The 155 - (155 University Avenue Southeast)

Northeast, Near North, Camden, Old St. Anthony, University and surrounding neighborhoods
MNdible
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Re: The 155 - (155 University Avenue Southeast)

Postby MNdible » November 30th, 2012, 5:32 pm

The buildings only have workout facilities because it helps rent the units. Even if people never actually use the facilities. In this respect, it's like gym contracts.

(I kid, of course).

frenat
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Re: The 155 - (155 University Avenue Southeast)

Postby frenat » December 9th, 2012, 8:00 pm

Looks like all of the various variances and approvals were approved. http://www.minneapolismn.gov/meetings/p ... S1P-101054

twincitizen
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Re: The 155 - (155 University Avenue Southeast)

Postby twincitizen » October 14th, 2013, 11:42 am

I usually loathe these types of posts, but screw it:

Anyone know if this is still happening? This seemed like a sure bet, and now it's been almost a year with no action.

twincitizen
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Re: The 155 - (155 University Avenue Southeast)

Postby twincitizen » April 24th, 2014, 6:51 pm

It wasn't widely reported, but this project failed to get financing and has been taken off the drawing board. The weird part is that the union (who owns the land) wanted to self-finance this thing, with the help of another union partner and the developer.

We can officially change this to "cancelled" on the map. I'm waiting to hear back from Cuningham Group on the nearby Rampton project. That one also did not have any financing lined up at the time it was reported.

dmdhashw
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Re: The 155 - (155 University Avenue Southeast)

Postby dmdhashw » April 25th, 2014, 6:23 am

Interesting that a bank couldn't finance their own project.

Wedgeguy
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Re: The 155 - (155 University Avenue Southeast)

Postby Wedgeguy » April 26th, 2014, 8:57 pm

May have been due to the fact they are coming along so much later than other projects. Possible partners maybe were worried that there was not enough takers/renters for this in the marketplace.

twincitizen
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Re: The 155 - (155 University Avenue Southeast)

Postby twincitizen » May 6th, 2014, 1:06 pm

Posted with permission of the author:

NO PARKING RAMP, APARTMENTS FOR UNITED LABOR CENTRE BLOCK

By Steve Share, Minneapolis Labor Review

MINNEAPOLIS — A proposal is dead to build a 269-vehicle parking ramp and 81-unit apartment building on the current United Labor Centre parking lot.

The Labor Temple Association, a union partnership which owns the United Labor Centre and parking lot, voted September 18 to drop efforts to proceed with the $23-24 million project.

“At the present time, we’re not going to go ahead with it,” said Dan Gustafson, president of the Labor Temple Association and former president of the Minnesota AFL-CIO. “It got more involved that we anticipated,” said Gustafson, interviewed October 17.

First announced in December 2012, a hopeful timeline called for construction of “The 155” —named for its address, 155 University Ave. SE — to begin April 1, 2013 (Labor Review, December 20, 2012). The Minneapolis City Council voted January 11, 2013 to approve the project. Yet April 1, 2013 passed and the financing needed for the construction to get underway could not be arranged. As months passed, both financing costs and construction costs went up, Gustafson said.

Gustafson said the project originated because United Labor Centre tenants identified a need for additional parking. The city would not permit a stand-alone parking ramp, however, so developing an apartment building along with a parking ramp was necessary, with the apartments helping to subsidize the parking ramp. “We knew going in a ramp wouldn’t pay for itself,” Gustafson said.

The proposed development drew opposition from some United Labor Centre tenants, who voiced strong concern about losing the free parking currently available after 3:00 p.m. for union member attending meetings in the building (Labor Review, January 25, 2013).

Going forward, Gustafson said, the Labor Temple Association might consider possible upgrades to the current surface parking lot, including redesigning the layout to make more efficient use of the space available and redesigning the lighting to eliminate the three light posts that partially block several parking spaces.

Another factor led to abandoning the parking ramp and apartment project, Gustafson reported: Many of the board members of the Labor Temple Association are getting on in years and they didn’t want to make “too many long-range commitments.”

“Maybe a better use can be made [of the parking lot] down the road in a few years,” Gustafson said. “The younger generation can look at it.”

mattaudio
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Re: The 155 - (155 University Avenue Southeast)

Postby mattaudio » May 6th, 2014, 1:11 pm

Good. Building 81 apartments so you can get a 269 space ramp? But the bad: They actually shot this down because more parking would be spendy parking: Expecting free parking in this neighborhood after 3PM? They should be charging all day for their surface lot immediately!

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FISHMANPET
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Re: The 155 - (155 University Avenue Southeast)

Postby FISHMANPET » May 6th, 2014, 1:41 pm

Yeah this is all sorts of bad for this location.

Maybe the scariest part though is at the end, where the old members don't want to do anything that wouldn't benefit them directly.

dmdhashw
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Re: The 155 - (155 University Avenue Southeast)

Postby dmdhashw » May 7th, 2014, 7:24 am

Yeah this is all sorts of bad for this location.

Maybe the scariest part though is at the end, where the old members don't want to do anything that wouldn't benefit them directly.
I think that sums up the boomer generation mentality pretty nicely. :roll:

twincitizen
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Re: The 155 - (155 University Avenue Southeast)

Postby twincitizen » May 7th, 2014, 7:34 am

the project originated because United Labor Centre tenants identified a need for additional parking. The city would not permit a stand-alone parking ramp, however, so developing an apartment building along with a parking ramp was necessary, with the apartments helping to subsidize the parking ramp. “We knew going in a ramp wouldn’t pay for itself,” Gustafson said.
This is the scariest part.

Good riddance to this not moving forward. I mean, god forbid anyone park in the (very underutilized) St. Anthony Main parking ramp ACROSS THE DAMN STREET.

I'd honestly prefer that the property remain a surface parking lot until the land is valueable enough to sell to someone who will develop it properly, rather than some forced franken-ramp apartments that their association doesn't even really want to build or own.

If "free" parking is so important to their members then they need to sign a contract with the ramp across the street. Or inform people how insanely cheap our meter parking rates are.

mattaudio
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Re: The 155 - (155 University Avenue Southeast)

Postby mattaudio » May 7th, 2014, 8:00 am

I know from experience (playing gigs at bars in the area) the St. Anthony parking ramp across the street is $3 during evenings. Seriously, that's cheap enough where I park there precisely because it's easier than trolling the neighborhood for a free on-street spot.

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Re: The 155 - (155 University Avenue Southeast)

Postby mulad » May 7th, 2014, 10:15 am

I'm not sure I've ever parked there -- I lived in the neighborhood by the Marcy Open School for a few years. There are plenty of people who park on neighborhood streets, though I can't say exactly who. I mostly blamed the girls going to the Aveda cosmetology school, but there were probably others mixed in.

xandrex
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Re: The 155 - (155 University Avenue Southeast)

Postby xandrex » May 8th, 2014, 12:19 am

I'm not sure I've ever parked there -- I lived in the neighborhood by the Marcy Open School for a few years. There are plenty of people who park on neighborhood streets, though I can't say exactly who. I mostly blamed the girls going to the Aveda cosmetology school, but there were probably others mixed in.
I live within a few blocks of Marcy Open now, and the girls (and men) from Aveda are definitely a decent chunk of daytime parking on the street.


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