4Marq - 400 Marquette Ave (313' - 30 Stories)

[MS3]

I like Johns idea of crowning the white shell up for a top. It would class it up some plus add height. They could light up the whole shell at night. I swear some of you are architects in disguise.

[St. Apolis]

From the most recent Committee of the Whole:
http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/www/gro ... 106952.pdf

[Minneboy]

Looks like plenty of precast concrete Avian. After viewing the plans I like the building even less. The outside anyway.

[mullen]

well at least it's not brown like city center. not a big fan of pre-cast concrete either.

thanks for posting that link. a lot more details there to peruse.

[spearson]

It kind of reminds me of the current 510 Marquette, not sure I like it anymore.

[PhilmerPhil]

Nick, is this the same rendering that was shown at the DMNA meeting?

[nasa35]

Looks like plenty of precast concrete Avian. After viewing the plans I like the building even less. The outside anyway.

That's the guts. Glass and aluminum and other accents on the outside. It will be lovely IMO.

[mnmike]

Okay, so it looks like 302 feet to the roof, 313 to the top of mechanical....which is about what I thought taking into consideration the extra parking levels as compared to the nic. I like it better than I did initially after seeing all the plans.

[bapster2006]

I agree with nasa and Mike. I didn't care for the preliminary image, but after studying the presentation deck, I like it more. I actually wish more buildings downtown would use metal. It should be an interesting look from the sidewalk.

[mattaudio]

About the same size parcel as the surface lot at the corner of 4th and Hennepin... maybe we could get a res tower there in a few years.

Anyways, I'm really liking this design. Not sure about the screen on the parking podium, but we'll see. Finally, it seems like there will be alleys on both inside faces of this project (between Nic on 5th and the new Xcel office). If they are really planning to keep alleys despite this block being completely redeveloped over the course of a few years, why can't the resident parking access be moved to the alley instead of keeping another curb cut on 4th?

Good to see leasable space on the corner and down the 4th St face. Maybe Xcel could echo this and put some space on the corner of 4th and Nicollet. Also, hopefully a developer can take a chance and subdivide their commercial frontage. In a way, it's a hassle to lease to 3-5 small tenants instead one large tenant, but it would also mitigate vacancy risk. And it would be great to have more storefronts per block.

[Minneboy]

Looks like plenty of precast concrete Avian. After viewing the plans I like the building even less. The outside anyway.

That's the guts. Glass and aluminum and other accents on the outside. It will be lovely IMO.

Nasa if you look on page 10 of the PDF you'll see that much in fact other than glass most of the outside is precast concrete. Maybe if you enlarge the picture you'll see that.

[nasa35]

Looks like plenty of precast concrete Avian. After viewing the plans I like the building even less. The outside anyway.

That's the guts. Glass and aluminum and other accents on the outside. It will be lovely IMO.

Nasa if you look on page 10 of the PDF you'll see that much in fact other than glass most of the outside is precast concrete. Maybe if you enlarge the picture you'll see that.

Yes, i agree, but they're also using some exotic metals, a copper and a stainless. Then the glass. This is what I describe as true infill. It's about time. The 5 storey BLAH's I am completely sick of. It's weird; those are always defended and this one is getting some deep scrutiny.

[RailBaronYarr]

Yes, i agree, but they're also using some exotic metals, a copper and a stainless. Then the glass. This is what I describe as true infill. It's about time. The 5 storey BLAH's I am completely sick of. It's weird; those are always defended and this one is getting some deep scrutiny.

Yes, but the majority of what you see - the outermost material that frames the glass - is precast concrete. I'm not sure how this will actually look with the concrete/glass and then metal parking screen. May be very functional but lacking in color/beauty. Maybe it's just one of those you have to wait to see as renderings don't do it justice (whereas, for example, TCF Bank Stadium's renderings gave me a 100% confidence in what the end-result would be).

I do like that about 90% of what faces the street is either commercial with windows or windows in to the lobby. I'll let the curb cut on 4th slide given the smaller footprint (even if the alleys will be there long-term).

[min-chi-cbus]

It's fairly more visible than the 5 story blahs, maybe that's why people are scrupulous.

[John]

I like it better after seeing the Marquette side ( and other views ) with a little better detail of the character of the parking ramp facade and street level. Clearly Urbanworks is attempting to evoke mid century modernism with this tower's design, with a twist of using some very modern materials and coloration. I think it will actually look pretty good and adds some nice density. It's not nearly as drab as I thought it would be.

[mullen]

so is there an "untrue infill"? infill is infill. they weren't going to build a 5 story apartment bulding on this site akin to something we are seeing in uptown. this is within the downtown office core. basically the only place in the city zoned for 30 story buildings.

infill occurs anywhere in the city. it occurs on surface parking or underutilized land. that is what "infill" entails.

[m b p]

It's not horrible... it's not great...

This is the preliminary design. I think more than a few things will change. It does have potential.

[MotorCity2TwinCities]

Assuming that financing is in place, does anyone have an idea of how long the city approval process and other procedural stuff typically takes before shovels can start hitting ground?

[Wedgeguy]

It seems like Mortenson is just one-upping Opus here. "Oh you are making a high-rise apartment downtown? We will make one right next to it except taller, sleeker and won't take nearly as long making it a reality".

Edit: Didn't see John's post above great minds think alike

Welcome to the reality of New York City and Chicago. Unless you are in the river, lake front, front park land, your view will never be guaranteed unless your developer buys a lot of air rights.

[nasa35]

Assuming that financing is in place, does anyone have an idea of how long the city approval process and other procedural stuff typically takes before shovels can start hitting ground?

Completion late 2014