urbanMSP

Probably when they opened up one in the food court on the fourth floor of Gaviidae... I bet there's some sort of spacing as part of franchise rules, or something like that.

I remember going to Big Boys, Clarks, Arthur Treachers, that McDonalds, Best steak house, Napolis (sp?) good and cheap. Heck, even the old Burger King

Ugh, why no skyway connection over 5th?

My guess is there's some issue with Gaviidae since it would ram through Neiman Marcus (although the same thing happened thru Saks to IDS).... maybe they are waiting to see what plans Gaviidae has for the space?

But wasn't there originally a stub of a skyway that crossed 5th into Neiman Marcus at this exact location? Or is my memory failing me?

Perhaps you're thinking of this specimen that was on the market a while back.

http://www.citydeskstudio.com/work/resi ... index.html

Interesting. Assume that was taken down when Gaviidae was built in the early 90s? When was the Penney's store torn down?

Also reminds me of how the main span of the Wacouta bridge was up for sale. I have no idea what ever ended up with that chunk of steel.

I believe it lasted until the LRT went in. Not sure, though.

why do i feel like the old timer here? there must be a lot of younger people on this forum or people who haven't lived in the area for very long. i thought i was relatively new here. anyway, that skyway bridge was removed to make way for the lrt platform:
https://maps.google.com/?ll=44.978389,- ... ,,0,-11.67
it was stored near the grain terminals off the busway for years and may still be there.

note from earlier post:
are you saying this was a mcdonalds site?
https://maps.google.com/?ll=44.97928,-9 ... 3,,0,-7.93

why do i feel like the old timer here? there must be a lot of younger people on this forum or people who haven't lived in the area for very long. i thought i was relatively new here. anyway, that skyway bridge was removed to make way for the lrt platform:
https://maps.google.com/?ll=44.978389,- ... ,,0,-11.67
it was stored near the grain terminals off the busway for years and may still be there.

note from earlier post:
are you saying this was a mcdonalds site?
https://maps.google.com/?ll=44.97928,-9 ... 3,,0,-7.93

I was born 5 years ago, so don't look at me for historical help!

One of the barriers to a skyway here is that it would obviously make sense to have vertical circulation to the LRT. One of the problems with that is there's not enough sidewalk space. One of the reasons for that is the need to keep a lane or two of 5th St on many blocks. The primary reason for that is to provide access to private parking structures along 5th. Think about how cool the 5th St Towers are with the granite sidewalk all the way out to the LRT... gives the street a whole different feel.

Nic on Fifth will hopefully treat the sidewalk right up to the LRT curb on that block.

Would there be a way to connect the Gaviidae/RBC garage to a different exit? I doubt it, unless the two Gaviidae ramps connect underneath 6th St (I've never been in the ramp). It doesn't look like there's a dock anywhere on the RBC block of Gaviidae either. So, probably the only way for this to change is if the 510 Marquette building was redeveloped in a way that allowed for access to the underground parking via Marquette.

This lane next to the Nicollet LRT station also serves a ramp/alley (behind Xcel) and surface lot (corner of 5th and Hennepin)... these could easily be accessed via 4th St or Hennepin, but I'm sure the owners would whine about losing access.

Then, we could close 5th to traffic between Marquette and Hennepin, and install a skyway with vertical circulation to LRT.

In the couple of presentations from Opus that I went to, they were pretty clear that a skyway is planned to go in the place of the original skyway...they just hadn't worked out who was paying for it, or the possible logistics of it connecting to the LRT directly.

PS, I thought that Mc D's building was supposed to be gone by now:(

Would there be a way to connect the Gaviidae/RBC garage to a different exit? I doubt it, unless the two Gaviidae ramps connect underneath 6th St (I've never been in the ramp). It doesn't look like there's a dock anywhere on the RBC block of Gaviidae either. So, probably the only way for this to change is if the 510 Marquette building was redeveloped in a way that allowed for access to the underground parking via Marquette.

The loading dock uses the same entrance as the ramp and is actually between the 510 building, Gaviidae, and RBC. There is not enough room for trucks to turn around in that space so they actually have a giant turntable to spin the semi's around. Pretty cool.

Sort of related -- looks like the RBC tower and retail have been sold, but the Neiman Marcus parcel was deliberately excluded from the deal.

What does this mean for Gaviidae? It will be managed in 3 seperate pieces?

That was my next question. Each space has a very distinctive feel, but they do work as a whole. I'd expect some strange parking validation for valet now.

Separately owned pieces could always be leased out & managed by a single property management co.

Brookfield still intends to fully leave the Mpls market, meaning the N.M. space will be sold eventually.

Looks like the developer heard many of your concerns over the decrease in height so they are now choosing to place it on top of a large hill to make up for it.

Nice! It'd be hard for opponents to argue the height if they stuck within the (design) guidelines.....

...."nobody said anything about NOT building a hill!". People could walk 50 feet up the hill into the front door!

Update - that building is finally being demolished today. This hole in the ground looks gigantic from on foot on Nicollet looking toward the station.

http://tomabouttown.wordpress.com/2012/ ... -progress/

A friend who works for Opus said they found some leftover elevator shaft from the Powers building that's been gumming things up. No evidence of that on site from what I can tell though.