urbanMSP

http://www.startribune.com/business/191 ... page=2&c=y

Gaviidae II to get a $3.8M face-lift

The Nicollet Mall mainstay’s new owner says the retail complex needs a freshening.

[...]

KBS intends to spend $3.8 million to retool the retail and restaurant options at Gaviidae II and spruce up the RBC Plaza lobby. When the deal was announced, KBS regional president Rodney Richerson said it’s a good time to “rethink the four-story retail section.”

[...]

Seems like a good enough idea.

Sidebar: Does anyone read articles like this and get the feeling the author doesn't know much about the city? Not this writer specifically, but just in general in a lot of articles/local news reports about the city. One thing that bugs me is reading/hearing "the Nicollet Mall", but in the case of this article, using "plans" and "slated" to refer to projects that have been underway for months irks me a bit.

IMO, both wings of Gaviidea Commons are two of the most beautiful shopping center arcades of any downtown in the US. I'm happy to hear they are going to spend some money to update the Nieman Marcus side. Maybe they could attract a new department store that caters more to downtown residents ( i.e. Von Mauer). I've never felt these shopping mall landlords have never been strong at understanding the local market. They seem way behind the times in realizing the potential of the growing population living downtown. And the don't appear to go out on a limb to attract retailors. We sure could use a high quality sporting goods store with good seasonal clothes, a hip hardware/ homegoods store for urban dwellers, or an Apple /Microsoft store to name a few.

what is the writer talking about..."minnesota's main street"? I've never heard of nicollet mall referenced like this.

what is the writer talking about..."minnesota's main street"? I've never heard of nicollet mall referenced like this.

I think when it was first done and a really cool new thing it was referred to as that a lot... not as much anymore.

It also states in the article that Brookfield still owns the actual Neiman Marcus store building and didn't sell it with the rest of Gaviidae II. I know that a lot of dept. stores like to own their building. Do you think Brookfield held on to this part of Gaviidae because they are trying to sell that part directly to another dept. store? I do think that another one downtown would do well, it just needs to be the right one. Perhaps Nordstrom, Von Mauer, Herbergers? They would be better in line with the downtown workforce and growing residential population. I think Neiman Marcus was a little to high brow for us Minnesotans and I was actually surprised that it didn't close the last time their lease was up.

Sidebar: Does anyone read articles like this and get the feeling the author doesn't know much about the city?

I don't recall the corner of Washington & Hennepin as being 'East Hennepin' either. Apparently the staff writers don't get out of the office much anymore. AS for Gaviidae, I agree they are two of the loveliest buildings downtown. The details and overall quality of the spaces is amazing and has certainly stood the test of time.

With Neiman Marcus gone, where will I buy my wife overpriced Louboutin shoes?

she can head down to the galleria. that's minnesota's rodeo drive under a roof.

Von Maur is a great store. I'd love to see that take the Neimans space.

Pipe dream maybe, but something unique to the area would be amazing. Zara or Uniqlo are the ones on my mind.

AS for Gaviidae, I agree they are two of the loveliest buildings downtown. The details and overall quality of the spaces is amazing and has certainly stood the test of time.

Agreed, although Gav I is much nicer than Gav II.

It also states in the article that Brookfield still owns the actual Neiman Marcus store building and didn't sell it with the rest of Gaviidae II. I know that a lot of dept. stores like to own their building. Do you think Brookfield held on to this part of Gaviidae because they are trying to sell that part directly to another dept. store?

That may be part of it, but I feel like when the rest of the property was sold, I think they said that they deliberately excluded it because it would have complicated the sale.

I think an awesome addition would be an urban REI store. Portland just got an REI where they rehabbed a building in their downtown area and made it LEED platinum. I think they would do very well and if they added the climbing part like the majority of their stores have, that could definitely become an attraction for the new downtown residents.

I think an awesome addition would be an urban REI store. Portland just got an REI where they rehabbed a building in their downtown area and made it LEED platinum. I think they would do very well and if they added the climbing part like the majority of their stores have, that could definitely become an attraction for the new downtown residents.

Yes! Great idea! This is exactly the type of store we need downtown.

Reading this thread I was just about to post the same thing: an REI or similar outdoors store.

I don't know why adding a new clothes store would be any different than the current situation, and I don't know why any unique clothing store would chose to locate downtown rather than the Mall of America.

Midwest Mountaineering is over in Cedar-Riverside, but there's nothing really like that downtown. You would think that a well-planned store (i.e. more bikes, clothes, tents, athletic shoes etc.; less canoes and other large-scale items) would do well in Minneapolis. Depending on the space, REI could even throw in a rock-climbing wall!

But seriously, I think an outdoors store would be a better fit downtown right now than any clothing stores that would realistically go there.

Includes smaller climbing wall inside.

Portland, OR. LEED Platinum.

Am I the only one who thinks an REI in Minneapolis would be in uptown? considering Columbia and The North Face are already there. Or would they not want the competition of another nearby outdoor store?

I would not be surprised if REI were looking to open another Twin Cities store sometime soon. One would think that they would be looking for a location more accessible to the urban population. A smaller, more urbane REI would be great to see in Uptown, Downtown, or even somewhere along University.

West Elm has a new concept for urban dwellers called West Elm marketplace, it's a cafe and home store all rolled into one, you can grab breakfast or lunch then check out the items on sale, i think that would be a good fit here, or it would be perfect for Washington Avenue, a real neighbourhood draw perfect for the area.

Does anyone else remember this exact conversation about REI on this same thread about three pages back? Let's all write them letters/emails and suggest they build an urban store in Minneapolis.

And Needless Markup wasn't completely gone at that point, imagine how awesome REI would be in that space... Giant Climbing Walls...

West Elm sounds like a cool place too!