east wing would be looking pretty ripe for redevelopment. The following small retailers would be all that remains east of Marshall's: T-Mobile, Lil Caesars, City Looks, City Nails, Hub Jewelers, and China Garden. All are either forgettable or easily relocated/replaced.

Demolish everything east of Marshalls and introduce a new north-south street through the site. Though it wouldn't align perfectly with the grid, it would be largely irrelevant here. The wider than usual block between New Street and Nicollet would be big enough to allow a major redevelopment, including a parking deck in the center, generous building setback from Nicollet to allow for an on-street parking bay, boulevard space, transit plaza, etc.

That scenario would work as either the endgame or as phase 1 in a total redevelopment (i.e. Marshalls and Michaels could move into the new building, while staying in their current spaces during construction)

I don't know how/if they use this space, but if you could knock down this addition off the back of Marshalls, you could (re)straighten and reconnect 65th Street today, killing off all of that useless parking on the north side of The Hub. Bremer Bank would lose a little row of parking, but that could be accommodated with a rebuilt 65th Street with parallel parking. The existing sidewalk on the north side of Bremer is damn near perfectly aligned right where it should be on a restored 65th Street.

P.S. You can take a Google Streetview "drive" around the back of The Hub (and up and down just about every parking aisle for some reason)

[mattaudio]

This is Richfield's opportunity to become relevant.

[sdho]

Two notes on twincitizen's cool list of suggestions:

1. Parking bays on Nicollet near the hub could be very tricky because of the need for a bus pullout, which occupies at least 1/4 of the block face. This is a time point for metro transit, and the bus bay needs to be on the near side of the intersection, because the 18C turns around here. (Although if we ever get aBRT, all lines would go to American Blvd and this might not be needed.)

2. On-street parking will likely be coming to Nicollet even without improvement, since the existing street is already wide enough for thru lane + bike + parking. I think the main reason it hasn't happened yet is the need for queuing space for the signal, which will be gone in a few years.

[sdho]

Article on last week's Planning Commission meeting which recommended approval of the Village Shores/Market Plaza changes.

Community comments noted, both for and against:
http://current.mnsun.com/2016/03/03/ric ... -a-clinic/

The HCMC clinic currently in the HUB will double its size to 16,000 square feet if the city council ultimately approves the plans. Richfield resident Jerri Haaven deplored the concept of adding a medical clinic to Market Plaza, envisioning more exciting alternatives.

“Where are the families and millennials supposed to go for entertainment in the city of Richfield?” she asked. “Richfield has a wonderful opportunity to use that existing site and make it available and exciting and enticing for families to come and stay and want to live in Richfield. We don’t need another medical community.”

But others acknowledge the symbiotic nature of the arrangement.

[twincitizen]

In terms of staging of the 3+ year 66th St reconstruction project, here's something I heard recently:

2017: east segment (1st Ave to 17th Ave) and west segment (Humboldt?? to Xerxes)
2018: central segment (Humboldt to 1st Ave, including the roundabouts at Lyndale and at Nicollet)
2019: complete landscaping, finishing touches, etc.

*No promises on the accuracy of this.

This should theoretically allow for coordinated construction of the 66th St Orange Line stops around the same time as the roadway work in that area.

[mattaudio]

It's really a shame they aren't building a dumbbell roundabout for the 35W interchange.

[sdho]

That makes sense. The earlier thing I heard from Hennepin County staff was that it was likely to be an east-west split -- east first. But, that was before the west-side stuff got nailed down. (At the time, the 18 homes and the west-of-Xerxes section were very much up in the air.)

The approach of doing the "simpler" segments first, the east and west, make sense. Although I hate to have wait two whole years to start seeing the roundabouts!

[twincitizen]

It's really a shame they aren't building a dumbbell roundabout for the 35W interchange.

I'm a little bummed about this too...not so much because it would've been the "right" solution here (I think the chosen stoplight option is fine), but because MNDOT/Hennepin would have tried something new and proven that it could be used in the future at 35W & 36th Street (yes, 36th, not 38th)

[twincitizen]

Calling all developers! Here's a decent site that is already zoned for dense, mixed-use office/retail/residential development.
http://www.loopnet.com/Listing/19829549 ... apolis-MN/

Seriously though...do you know any developers? The price could probably go a lot lower too. They are looking to sell.

In a perfect world, the site to the south (6525 Penn) would be developed simultaneously (due to equally hideous current use, elevation & access challenges, etc.), but AFAIK is not on the market.

I know it's not the most desirable location ever, but hard to find lower acquisition costs for a site this size on a commercial corridor, proximate to SW Mpls, Southdale, etc. Is it really that unfeasible that market-rate apartments could work here? Or are developers just completely bypassing this area?

Thoughts?