urbanMSP

But isn't that article referring to the previous, pre-recession plan? Either way, I would assume this site would be bigger than the standard six-story boxes.

I'm a little concerned that I don't really like a lot of Greystar's larger projects... I don't know if they really have any "towers" under their belt...

370 units in phx


282 units in sea


And apparently their largest future project... the ascent which is just ok... imo

There is also a lot of Faux-storic stuff too... which is scary.

This would be crazy on this site! Something like this, if done right, would be amazing in the area. If there was retail on the ground floor, and some commercial office space, this could totally change the neighborhood.

Was it ever mentioned that this building was an old streetcar house called East Side Station? Pretty sure it is the same turn of the century building but with some mid century expansions and a new facade facing 1st Ave NE after it was no longer used for streetcars.

The center portion was modernized with a new facade, but it is basically the same. The truck bays were car bays. I have always hoped when this building was redeveloped,they could save the cast iron columns that divide the car bays to use in the new development.

Note the "For Sale or Rent" sign in the last photo. The end was nigh.

The setback and the garage doors could really provide a great sidewalk experience if kept with redevelopment. Somehow I'm guessing the entire block will be razed and we'll see some new tower built with low grade materials and tasteless design?

Somehow I'm guessing the entire block will be razed and we'll see some new tower built with low grade materials and tasteless design?

That's the spirit!

Request for permission to demolish East Side Station on the July 9 HPC agenda:
http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/meeting ... S1P-110436

EDIT: Random thought: It would have been all kinds of cool if they had been able to restore and repurpose this as the operations facility for the Nicollet-Central line. But, alas.

I understand why it should go, but there are some really cool elements worth salvageing and reusing on that site. Mainly iron and the brick.

do we have to demo everything in this city? you're right, this is near near north end of the starter streetcar line. it definitely would have cool to keep this building's legacy. but i guess it wasn't deemed "historic" by some survey.

there are developers sniffing around this site but as of yet no plan to redevelop the parcel. oh well whatever .

I don't know how feasible it would have been to salvage this building anyway. There's some pretty nasty stuff involved in plating and electropolishing metals...

No one is more of a preservation zelot than me, but this is one building that I'm glad to see go. I live several blocks away and that thing has been an eyesore in the neighborhood for decades. The original brick was probably very cheap and is literally disintegrating. There are also structural issues on the former 4th street side probably due to poor footings. The ground under the building is contaminated with heavy metals from the plating business and the only way to completely clean it up is to remove the building (and probably a good deal of dirt underneath it). Finally, even during its time as a streetcar garage it proved to be an akward facility as far as moving the cars in and out on busy 1st ave. This continued during the Superior Plating era when semi trucks would block traffic on 1st ave while trying to back into the loading docks.

Trust me. Everyone in the neighborhood is glad to see it go.

I think it would be awesome if they could keep/rebuild that center two-story bumpout part with a lower podium set back further against the street on both sides, as homage to the past.

I can't say I'd want to live in a building where they probably had mercury, lead, and many other nasties for decades. I wouldn't make a difference how much abatement they did. It's going to be an intense soil mitigation too. Sometimes we need to just say, "it would have been a cool opportunity", but it's just a building and it needs to go.

I can't say I'd want to live in a building where they probably had mercury, lead, and many other nasties for decades.

Don't eat the dirt, and you should be fine.

The original brick was probably very cheap and is literally disintegrating.

That brick could have lasted forever, until some genius had the bright idea to paint it...

If the building resembled it's former self, it would be cool to see a re-purposing, or a tower propped up on top of it, but I think this one is going to have to go to be a legit option for any use. Sad because it was a pretty cool building.

I can't say I'd want to live in a building where they probably had mercury, lead, and many other nasties for decades.

Don't eat the dirt, and you should be fine.

There are some spots which are worse than that, with contaminants seeping out of the ground with the potential to become airborne. That's primarily in a spot behind the building in the railroad trench where people aren't supposed to go, but they sometimes do.

Here's an update to my MN PCA link on the site (the one in my original post for this thread has gone dead):

http://www.pca.state.mn.us/index.php?op ... m#overview

That brick could have lasted forever, until some genius had the bright idea to paint it...

Really? How have you reached that conclusion? It's a fallacy that everything built 100 years ago was high quality.

Honestly, I'm rather surprised at the outpouring of sentiment over this place. Have any of you ever actually walked by it, or do you all just look at it on Google Earth?