North Loop Neighborhood

[Tyler]

Layout on that penthouse is brutal though. You absolutely cannot put the bedrooms off the foyer like that. They've got to go on the other side, put the the kitchen/living off the entry. Come on man, this is basic stuff.

[grant1simons2]

Just a note on city submissions and residential floor plans;

If it's not the first floor and how the building interacts with public spaces (i.e. sidewalks, roads, ROW), the city... doesn't really care. And because of that, many of the unit layouts are submitted in an "In Progress" state. With all that being said, some developers and architects really do draw some WEIRD units.

[GILBball]

That's a really unflattering rendering of that 2nd street project. There's no way it'll end up looking that gloomy in real life. They managed to make it look abandoned on a cloudy mid-winter day, despite the blue skies behind it in the rendering. The shots of the exterior materials in the packet look pretty nice to me.

[pillsdoughboy]

That's a really unflattering rendering of that 2nd street project. There's no way it'll end up looking that gloomy in real life. They managed to make it look abandoned on a cloudy mid-winter day, despite the blue skies behind it in the rendering. The shots of the exterior materials in the packet look pretty nice to me.

I really hope your assessment of the renderings is true, because I have to say I was struck by how dreary the building looked. The dark masonry does not at all fit with the historic, red and beige brick character of the neighborhood. That said, even if the rendering is indeed accurate, I still think the building would be a net gain for the neighborhood. A mixed-income building in this neighborhood is definitely welcome, and the greater density will help support the burgeoning retail scene at this intersection specifically, and in the neighborhood generally.

[Tyler]

I think its likely to look great, those are high quality materials, which will show very well in reality.

[alexschief]

So in the summer of 2020, the existing building on this site was demolished. But the proposed and approved new building was not built. Now it looks like the land has been sold and a new developer has pitched something different and better in almost every single respect.

The new project would also be seven stories, but with 96 units, 47 car parking spaces, and 90 bicycle parking spaces. That's a complete reversal from the previous project, which proposed more than a third fewer units and over double the car parking spaces.

The new project also has a bunch of really interesting features that go all in on sustainability. All of the car parking spaces will come equipped with either level I or II chargers (rapid and overnight). The roof will have a solar array that will help offset the building's energy use. The project will also create a new access point to the Cedar Lake Trail. There are a bunch of other features as well that run the gamut from energy efficient appliances to high-quality insulation and glazing. This is a model that the developer has already used on a completed project in St. Louis Park, coincidentally also on the Cedar Lake Trail.

The exterior will be clad in dark brick. It seems really hard to produce an attractive rendering to show these materials, but it should look similar to Second on Second, which pulled from a similar aesthetic.

Overall, a really exciting project. Hope to see it get off the ground.

Hitting the Planning Commission next week. Only change I see is that they're now up to 96 long-term bike parking spaces, enough for one per unit. Packet (link corrected).

Of note: this project's size triggers the need for Minor TDM compliance, which means it needs to earn 4 TDM points. But because this project is going all-in on sustainability features, it blows that requirement out of the water and earns 13 TDM points. They are (3) Transit Fare Subsidy, (3) Low Parking, (3) Pedestrian Realm Improvements, (2) Shared Vehicles, (1) Unbundled Parking Costs, and (1) Real-Time Transit Information.

[RedDutch]

I was wondering about that lot.....glad to see this moving forward.

[Silophant]

Excavation on 310 N 2nd started sometime in the past couple of weeks. Always good to see proposals break ground.

[pillsdoughboy]

https://mspmag.com/eat-and-drink/foodie ... r-is-sold/

The building that once housed Bachelor Farmer bought by Daniel Del Prado (of Martina, Colita, Josefina, Cardamom) and Ryan Burnet (of Bar La Grassa and Barrio). They are hoping to open an Argentinean-style steakhouse by next summer.

[Tyler]

Not mentioned but I assume this includes the cafe space? I've thought for a while it would make sense for them to put another Ceres there.

[HiawathaGuy]

Not mentioned but I assume this includes the cafe space? I've thought for a while it would make sense for them to put another Ceres there.

The cafe space is a part of it, that's mentioned in this article: https://www.bizjournals.com/twincities/ ... lding.html
*UNLOCKED*

[MNdible]

Improvements are coming to the much-maligned Washington and Third Avenue North intersection.

PDF of Layout

[Tyler]

That all looks smart. Any chance this opens up the corner for a small scale development?

[MNdible]

Maybe? Seems like it would be a more attractive parcel if that alley didn't need to return back to Washington and just cul-de-sac'ed off of 2nd Avenue. Not sure how viable that would be.

[Bakken2016]

Improvements are coming to the much-maligned Washington and Third Avenue North intersection.

PDF of Layout

Any timeline for this? As a North Loop resident, this is exciting!

[Nick]

That all looks smart. Any chance this opens up the corner for a small scale development?

They’d have to move that very funny new sign/sculpture.

[rhettcarlson]

Great to see. I was worried the massive curb radius/porkchop setup was required for truck traffic on Washington as a county road. Any chance we get a no-right-on-red?

[MNdible]

Improvements are coming to the much-maligned Washington and Third Avenue North intersection.

PDF of Layout

Any timeline for this? As a North Loop resident, this is exciting!

Per the Public Works Agenda:

In order to facilitate 2023 construction of this project, it is recommended Council authorizes execution of the cooperative agreement with MnDOT, approves expenditure of required funds and adoption of a resolution stating as such.

[StandishGuy]

Meh! They should remove this connection altogether considering there are nearby entrance and exits to and from I394 nearby at 3rd Avenue N. and 4th Street N. This bleak expanse of asphalt and weeds should be redeveloped into something productive like housing and commercial uses. It's just so overbuilt and out of scale with the extremely dense and urban North Loop neighborhood. Instead, I'm sure this connection will remain there for another 50 years.

[Silophant]

Yeah, it's never been clear to me what the value of having two separate access points less than a thousand feet apart is. It saves, what, up to two minutes over using the 3rd/4th St ramps if you manage to hit all the lights as badly as possible?