Downtown Minneapolis General Discussion

[seanrichardryan]

Attn: JOHN

[mullen]

that ramp around symphony place specifically serves orchestra hall. i know they lease a number of spots for employees, musicians, etc.

[twincitizen]

Quick update: I merged "Downtown Minneapolis - General Topics" and "Current and Proposed Projects", since they were basically the same thing. Now there is just one massive thread for general news and updates regarding Downtown Minneapolis development, events, infrastructure, etc. Please check the development map that Sean included in the original post of this thread. If you have the time and knowledge, please help us keep the map updated!

There are, of course, additional dedicated threads for Downtown Restaurants and Downtown Retail. Should we maybe combine those two threads into a single Downtown Restaurants & Retail? Or leave them separate? A possible benefit of merging the two is that we're generally talking about the same commercial spaces throughout downtown. Why keep restaurant and retail conversations segregated? A possible downside is that combining the two topics would make it too broad and it would effectively lead to a second general thread (in addition to the one you're reading right now). Please let me know what you prefer. Right now I'm inclined to leave it alone since the two separate threads for Restaurant News and Retail News seem to work ok.

P.S. Also remember that there are additional threads in Anything Goes, such as "Rumors", "Supertalls", "The Skyline", and "Current Apartment Boom 2011-??", as many, many tangents from this thread have been moved there, particularly to "Rumors".

[Wedgeguy]

I'm for keeping the 2 R's separate. MO

[Wedgeguy]

As we have been talking about signature buildings and in fill building and the architects that have designed them I thought I'd throw this little thing together. To be fair I found most of this information on Glasssteelandstone.com. If one of the moderators can make that a link it would be nice. I'm behind in the tech world and how to make things work. I was hoping to also put the developer with this but there was too little information for that. I have a list of the signature buildings architects and the fill in architects. A few of this architect on the list are not for towers but for significant building in the city. The number behind is the number of buildings in MPLS that I found significant.

Signature
Kohn, Pedersen, Fox and Assoc. (2)
Cesar Pelli (3)
Pei/Freed (James Freed) (1)
Phillip Johnson/John Burgee (1)
Murphy/Jahn (1)
Gunner Birkerts Architects (1)
Edward Larrabbe Barnes and Herzog & de Meuron (Walker Art Museum) (1)
Jean Nouvel (1)
Frank Gehry (1)
Michael Graves (1)
Minoru Yamasaki & Assoc. (2)

In between
Lohan (1)
Ellerbe Becket (3)
Hammel, Green, and Abrahamson (1)

FIll in
Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill (3)
Walsh Bishop (1)
Kendall/Heaton (1)
WZMH Architects (1)
HKS and KKE which specialize in Sports arenas, but tried unsuccessfully at towers (1 each)

As you can see, the signature buildings were designed by well know architectural firms or starchitects.

[twincitizen]

Charter School planned for downtown: http://www.journalmpls.com/news-feed/ch ... n-downtown

Makes you wonder if this is the same charter school that was partnering with United Properties for their Nicollet Hotel Block proposal...

[acs]

While I still think a Nicollet Hotel block or 10th and Hennepin are better locations for new schools and buildings, this is something badly needed which will go a long way towards making downtown livable for all ages.

[mnmike]

On a random note...kind of glad this didn't get built. Awful frontage to the Nic mall corner...and just looks a bit bulky despite having a pretty small footprint, in my opinion. This must have been one of the designs for an opus tower at that site a few years ago...as the renderings do have the Opus name on them. Kind of interesting anyway.

http://ryansiemers.com/high-rise/

[mattaudio]

Makes me think of the Ameriprise Center or the Park Bldg side of Capella Tower in terms of street presence and feel. I like it.

[mnmike]

I thought you of all people on here would also hate that huge curb cut/turn around near Nic and 10th! I don't care for that part at all.

[twincitizen]

Same site as The Nicollet, correct? I'm guessing this was the proposal that preceded it.

[mnmike]

I believe this was after.

[twincitizen]

Depot Hotel planning expansion: http://finance-commerce.com/2015/01/csm ... pot-hotel/

Plans: http://minneapolismn.gov/www/groups/pub ... 136543.pdf

They plan on removing the waterpark, while adding a 6th floor & infill addition to the property with 110 additional rooms.

[mattaudio]

Has anyone been to that waterpark? I forget it's even there. I take it a waterpark is not enough of a draw for a hotel in expensive downtown real estate, and maybe it can't compete with suburban waterpark hotels with more space for water features and free parking.

1. Too bad there's no activation (existing or planned) along 2nd Street, a block that feels completely barren east of Dunn Bros. At least this new addition will have a doorway to the outside, though not a public entrance except for maybe roomkey entry. The "concierge lounge" could, in theory, be a public-facing space someday if the need arose and they put a door in the exterior.
2. It would be great to see the rest of the train shed developed for a use other than covered surface parking.

[PhilmerPhil]

That waterpark is pretty easy to sneak into on a cold winter day.........

[Minneboy]

Has anyone been to that waterpark? I forget it's even there.

That's probably it's biggest problem. The hotel should be promoting it and I can't recall ever seeing any advertising.

[Nick]

On a random note...kind of glad this didn't get built. Awful frontage to the Nic mall corner...and just looks a bit bulky despite having a pretty small footprint, in my opinion. This must have been one of the designs for an opus tower at that site a few years ago...as the renderings do have the Opus name on them. Kind of interesting anyway.

http://ryansiemers.com/high-rise/

Huh, never seen that before, how'd you come across it?

[mnmike]

Random google search for some building pic.

[twincitizen]

Any thoughts on what will happen to the existing Walgreens downtown?

Here's the property info: http://gis.hennepin.us/property/map/def ... 2924120094

Panera Bread next door is actually a separate parcel, owned by Midwest Plaza. Looks like it was maybe partially built in a vacated alley.

Assuming Panera (and outdoor seating courtyard) stays as-is, what do we think could happen with the existing Walgreens building? Is it too small a parcel to redevelop on its own? It's a really ugly building, but I suppose it could attract a new retailer and possibly a facade upgrade.

I don't believe Walgreens has confirmed that they're closing the old location, but the addition of a near-flagship location 1.5 blocks away suggests that it will close.

E: On 2nd thought, it is probably impossible to redevelop without taking the Panera patio. It's just too small of a parcel and we're a long way from Manhattan-level land scarcity. It is a phenomenal location though. I'd guess the only way it could redevelop without including Panera's space is if a wealthy individual or company is interested in building boutique office space with incredible visibility. That still seems pretty unlikely as you could just use the existing building with moderate renovation to the facade.

[grant1simons2]

Didn't the Panera used to be a bank? I think my grandma worked there because my mom was talking about going there when she worked in IDS