Hennepin County Medical Center (HCMC) Clinic Expansion

[BikesOnFilm]

I assume they'll need a giant parking structure, but it's frustrating to think that they'd put a block of parking next to where offices and active uses are so that they can put up offices where their parking is.

Expanding the offices/clinic space/whatever their grander ambitions for the site of their current lot are closer to downtown seems far more harmonious to city goals than putting up a parking fortress next to a rapidly densifying neighborhood. But to get there, HCMC would have to accept being down one ramp while they rebuild it.

I don't know if the city can help them thread that needle, but they need to come out swinging for a better outcome than this.

[Oreos&Milk]

It would be a great location (2nd floor) for a Pharmacy, and maybe even a small cafeteria that could provide meals to the hospital visitors and skyway patrons. Maybe not residential housing, but at least some office space that could be converted to retail down the line. Some day this HCMC skyway connection area to the downtown skyway may be a very high traffic corridor. Lots of residential housing in the area already, plus hotel rooms all would be connected to HCMC.

a simple walk to the hospital in a climate-controlled hallway, vs. an uber ride to the suburbs... not a difficult decision. I think they are making a significant mistake overlooking the revenue potential by including retail space, even if the short-term market needs more time to bounce back. I recall just a few years ago all the shops in this skyway area were jam-packed with hungry downtown workers looking for a good meal during their lunch breaks.

I'm disappointed in the lack of non-car space on the 2nd floor. At least they could find a better usage for the 2nd floor as well. We don't need another skyway corridor with windows to rows of parked cars. We need windows to shops, eateries, offices, and places to frequent and enjoy such as green spaces and fountains to enjoy.

[fehler]

One block away from a skyway connection to the south side of US Bank Stadium.

[alexschief]

HCMC is proposing an expansion of the existing Purple Ramp to cover the other half of the site, creating a full-block parking structure bounded by 6th and 7th Streets and Park and Portland Avenues. The new ramp would add 1,053 parking spaces to the 1,331 already on the block. The new ramp would have a significant amount of commercial space fronting Portland Avenue at ground level. At the second level it would connect HCMC's skyway system with the rest of the city's skyways through the new Thrivent Building. As a part of this project, the existing purple ramp would receive the same perforated metal wrapping as the newly built section. Following the completion of this project, HCMC plans demolish the Hospital Ramp at 8th and Chicago and replace it with a new inpatient facility. Because the Hospital Ramp has a capacity of 1,400 spaces, the net change in parking across the HCMC campus would be -347.

I dunno folks, this project depresses me. I say that even though there's enough small wins to here (net reduction in spaces, more ground-floor commercial space, better curb appeal of the parking structure) to chalk it up as something as a win. But this site in particular is one that really deserves much better. It's one block away from the light rail, across the street from the newly-built Thrivent lot development, and down the block from what has become a nice little cluster of housing with the KA development, the Portland Tower, and The Larking. Of all of the property that HCMC holds, this might be the site where I'd least like to see a parking use.

We're making incremental strides, but this project is a reminder of how far we need to go in order to order to turn downtown Minneapolis away from this anti-urban mindset of parking and skyway creep. It is frustrating to see Minneapolis becoming a busier and more active place as new housing and office developments sprout up, and then to have that effort being undermined by major downtown institutions.

[Tom H.]

I agree - it feels like the opportunity costs here are very large. As you said, there are small incremental wins, but those small wins are coming at the cost of a tremendous amount of resources.

[BoredAgain]

I'm surprised that they want all of their parking in a single place. Right now they have ramps on either end of the complex, which feels more functional. I suppose the northern ramp has much better connections for people driving in on 52, 35W, and 94.

[fehler]

Centralized facility will save on maintenance and security. Also better placed for US Bank Stadium peak parking revenue!

[Tcmetro]

The Hospital Ramp at 8th & Chicago is quite old and probably is going to need a lot of maintenance to keep it up.

Interesting that they are reducing the number of spaces, their ramps seem to be very busy.

