LPM Apartments - (376' - 36 Stories)

[PhilmerPhil]

I was by there last night too and there was some sort of a truck parked in the lot... I forget what kind or what it said on it though.

[minneapolisguy]

The Braun Intertec people were there yesterday afternoon -

[PhilmerPhil]

Did you ask them about what the progress on this development is?!?!

[minneapolisguy]

No I did not - was just biking by and took a quick snapshot.

[Nick]

Two drill trucks were there this afternoon, but no one was around to talk to.

[minneapolisguy]

There were two on Friday - I just took a photo of the one.

[John]

Is there anyone still parking in the lot? I'm pretty confident this project will happen. It's an apartment project that outshines all the other ones combined. The architecture of 1368 Lasalle makes all the other apartments going up look like they were built for a trailer park! The day they start digging out this terrible parking lot I'm going to open up a bottle of champagne to celebrate

[TroyGBiv]

Drilling core samples is the most preliminary work before they determine footings and begin excavation. They have to determine at what level the bedrock is and or whether there are different sedimentary levels that might impact the foundation design. I think that this all points to the project going forward - plus the Startribune has an article about how developers and investors are moving back into this market.

[ECtransplant]

Drilling core samples is the most preliminary work before they determine footings and begin excavation. They have to determine at what level the bedrock is and or whether there are different sedimentary levels that might impact the foundation design. I think that this all points to the project going forward - plus the Startribune has an article about how developers and investors are moving back into this market.

What's the typical time frame from core samples to excavation work beginning?

[min-chi-cbus]

Drilling core samples is the most preliminary work before they determine footings and begin excavation. They have to determine at what level the bedrock is and or whether there are different sedimentary levels that might impact the foundation design. I think that this all points to the project going forward - plus the Startribune has an article about how developers and investors are moving back into this market.

Could you provide a link to that article? I didn't see it today.

[TroyGBiv]

http://www.startribune.com/business/164929266.html

[EquipmentImages]

Drilling core samples is the most preliminary work before they determine footings and begin excavation. They have to determine at what level the bedrock is and or whether there are different sedimentary levels that might impact the foundation design. I think that this all points to the project going forward - plus the Startribune has an article about how developers and investors are moving back into this market.

What's the typical time frame from core samples to excavation work beginning?

It could be a month, it could be a year...or never. There really is no time frame.

But just because round two of drilling has begun it should not be taken as an indication that the project is remotely moving towards the excavation/foundation stage. Who's to say that the underground conditions can even support a small footprint 36 story tower in that part of the city? Who's to say full or partial project funding is there or coming? This will take a long while yet.

[Nick]

Drilling core samples is the most preliminary work before they determine footings and begin excavation. They have to determine at what level the bedrock is and or whether there are different sedimentary levels that might impact the foundation design. I think that this all points to the project going forward - plus the Startribune has an article about how developers and investors are moving back into this market.

What's the typical time frame from core samples to excavation work beginning?

It could be a month, it could be a year...or never. There really is no time frame.

But just because round two of drilling has begun it should not be taken as an indication that the project is remotely moving towards the excavation/foundation stage. Who's to say that the underground conditions can even support a small footprint 36 story tower in that part of the city? Who's to say full or partial project funding is there or coming? This will take a long while yet.

As someone who got a solid B in Geology 1001 freshman year of college, I would hypothesize that similarly-sized buildings a couple blocks away from this site would bode well for the ability of the ground to support the building.

[min-chi-cbus]

^That, and the fact that downtown sits above a large limestone deposit, which is partly why a subway in Minneapolis is going to be nothing more than a pipe dream unless real estate values skyrocket high enough to make such a project financially feasible!

[Konante]

But just because round two of drilling has begun it should not be taken as an indication that the project is remotely moving towards the excavation/foundation stage. Who's to say that the underground conditions can even support a small footprint 36 story tower in that part of the city?

I accept your point but I would hope such tests at this stage are confirmatory, not exploratory. I *hope* I'm wrong in doubting that all of the time that went into planning and developing this tower occurred without knowing if the parcel was suitable.

[min-chi-cbus]

But just because round two of drilling has begun it should not be taken as an indication that the project is remotely moving towards the excavation/foundation stage. Who's to say that the underground conditions can even support a small footprint 36 story tower in that part of the city?

I accept your point but I would hope such tests at this stage are confirmatory, not exploratory. I *hope* I'm wrong in doubting that all of the time that went into planning and developing this tower occurred without knowing if the parcel was suitable.

Agreed....it wouldn't make very much sense. I assume EquipmentImages knows something about the industry first-hand and take the info at face value, but it doesn't seem the most logical way to do business to me.

[spearson]

^That, and the fact that downtown sits above a large limestone deposit, which is partly why a subway in Minneapolis is going to be nothing more than a pipe dream unless real estate values skyrocket high enough to make such a project financially feasible!

I think the limestone layer is mostly ignored when it comes to underground infrastructure in favor of carving into the softer sandstone layer beneath it. If a subway system was ever deemed necessary in Minneapolis, I would assume it would most likely reside there.

[Andrew_F]

Depends on how it's built. If it's drilled-- yes, our Saint Peter is great for subways and other tunnels. Cut and cover-- not so much.

[Tcmetro]

Stations would certainly be expensive, then. I would imagine stop spacing would be in the 1 mile plus range.

[woofner]

MN Reflections has several bedrock geology maps of the Twin Cities, for example:

http://reflections.mndigital.org/cdm/si ... 1160/rec/5

Most of the central cities has the limestone layer - known as Platteville or Platteville/Glenwood, it's about 25-35 feet thick - over the sandstone layer. A notable exception is Uptown. The deep bored tunnel under the airport went through the limestone formation - I'm assuming into the St Peter sandstone but I haven't been able to confirm that. It was a bit over a mile long, included one station, and cost $120m. That's about five times cheaper than Seattle's LRT tunnel, without factoring stations or inflation.

Of course, they still need to do core samples for buildings because the underlying geology can vary quite a bit within the larger topography.