urbanMSP

I had no idea that we actively discourage trees and / or grass in certain parts of the North Loop.

Nope. "This building will impede my ability to see other buildings" is not acceptable grounds for an appeal.

Draw a line from Jerrit's apartment at 618 Washington straight to downtown and what is right in the middle? There is your answer.

"Residents of the North Loop are concerned that the 419 Washington Ave N. project will add more traffic issues on
Washington Ave. Since it has changed from a 4 to a 2 lane road, traffic has grown significantly."

Hmmm...I'm guessing he means "congestion" not traffic. I highly doubt traffic counts on Washington have increased. Likely flat or even decreased after the road diet, even with ongoing job growth in the area.

"The following residents of 5th Avenue Lofts, 710 Lofts, 730 Lofts, Bookman Lofts, Harvester Lofts,
Hershel Lofts, and Tower Lofts are worried that the building is too large and not consistent with the surrounding
buildings."

Seems like he should be listing actual residents following this statement, no? I live in 5th Avenue and don't have any concerns with the project or know anyone in the building who does. I'm not speaking for everyone in the building, but he shouldn't be able to either.

Hey, if you've got the time you should testify at the appeal, or at the very least write a letter stating that you're a resident of the listed building that doesn't agree with the appeal, so claiming that everybody in those buildings is supporting the appeal is disingenuous.

He does explicitly say "the following residents," so he's not saying all of the residents.

Does it ever give a list of residents? That reason for appeal is only 2 paragraphs long and as far as I can tell doesn't specify any residents, though it certainly implies that there is a specific list.

Maybe he submitted a list that wasn't scanned?

Appeal granted due to height.

WHAT

good lord.

fack

I have a very very very hard time believing this... Anyone else see It? I mean, come on.

Just watched the tape, and yes, the appeal was granted.

Specifically it was an appeal of the HPC's certificate of appropriateness, on basis of the building being too tall. So I don't know what that means as far as next steps, would they have to back to HPC with a different design?

If I were wearing a Historical Preservation hat, I'd tend to agree that the building's scale and height aren't really appropriate for the area. It's going to be, what, twice the height of any of its immediate (historically protected) neighbors, right?

When you have a district that's historically protected, it's probably not great to have the most prominent structure in that neighborhood be a new building that's doing a half-assed job of pretending that it's an old building.

You're not talking a 50 story building here. The fact that the Ford building is a block away makes that argument seem like a stretch.

Is there a way to appeal the appeal?

Doesn't an appeal just mean it goes to the city council or something?

Appeal just sends it back for review and public feedback...