[SixOneTwo]

Hennepin County Medical Center plans major hospital overhaul

https://www.axios.com/local/twin-cities ... inneapolis

[amiller92]

I was going to express skepticism about campus creep, but if they are going to build a new building and reduce the overall footprint, that's good news.

[Bakken2016]

Yes, this is actually good news! Redevelopment of their old buildings will be great for Downtown East.

[Anondson]

I’m curious which spaces the occupy now that they are considering reducing.

[mattaudio]

So they plan to expand the parking ramp on their block facing Thrivent, then demo their parking ramp near Parkside Professional Bldg/North Central University where they will build a bed tower.

While that may be a fine plan, I'm not sure what it has to do with either (a) shrinking their footprint or (b) reworking/replacing the brutalist midrise complex around 7th/Chicago. Am I missing something?

[MNdible]

If I had to guess, I'd say that the facilities located on the superblock bounded by 7th and 8th Streets and Chicago and 10th Avenue are the oldest and least efficient portions of their campus.

[BikesOnFilm]

Maybe I read it wrong, but I took the phasing to mean that reshuffling their current inpatient needs into the new building would free up space for consolidating their operations in the existing buildings. Which would possibly lead to older structures getting demolished and redeveloped.

[Silophant]

They didn't actually say what buildings would be demolished or sold off, but I'm guessing it's the older buildings between 7th and 8th east of Chicago (presumably not including the bit right up against Chicago, or the part that's cantilevered over the street would fall over). Gotta imagine that the brutalist stuff between Park and Chicago stays, so they keep a continuous campus between the parking ramp and the new tower.

Interesting that they're expanding the new Specialty Center already. Wonder if that entails building up on the low-rise portion in the SE corner, or demolishing that last little apartment building and filling out the rest of the block, or both?

[pillsdoughboy]

Yes, I imagine it would be the Swedish Hospital and the Excelen Center (across from the Hope Church). These buildings definitely scream "past their useful life," as medical buildings at least. Part of me hopes they could be reused-- they're actually pretty appealing buildings and could possibly become affordable units, possibly for people with high medical needs.

[Mdcastle]

Sounds like they don't know themselves how many new private rooms are going to be built in the new tower, which affects how many currently shared rooms in existing buildings will be converted to private, and how many can be repurposed or removed. Another factor is that standards of care and patient expectations still allow shared rooms in psychiatric wards, so they could easily expand their capacity there if they wanted to

[mattaudio]

My first reaction was wanting to see the Swedish Hospital building facing Elliot Park preserved, but that's only a small part of that superblock.

Between demolition of the Parkside ramp, and hypothetical reconstruction or reconfiguration of those old MMC facilities between Swedish Hospital and the brutalist superblock, they have well over two city blocks to work with.

Too bad the plan to remodel part of the Parkside tower into apartments didn't move forward. viewtopic.php?p=153615&hilit=parkside#p153615

I'm also curious how the expanded parking ramp block closer to Thrivent will truly make up for the loss of the Parkside ramp. It's a 3+ block internal walk from the future parking expansion to the hypothetical bed tower in place of the old Parkside ramp.

Edit: Would also be great to see 9th and/or 10th Aves reconnected through that superblock.

[Trademark]

My first reaction was wanting to see the Swedish Hospital building facing Elliot Park preserved, but that's only a small part of that superblock.

Between demolition of the Parkside ramp, and hypothetical reconstruction or reconfiguration of those old MMC facilities between Swedish Hospital and the brutalist superblock, they have well over two city blocks to work with.

Too bad the plan to remodel part of the Parkside tower into apartments didn't move forward. viewtopic.php?p=153615&hilit=parkside#p153615

I'm also curious how the expanded parking ramp block closer to Thrivent will truly make up for the loss of the Parkside ramp. It's a 3+ block internal walk from the future parking expansion to the hypothetical bed tower in place of the old Parkside ramp.

Edit: Would also be great to see 9th and/or 10th Aves reconnected through that superblock.

I don't think it's that critical for those streets to be reconnected, but I would like to see a pedestrian path connection on 9th avenue to connect to Elliot Park