DTE: Wells Fargo, Radisson Red, Edition Apts & Millwright Building

[nasa35]

Sounds like the park will become the new tailgating area. Look up "the grove" at Ole Miss University- they do tailgating in a park. It always looked so cool

Viking fans will figure it out; Game day experience is important. Getting together and hanging with your friends. I'm sure alot here understand, it's like when you get together and just snark the sheet out of everything.

[spearson]

Poor startrib camera man is walking all over the place

[RailBaronYarr]

How does this negatively effect Washington? 3rd and 4th Streets are remaining open.

I didn't say it would negatively affect Washington, just pointing out the importance of not having it be a car sewer while all this great stuff is going in around it. People will be living in downtown east rather than driving through it.

[John]

The post modern art deco twin towers relate well to Pelli's Wells Fargo building, in addition to The Armory, Rand Tower, Qwest etc. I like it a lot but it will look a little awkward with the ultramodern Stadium nearby. Almost need another building between them to transition the styles.

[Tyler]

DaPerpKazoo said Washington would suffer big time. I'm asking why that would be the case (no snark).

[nasa35]

DaPerpKazoo said Washington would suffer big time. I'm asking why that would be the case (no snark).

LOL, of course THAT isn't snark!
Good relation John.

[minntransplant]

wow, this is really bold. I share concerns about closing off Park and Portland; they are major arteries. But, it is hard for me to hate on a large scale park.

It will be interesting to see what happens as a result. I think 3rd, 4th, and 5th Aves, as well as Washington, will suffer big time. Perhaps the result will be an immediate neighborhood with much calmer streets-- perhaps more inviting to other residential development?

Oh, I think it will definitely calm the streets surrounding the site. I'm not against making it more difficult for cars to maneuver in downtown for that very reason. I'm just curious to see some traffic studies, which I'm sure they will do, to assess the impact this proposal will have on streets such as 3rd, 4th, and 5th. I'm curios about Chicago as well. It would be a bit strange if 5th becomes the last "connected" N-S artery before you hit the freeway.

[alleycat]

Looks a like a great way to connect the majority of downtown to the new stadium. I'm a bit partial to preserving the Strib building, but this is a great project as conceived. I'd still like to see the Strib's entrance preserved.

It'll be interesting how the park affects the stadiums plaza space. You would think Ryan and HSK could've shared their renderings.

As for using stadium financing to pay for the bonds. This is what the Strib story says:

After that, the city says the money would be repaid by revenue from three ramps and potential dollars from the Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority, which is overseeing the stadium development. Mayor R.T. Rybak’s spokesman, John Stiles, said that if the ramps aren’t used except on game days — a worst-case scenario — the property tax gains from the development alone would cover the obligation.

[nasa35]

I think we all can agree it's pretty sweet having four empty lots occupied.

[Andrew_F]

Anyone notice that the renderings show a faceless building at the SE corner of Park and 5th Street?

I didn't notice that. Looks like it's a big white block in the overhead renderings, but if you look at the west-facing render, it looks like an apartment building.

How does this negatively effect Washington? 3rd and 4th Streets are remaining open.

Correct. Sometimes I forget those ramps exist. I wonder if something will be done to calm 4th? Perhaps make it two-way?

[mullen]

i was hoping they would've announced wells fargo officially singing onto this project today. wonder why they didn't wait for that.

[RailBaronYarr]

My thought is that the E-W streets won't be much affected, it will be the N-S ones that will have to handle the extra load, notably 5th and 4th Aves. But how much N-S traffic is there today on Park/Portland/Chicago north of HCMC?

[minnyapple]

This is really exciting. Of course bigger buildings would have been great. But this is a great start on the hopeful transformation of downtown east.

[nordeast homer]

I seem to be the one person who thinks they missed the boat on this one. This honestly looks like someone took the older portion of the WFHM campus, doubled the size and added a twin. I'm quite disappointed. The scale seems odd to me also, but that could be the angles. I would like to see an overhead shot as well as one from Washington to get a better perspective.
I was hoping for something with a little more modern look to it. We'll see; even they admitted this is likely to change a little, especially the residential portion.

[TWA]

Also of note- the Armory will now be directly on the park. Which certainly makes it even more intriguing for redevelopment

[Avian]

Did anyone else notice $65 million in publicly funded parking? FAIL!

Not a "fail" in the way they have constructed the financing:

"The city’s end of the bargain involves borrowing $65 million to fund a parking ramp and an 8.9-acre park extending toward downtown from the stadium site, which would be the largest park in the heart of downtown. The bonds, contingent on City Council approval, would be tied to the full faith and credit of the city, but Ryan will guarantee payments for the first 10 years, providing some haven for taxpayers.

After that, the city says the money would be repaid by revenue from three ramps and potential dollars from the Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority, which is overseeing the stadium development. Mayor R.T. Rybak’s spokesman, John Stiles, said that if the ramps aren’t used except on game days — a worst-case scenario — the property tax gains from the development alone would cover the obligation."

[RailBaronYarr]

Sounds like they're not sure what they are going to do with the park just yet:

The money would be used to buy the land and sod or seed it, but there is no firm plan for how to develop the rest of it.

“The last thing we want is a field that’s un-mowed and un-utilized,”said Chuck Lutz, a top city development official. “Our conception would have this to be a public open space that’s actively utilized every day of the year for something or another.”

Wonder if it will look anything like the renderings. I think it would be kinda cool to have a decent sized pond/mini-lake put in, which could be used for hockey in the winter. Maybe something long and skinny like the pond in St James's Park in London (125' across) but just not as long..

[spearson]

So off the bat, the parking ramp, and possibly the park if the idea can clear county/city councils. I wonder how much buildings will change as private firms sign on to build. I think I like Ryan's plan, but I'll reserve judgement until finalized plans of each piece are put into motion.

[nasa35]

I seem to be the one person who thinks they missed the boat on this one. This honestly looks like someone took the older portion of the WFHM campus, doubled the size and added a twin. I'm quite disappointed. The scale seems odd to me also, but that could be the angles. I would like to see an overhead shot as well as one from Washington to get a better perspective.
I was hoping for something with a little more modern look to it. We'll see; even they admitted this is likely to change a little, especially the residential portion.

I don't disagree to a point....but Ryan is not known for *nice* developments; for them this is nice. A residential *tower* of about 40 floors and it would've been a home run IMO.

[frenat]

This is awesome! If there's retail, housing and office in these 5 blocks, plus that big park, it will transform the whole city. Can you imagine a summer night with outdoor concerts (or any number of events) at Loring, Peavy and this park? In addition to Mill Ruins?