Rochester

[matthew5080]

A developer for a 3 story apartment project is seeking approval of local residents and the city council. The project would be located at 3rd Street Southwest and 17th Avenue... not too far from Mayo Clinic - Saint Mary's Hospital

The building, currently, would feature 29 units, with 11 one bedroom units and 18 two bedroom options. Parking will include underground spaces, eight additional surface parking spaces.

The building exterior is gray fiber cement paneling, accented with blue fiber cement paneling and wood composite paneling set around the recessed balconies. The design is contemporary, Goodenberg said, with clean, geometric lines, muted colors and "splashes" of architectural and material features

Many local residents aren't fond of the building materials being used, often comparing it to Soviet style housing blocks. However, the developer has "total confidence" that it'll look great.


http://www.postbulletin.com/news/local/ ... 8acf6.html

[acs]

I hate to say it but the nimbys may have a point on this one.

[Tiller]

In Soviet Russia, concrete develops you!

[steve0257]

The building exterior is gray fiber cement paneling, accented with blue fiber cement paneling and wood composite paneling set around the recessed balconies. The design is contemporary, Goodenberg said, with clean, geometric lines, muted colors and "splashes" of architectural and material features

Many local residents aren't fond of the building materials being used, often comparing it to Soviet style housing blocks. However, the developer has "total confidence" that it'll look great.


http://www.postbulletin.com/news/local/ ... 8acf6.html

I attended a neighborhood meeting for that proposal, and don't recall anyone complaining about the exterior at that time. The main concerns at the meeting were storm water,retention and parking. The east end of the site, actually in the right of way, is a swale that gathers a lot of storm runoff and some people were concerned about how that would be handled. He seems to be proposing more parking than I remember seeing in the original proposal.

[matthew5080]

The Post Bulletin reports that the JA Wedum Foundation donated $2 million dollars to the city of Rochester to help speed up the development of Cascade Park. This particular foundation, according to the PB, owns Shorewood Senior Campus, which lies just off of Cascade park.

The vision for the space will include paved walking trails, a swimming beach and pool house, a visitor center, an ampitheater/band shell, paved parking spaces, and an area for food vendors. . . All of this will be accessible from Shorewood Senior Campus via a walking bridge near the North patio at the East end of the building. We think this will be an incredible enhancement to our community and it will be a great compliment to our recently completed health club, The Club at Shorewood

As someone who's spent a great deal of time in the Cascade Park area, as it's near the neighborhood my family lived in during our time in Rochester, I can say that it'll be nice to see the Cascade Park concept finished. I remember seeing their original plans of a chain of man-made lakes and trails, some of which have been done. The walking/biking trails go through several housing developments, are near larger neighborhoods and connect to other trails leading off to downtown and Saint Mary's, so they're utilized pretty heavily... from what I can remember. It's a rather pretty area too.

http://www.postbulletin.com/news/local/ ... 6758c.html

[matthew5080]

Another apartment project has started in Rochester. Dubbed luxury apartments, The Commons on Mayowood will be 5 floors tall and feature 159 apartments, penthouses, and shuttles for Mayo Clinic employees. The plans call for 71 parking stalls in its current phase but 61 when all is said and done. The plans also list a pool and several rain gardens in the area. The building is listed to be built on "lot 3" and the other two lots will remain vegetation until construction is over, but are slated to be retail. I also found out that they're emphasizing the proximity to the Zumbro River and want to create a "Riverfront Commons Special District"

This Special District is established to foster the development of a comprehensively-planned, pedestrian-oriented neighborhood. This is accomplished by promoting a mix of land uses, higher density housing and by requiring skillful architectural and landscape design in creating buildings and open spaces. The site's location, adjacent to the Zumbro River and major streets, makes this an ideal place to create a neighborhood that avoids the negative impacts of suburban sprawl with an efficient, mixed-use land plan.

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

[bubzki2]

I'm always surprised how little attention to the river most of the housing on or near the river seems to pay it. Nice to see.

