Gold Medal Plaza - (935 Second Street South)

[Nathan]

It would be nice if they kept them pretty much the same but tacked on like 5 floors!

[MNdible]

Anything above 8 floors needs a CUP for increased height.

[min-chi-cbus]

Anything above 8 floors needs a CUP for increased height.

The original was 9 floors, I think.

[nickmgray]

If they could get the approval to add 3-5 more floors to it, it think it would help with the look of their neighborhood. I don't think we need anything over 15 floors in this neighborhood, but it would be nice to have some height variances. I like the colors of the original Zenith building, but having two that look the same would take away from the effect.

Honestly, the office building would be a much better tenant for this neighborhood since it would bring more traffic to the area and would help the handful of local restaurant and show a lot more than another 100 condo unit would.

[min-chi-cbus]

I agree with the first part -- something taller (or smaller, but who wants that!) than the 8-10 floor status quo that exists now wouldn't hurt. Luckily, Park Vista is going to be 12 floors, and if this -- a center-piece of all the new high-end developments that have come online around Gold Medal Park -- is closer to 15 I think it could look VERY nice. However, I don't see that happening as it short-changes the other developers who "played by the rules" according to the historic zoning of the area, and I can also see NIMBY's having a field day with it!

[dmdhashw]

I guess I find it amusing that the Mill District has special zoning because of its historic nature, when the overwhelming majority of it was bulldozed and asphalted back in the middle of the last century. I mean, I'm not calling for the Washburn-Crosby A mill to be razed (again), but it does seem silly to me to limit development in this district because of its 'historic' nature, when it was little more than a big parking lot less than 10 years ago.

[Tyler]

These building are not in a historic district. It only extends as far South as S 2nd st and as far east as 10th Ave S.

[Konante]

If they could get the approval to add 3-5 more floors to it, it think it would help with the look of their neighborhood. I don't think we need anything over 15 floors in this neighborhood, but it would be nice to have some height variances. I like the colors of the original Zenith building, but having two that look the same would take away from the effect.

Honestly, the office building would be a much better tenant for this neighborhood since it would bring more traffic to the area and would help the handful of local restaurant and show a lot more than another 100 condo unit would.

Agree 100%. Some variety in height and style is important. Even more important to me is creating mixed-use neighborhoods.

[Wedgeguy]

What is that special word that we all like to use!! MIXED USES!! I could see 4 floors of office on the lower floors with some possible retail along 2nd. With 5 to 6 floors of Condos above the office portion. I say to slightly tie the 2 buildings together, But make the new building a bit not transparent. With the Park Vista I think that would be enough units to make the investment work.

[MNdible]

I guess I find it amusing that the Mill District has special zoning because of its historic nature, when the overwhelming majority of it was bulldozed and asphalted back in the middle of the last century. I mean, I'm not calling for the Washburn-Crosby A mill to be razed (again), but it does seem silly to me to limit development in this district because of its 'historic' nature, when it was little more than a big parking lot less than 10 years ago.

I know I'm fighting a losing battle here, because everybody assumes that wherever they see a parking lot there used to be an important historical building. But the areas where these lots used to be were a polluted railyard for at least a century preceding their relatively recent incarnation as parking lots.

The height is limited by the Downtown Height overlay district, which as far as I understand is intended to prevent another RiverWest from being built -- that is, it's intended to create an orderly stepping down of heights towards the river. I'm not sure it's the right approach, and I know everybody on the board here wants 40 story buildings, but there's a logic to it.

[twincitizen]

Buried in the F&C story about Sherman's Old Spaghetti Factory adjacent apartment/hotel project, they had Sherman quoted as saying that they are continuing to market the site as office, but may very well end up doing for-sale condos "in another year" as it's "the last significant riverfront site downtown"

[uptown067]

I'm somewhat surprised that nothing has happened with this site yet. With all of the momentum in downtown east and the quick sales pace of the stone bridge lofts, I would have anticipated that by now something would have started happening here.

[min-chi-cbus]

Agreed, and I really liked the rendering showing this space as an office, and it would round out the different property use types around Gold Medal Park nicely (residential, office, retail and entertainment).