urbanMSP

Seriously? A nine unit building was too much? Do the people in Linden Hills know they live in the city?

I wonder what the total square footage was when it was 9 units. This says it is now 3, 2,000 sf units. Those seem like very large units. No way it was going to originally be 18,000 sf.

Seriously? A nine unit building was too much? Do the people in Linden Hills know they live in the city?

I agree with you. I've said that from the get go. They live in MPLS not Mayberry RFD!!

I'll reserve judgement until I see what it looks like; I know a lot of people are big fans of Julie Snow, but some of her designs leave me wondering why.
As far as the size of the building, it shouldn't be much bigger than some of the other homes in Linden Hills, especially those closer to the lakes. I think the biggest positive or negative will be how well it blends in with the neighborhood. I think the design will need to be a little understated for the neighbors to buy in.

I think you guys are mostly getting ahead of yourselves. Just because the "9 units" was floated doesn't mean there was ever an actual proposal. And doesn't "backing down" all the way from 9 to 3 units seem just a little strange to you? I suspect that we are talking about two entirely different development concepts here. For one, it's actually just two residential lots. One of them has two houses on it (kinda cool actually). This proposal basically involves an extra deep 100' lot: http://gis.co.hennepin.mn.us/property/m ... 2824410023

I'm just guessing that the 9-unit idea was mostly 1BRs and smallish units, to fit on that lot. The 3-unit plan sounds like going in the complete opposite direction and doing an uber-luxury large condo concept. Two different things.

Here's a Google Street View: http://goo.gl/maps/DwPQ4

The new building would be next to a 3.5 story apartment and across the street from a 4 story building. The neighborhood would have absolutely no ground to stand on in saying 3.5-4 stories is too tall in this location.

A novel idea- rebuilding the old Chalet style streetcar waiting station at Lake Harriet. Love it. Park board should sign off, and pitch in some cash.

http://finance-commerce.com/2013/11/on- ... e-harriet/

http://salaarc.com/portfolio/lake-harri ... g-station/

I vaguely remember this same idea being talked about 5-10 years ago. Anyone else?

I don't remember this but I love it. I just wish there was some way to get the line up to the Tin Fish.

Oh man, this is fantastic. I bet this could get done with a bit of aggressive fundraising and a little bit of lobbying on the museum's part.

I find it amusing that the current structure is a replica of the original building on the site, so that building would be getting torn down for the second time to build this structure for the second time. Maybe they could move the current building over to the Lake Calhoun stop and make it a little more "permanent" feeling.

They should use that for a shed and rebuild this one instead.

^^^ Awesome!

New "upscale casual" restaurant planned by the owner of Victory 44. Take out counter. Possible classes.

http://www.bizjournals.com/twincities/m ... 1415367941

Hmm. Is SJ's going to move into this new building? They could use the space.

Without more renderings or detail, that looks like a fairly classy building at a scale the LH neighbors wanted in the small area plan. I'm sure they'll hate it.

Wish the corner had an entrance.

That'll be awesome if it goes through. One less surface parking lot. Though it would be great if it opened up to the corner more.

Wish the corner had an entrance.

Given the sloping site along Upton, you'd think a corner entrance would actually be more feasible or preferable. It kinda looks like the corner is a stairwell, albeit a glassy one.

EDIT: Though yeah, Phil's comment below resonates with me as well. It makes a good deal of sense to put the entrance nearer to the existing business district, rather than forcing it to the corner (up the hill) for corner's sakes. It's not like there's going to be additional development at the intersection of Upton & 44th that would call more attention to that corner. The epicenter will always be 43rd.

I know we love corner entrances, but for the context of this location, I'd prefer the entrance where it is now to the corner if that's the only one we're gonna get.

Yeah, that intersection is nuts. Glad to see surface parking go, or at least be moved out of sight. The ONLY drawback of this project that I can anticipate is the decrease in sunshine and vista that the current state of the intersection has now. It's basically at the peak height of this part of Minneapolis, and goes downhill in just about every direction away from the intersection. It's a neat area, and that's probably partly why it's in such high demand.