[matthew5080]

Well it's not the Mississippi by any means, but the Zumbro is really neglected by the city. There's potential there!


Also, I found a rather interesting article released by MPR in 2013 that has some maps detailing the annexation's the city of Rochester has done and their future plans. Keep in mind that the city currently sits at 54.58 square miles with a population density of 1,955 people per square mile...

http://www.mprnews.org/story/2013/03/21 ... nsion-maps

[mattaudio]

I have property value per acre maps for Rochester that basically show which areas of Rochester need to be *divested* to other authorities in order for Rochester to have a shot at long-term financial solvency. If it annexes more, it will accelerate the pace by which it is growing its way into financial ruin.

[bubzki2]

Yeah, now they're talking about not just one but two additional fire stations. Pretty good indicator that the sprawl has spiraled out of control.

[matthew5080]

Yeah, now they're talking about not just one but two additional fire stations. Pretty good indicator that the sprawl has spiraled out of control.

Speaking of fire stations, have they said what will happen with the old one by Silver Lake? I know there were talks of a community center or museum. Personally it would be great to see the two combined.

[go4guy]

Is there anything to back up the notion that the continued growth will cause the city financial ruin? Been living here almost a year now, and haven't heard a thing about that in the news. City seems to be pretty healthy.

[Anondson]

It's basically Strongtown-ism. The idea that the lifecycle of infrastructure supporting a neighborhood (streets, sanitary sewer, storm sewers, water, etc.) should be covered by the taxes generated by the neighborhood itself. This is possible with neighborhoods with home on huge lots. Growth isn't necessary wealth when a neighborhood can't afford its infrastructure replacement (see Mankato) or even installation (see Lake Elmo).

[matthew5080]

On a random note, I noticed that the Broadway at Center tower has been renamed as "The Legacy" on Emporis.

[mattaudio]

Go4guy you can talk to CM Wojcik for some other numbers too. Ask him about the 55th St NW river bridge, for example.

[matthew5080]

IBM is consolidating its space and selling the excess. They'll be locating to 8 buildings on the east side of the complex by 2017

In February 1956, IBM president Thomas J. Watson, Jr., announced plans to establish new manufacturing, engineering and educational facilities on the 397-acre site in Rochester, according to IBM's website. It opened in 1956 with 174 employees. . . . The site eventually grew to more than 8,000 employees, and to occupy 3.5 million square feet of owned and leased space.
Since then, the number of employees has dropped, with layoffs and attrition. IBM reported to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration that an average of 2,677 employees worked on the Rochester campus in 2014. That number does not include contract workers or consultants. That was down from 3,189 in 2013 and 3,224 in 2012.

http://www.postbulletin.com/news/local/ ... 71aaa.html

[gcm]

IBM is consolidating its space and selling the excess. They'll be locating to 8 buildings on the east side of the complex by 2017

Mayo should buy some of those building and consolidate their various operations that are spread out along Superior Drive. With all the parking available at the IBM site, they could also alleviate the parking needs downtown by running frequent shuttles.

[matthew5080]

From what I've heard they already have contracted with IBM to use their parking lots as park and rides. I wouldn't be surprised if Mayo and/or Charter buys up some of the space in those buildings.

[bubzki2]

I wouldn't be surprised if much or all of that warehouse space were demolished. I think it's unlikely IBM wants to have another landowner connected via their hallway network. I foresee demolishing all but that 8, and new housing or office on the west side of the parcel. Frankly this campus has been a ghost town for years now, and this probably was the right move, IMO.

[mulad]

They do have Hitachi Global Storage Technologies (HGST) on campus today, but that might be considered a special case since Hitachi bought IBM's hard disk business back in 2002.

I wouldn't really jump at the chance to move into that complex, though. You're stuck on campus for the day unless you want to drive somewhere. Mayo seems more destined to focus efforts in and near downtown, especially with the DMC districts all being in that general area.