urbanMSP

Got another picture of this since I was up there anyway. Now we can have a before and after.

The only person excited about this project is the developer and their bank.

Demo continues here.

Are they salvaging some of the exterior for future use? If not, why isn't this thing leveled yet. Of course I'm no expert.

A potentially new, rejiggered site plan appeared in the Transportation/Public Works committee agenda:

http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/www/gro ... 104054.pdf

The 13th Ave pedestrian connection appears less make-believe in this one, although still too narrow. The biggest deal is that they killed the underground parking and moved the loading dock to a more awkward spot, in the process apparently reducing the retail square footage. Is the grocery store dead?

Less make-believe, perhaps, but still gated for your convenience.

Also, mark my words, this storm drain easement is going to come back to haunt the city in the future.

It seems that this would have been the perfect bit of leverage for the city to make them alter their site plan such that their was a real, meaningful connection along 13th.

Well, you can't expect Public Works to be concerned about pedestrian connections, can you? Public Works has as much to do with providing rights-of-way for transportation as it does with, say, fountain maintenance. That said sarcastically, the easement was deleted from the agenda, so there may be a tiny little shredded sliver of hope.

Went to Ash Wednesday Mass at St. Lawrence today, and the priest mentioned that Kraus-Anderson is leasing a portion of the church's parking lot for their construction trailers, starting next week. So, my guess is that demolition will be soon.

And, as of today, at least, the construction trailer is on site, along with at least four excavators. I'm guessing the building will come down this week.

I can't believe that entire building will end up in a land fill.

I can't believe that entire building will end up in a land fill.

Is there any way to get them to keep the materials? At least the exterior...

A fair amount of materials from older buildings end up with architectural salvage companies. Any distinguishing elements (sculpted pieces, cornerstones, etc.) will probably be cut out and sold. There are a few companies in the Twin Cities that specialize in dealing with this kind of stuff. (You can actually find pieces of some famous local buildings for sale as "lawn decorations"- it's pretty cool.) Unfortunately, the bulk of it will be ground up and destroyed.

A fair amount of materials from older buildings end up with architectural salvage companies. Any distinguishing elements (sculpted pieces, cornerstones, etc.) will probably be cut out and sold. There are a few companies in the Twin Cities that specialize in dealing with this kind of stuff. (You can actually find pieces of some famous local buildings for sale as "lawn decorations"- it's pretty cool.) Unfortunately, the bulk of it will be ground up and destroyed.

Based on what you just said, It looks lke they will save some of the exterior. When I walked by, I noticed some of the exterior was missing. The fancier trim and whatnot to be specific.

Historic Stone in N. Mpls has some AWESOME stuff, check it out sometime.

RIP UTEC


IMG_2962 by UrbanMSP, on Flickr


IMG_2963 by UrbanMSP, on Flickr


IMG_2965 by UrbanMSP, on Flickr

Interesting to say the least, although there is no way to satisfy every opinion some of the discussion I found very interesting.
To quell some of it , here is the inside look at what is going on here at the UTEC development.
Bauer salvage has already saved what could be seen as architectural or "worth while" Materials from the facility. Some of the exterior ornate stone has also been saved for future use, all of it cannot be, looks are deceiving this building is in very poor condition. Just because they are old does not mean they should stand for all of time. The concrete bones of the building will be recycled, all of the asbestos has been removed. The contaminated soils are being cleaned out in preparation of the new footings.

This is exactly what makes the economy turn. If a rep form Wells Fargo cannot see that then we are all in big trouble, "who by the way is financing". This is what the media calls housing, this is what drives the economy. There will be no less than 300 local jobs created on this project with the reach extending into the 1,000s of off site production, all of which are made in the USA jobs.

The demand on student housing near the UofM is what drives projects like these, not developers. Developers simply answer the call of the demand. Facilities like this need to be embraced. The Marshall high building although locally historic, was old inefficient, and costly to operate and maintain. The new, will be using green roof strategies, mixed use retail, lean and green build materials, and modern energy efficient heating/cooling and fixtures. It will also provide a safe, economical and convenient place for the students of the U for now and many years.

We at Kraus-Anderson look forward to the opportunity to again be a part of our community and build forward into a lean, green efficient era.

Indeed, housing is a major component of our economy. But this is a huge anomaly historically - it's all part of the Growth Ponzi Scheme. In a healthy, functioning economy, things like infrastructure, housing, and construction facilitate the productivity of the economy, not drive it.

This isn't to demean your profession or start an ideology war - I just take claims of 'economy-building' with a little grain of salt when I see them.

Anyone know what the K-A guy is talking about with the Wells Fargo reference? Completely confused by that.

Indeed, housing is a major component of our economy. But this is a huge anomaly historically - it's all part of the Growth Ponzi Scheme. In a healthy, functioning economy, things like infrastructure, housing, and construction facilitate the productivity of the economy, not drive it.

This isn't to demean your profession or start an ideology war - I just take claims of 'economy-building' with a little grain of salt when I see them.

Nothing in Dinkytown is part of the growth Ponzi scheme. The root of the growth ponzi scheme is using tomorrows greenfield development fees to pay for yesterday's greenfield infrastructure. This is a development that uses existing power, water, and transportation infrastructure. Short of running utilities from the building to the street, there's no infrastructure being built here that needs to be paid for in the future.