Downtown Minneapolis General Discussion

[grant1simons2]

Just to clarify, this is the building the AIDS project is in right?

[fehler]

Oooo, an "UP House" in Minneapolis!

[acs]

Now THIS is the place for some more walk-up townhomes, not Hennepin, not 10th and Marquette. Heck the 10th and marquette project would fit perfectly on just about any of the vacant lots along Portland ave.

[Wedgeguy]

Just to clarify, this is the building the AIDS project is in right?

You are correct. They have control over a significant part of that block. A developers wet dream with that much under developed land that close to the core. A good half block or more for sure.

[MNdible]

Is this Mic Johnson's vision, or the vision of an architecture studio project by a lot of students that he oversaw?

[Wedgeguy]

Is this Mic Johnson's vision, or the vision of an architecture studio project by a lot of students that he oversaw?

IT would be similar to the 2 interstate coverage project of the last few years.

[grant1simons2]

Between Chicago and Park along 15th St that is my developers wet dream.

[Wedgeguy]

Between Chicago and Park along 15th St that is my developers wet dream.

My guess is that it is land that NCU may have an option on for future campus development. I'm pretty sure that they have buildings on the other side of Chicago along 15th that they are using until they decide to build new campus buildings.

[grant1simons2]

The apartment building at 610 8th Street South in downtown east that was struck by a 3-alarm fire last year has been restored.

Here is some of the damage shown in the video: http://kstp.com/article/stories/s3595553.shtml

And here it is today

DSC_1261 (2) by grant.simons, on Flickr

[TommyT]

What a beautiful building, I really wish we had more of these gems in Minneapolis. Returned from a three day trip to Chicago last week and was green with envy over all of the charm the buildings have there.

[twinkess]

The entry way of this one is so strange unfortunately. It is down half a level from the street.

[seanrichardryan]

'Restored' to like-new 1970s remuddled condition! The original entrance would have been in those filled in archways. I'll did up a photo.

[mattaudio]

Yeah, I was going to say.... I mean, it's better than knocking it down... but those windows... and that flat looking painted brick... and that 70's concrete turd slapped on the front.

[grant1simons2]

Restored from the fire..

[seanrichardryan]

Washburn Apartments 1944

[twincitizen]

Still not what I'd call a handsome building. I think most of us here probably appreciate it for its relative rarity in the city, and maybe attach a sort of false reverence to it. Like I'm glad as hell that it's still standing, and wish there were dozens more like it around the fringes of the CBD, but it's nothing special in and of itself.

[EOst]

I think it would be a really handsome building if it were surrounded by other, similar buildings. We often underrate district context when evaluating individual buildings, on both sides; the preservationists who want to save every last old building, even when the environs have changed so much that it just doesn't have a place anymore, and the development advocates who assume that as long as we save the handful of "truly significant" buildings, we'll be fine. Neither exist in a vacuum.

[Nathan]

Still not what I'd call a handsome building.

Uhhh wat... this building has some amazingly unique features like the mirrored tourets and beautiful arched brick and stone work. The only things keeping this from being a handsome building are those layers of paint, bargain warehouse windows, and the jenky entrance. I'd argue that this building would look handsome in any urban context, restored. Whether that be between other brownstones or on a canal in Amsterdam or between a couple glassy modern edifices.

[mattaudio]

Those mirrored turrets and weirdly-scaled details make me think this is the apartment block version of a Healy house. And I think Healy houses are often ugly.

[mattaudio]

Can/should there be an incentive for sub-1000 SF storefronts downtown? I understand why some big tower management or developer doesn't see the incentive to put in small storefronts... but our city suffers as they get chomped up and consolidated as redevelopment and new projects occur.

Whether it's the tiny La Belle Crepe on Nicollet Mall, or the little 200 SF storefronts in my neighborhood that serve as business incubators due to how cheap they are to rent, I feel like we ought to figure out a way to promote more small storefronts.