901 Washington Avenue South

[lordmoke]

Suddenly, out of nowhere:
http://www.bizjournals.com/twincities/n ... etail.html

Two story building with a restaurant and furniture store being developed by the owner of the building next door. Aiming for groundbreaking in February or March with a 6 month construction period.

[TheUrbanGopher]

Yay!

Artistic renderings look sweet (per usual), and the fact that the developer said he wants to make it a "cool building" is promising. Love the rooftop patio pitch too.

[seanrichardryan]

I like that the project fills the irregular lot. It will be interesting if the old RR ROW is every developed behind it. It could make for a pretty dynamic block.

Lot Map-
http://gis.co.hennepin.mn.us/Property/m ... ,0,0,0,0,0

[Nathan]

The building is awesome, the land use it awesome, a furniture shop is even more awesome. More Retail for Washington as the residents start pouring in!

[MNdible]

If I'm reading that rendering correctly, the ground floor stone base of parking may be slightly less than awesome.

Looking at the property map, somebody named Timeshare owns the old railroad ROW through that block, along with most everything else that's not Wasabi or Emmanuel Housing.

[RailBaronYarr]

If I'm reading that rendering correctly, the ground floor stone base of parking may be slightly less than awesome.

Yeah. Not wild about that...

[Aville_37]

Very cool! Truly believe Washington Avenue could become Minneapolis's "Michigan Avenue" in terms of unique, higher end shops mixed in with restaurants/bars with cool sporting & cultural attractions within walking as well. Finally some new retail!!

[Scott16475]

I think the rendering looks awesome and I would love for Washington to became the next 'hot spot' in town.

[Wedgeguy]

I do not see Washington as becoming a New Michigan Ave as there will be too many gaps in the retail blocks where residential now fronts Washington and they are all new building so there will be no redevelopment for some 30+ years at least. The section of Washington east of 3rd will definately have more retail as projects move forward. I would say that most of the retail with be restaurants, services, and stores that meet neighborhood needs. You will not be seeing national retail moving into the area.

[Nathan]

If I'm reading that rendering correctly, the ground floor stone base of parking may be slightly less than awesome.

Yeah. Not wild about that...

Most of the sidewalk in that area is below grade, for whatever reason, as it is... So I wonder what that has to do with their ability to change the grade of the site, and have the back of the restaurant looking out at grade, or be underground/looking at retaining walls...

https://maps.google.com/?ll=44.97671,-9 ... ,,0,-10.92

[seanrichardryan]

That section was under the railroad viaduct that served the Milwaukee Road Depot, hence the oddly shaped lots and stone bridge abutments. It was torn down in 1984 to many a truck drivers delight.

http://collections.mnhs.org/cms/web5/me ... &width=640

http://collections.mnhs.org/cms/web5/me ... &width=640

[lordmoke]

Said bridge:
http://collections.mnhs.org/cms/largeri ... n=10723901

[FISHMANPET]

I'd always wondered how trains got into Milwaukee Road Depot. Are there any overhead pictures that will show how that whole area looked (I'm sure there are, I just suck at finding them).

[lordmoke]

Top center- Milwaukee Road is just out of the frame:
http://geo.lib.umn.edu/Hennepin_County/ ... -2-183.jpg

[woofner]

The City still has the 9th Ave S ROW, it would be cool if the City required them to make the parking accessed through that rather than a curb cut (and the required excavation to do so). This could be in exchange for approving the site plan despite its violation of the Comp Plan's policies in favor of street grid repair (that are constantly ignored).

[Archiapolis]

Probably a couple of constraints on the site that are affecting the design. In order to have active uses at grade at the sidewalk, you'd have to go down TWO floors to get the parking that they are talking about (sidewalk grade = active use, parking below = 2nd level down). In order to do that, you need a LOT of ramping. I'm guessing that the site is too tight to do that, and/or a high water table prevents going down two levels, and/or bad soils, and/or too expensive for developer. Probably the best that they can do is a quality material with attractive apertures/fenestration that make it a good pedestrian place.

[seanrichardryan]

Rosa will have some competition for the upscale Mexican chain diners: http://m.bizjournals.com/twincities/new ... n-ave.html

[lordmoke]

Dead, but owner still plans to develop something, eventually:
http://www.bizjournals.com/twincities/m ... t-but.html

[twincitizen]

I'm not sad. They really need to do some site assembly and master planning in that area, rather that developing the weird triangle of 901 Washington in isolation. I know, I know, incrementalism is good, separate landowners, etc...but I feel like this area needs a little deeper thought.

Who exactly is "Timeshare Properties"? They own the former railroad property that runs diagonally behind this block: http://gis.co.hennepin.mn.us/property/m ... 2924120015

[mattaudio]

I hope the old railroad angle stays!

Primarily because it would be a great way to connect a streetcar from Washington onto Green Line trackage at the existing interlock (it wouldn't interfere with the Blue Line) and then branching off at Prospect Park station and over to the St. Paul campus. This would provide a continuous service from the St. Paul campus via the U of M and Washington Ave to the North Loop, where it could then be extended to the North Side, Northeast, or down a reconnected Border Ave to Loring Park. Boom!

But also because it's quirky and has the opportunity to provide interesting development that we don't always see on square blocks.