Excelsior, Wayzata and Lake Minnetonka area

[Trademark]

Homeowners from the surrounding neighborhood, which includes large lots and homes spread far apart, weren't pleased with the scale and density of the project. 
John Sexter, who lives across from the proposed development, called the plan shocking and absurd, comparing the row of continuous homes to Maple Grove. 

"If it's going to be housing, it should revert to estate lots," Sexter said. "To keep it cohesive, it should be the same as the surrounding neighborhood."

You’ve got to be kidding me


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Not Maple Grove!!! Anything but that!!!

[DanPatchToget]

I know this idea won't stick but I'll just throw it out there anyway: convert the building into a small grocery store or build a new small grocery store on the site. It looks like the two closest grocery stores are both Lunds & Byerlys with one in Navarre and the other on 101 & Wayzata Boulevard. The site already has bus service, plus it's across the street from the Dakota Rail Trail, so in theory easy to get to without needing a car. The amount of traffic would increase, but I can't imagine it would be a significant increase (though for residents any increase would be equated to having New York City levels of traffic).

[twincitizen]

School discussion split off to its own topic, under the Anything Goes section: viewtopic.php?t=4691

[Hero]

Homeowners from the surrounding neighborhood, which includes large lots and homes spread far apart, weren't pleased with the scale and density of the project. 
John Sexter, who lives across from the proposed development, called the plan shocking and absurd, comparing the row of continuous homes to Maple Grove. 

"If it's going to be housing, it should revert to estate lots," Sexter said. "To keep it cohesive, it should be the same as the surrounding neighborhood."

You’ve got to be kidding me


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Not Maple Grove!!! Anything but that!!!

If they want to "keep it cohesive" maybe they should look at the block to the east. 10 homes with about 1/2 acre lots and an apartment building.

Looking at that block the north side of the street with the small lots and apartment building is valued at and pull in tax revenue of over twice the south side of the street despite the south side of the street using more land.

[seanrichardryan]

Neighbor referring to his 2 acre subdivision lot as an estate, which was platted in the late 50s out of an actual estate (Peavy's 'Highcroft') is actually kind of funny.

[Hero]

Neighbor referring to his 2 acre subdivision lot as an estate, which was platted in the late 50s out of an actual estate (Peavy's 'Highcroft') is actually kind of funny.

I'm not seeing that house in the first picture in the satellite images of the area. Any idea what happened to it?

I wonder if this neighbor has considered the tax base advantages of having smaller lots? The house on the opposite corner of the Blake lot pays nearly twice as much and sits on less than a quarter the size as this neighbors lot. Or the apartment building on the end of that block sits on the same size lot yet pays nearly 7X as much in taxes. I'd imagine his taxes would need to be higher if these denser uses didn't exist.

[Hero]

I know this idea won't stick but I'll just throw it out there anyway: convert the building into a small grocery store or build a new small grocery store on the site. It looks like the two closest grocery stores are both Lunds & Byerlys with one in Navarre and the other on 101 & Wayzata Boulevard. The site already has bus service, plus it's across the street from the Dakota Rail Trail, so in theory easy to get to without needing a car. The amount of traffic would increase, but I can't imagine it would be a significant increase (though for residents any increase would be equated to having New York City levels of traffic).

I'm reasonably sure a grocery store wouldn't work here. If you look a mile in any direction you won't see many houses. To the north is a freeway and two golf courses, to the south is a lot of water and the only real density to speak of is to the east and closer to the Lunds than this site. I don't think that bus will be of much help since it only runs hourly and has stops next to two grocery stores on either side (not to mention it has a 2 mile gap to the east with no stops).

[seanrichardryan]

I'm not seeing that house in the first picture in the satellite images of the area. Any idea what happened to it?

Demoed in 1952-53

[Anondson]

Spring Park proposal. Yacht club into a boutique hotel.

https://www.bizjournals.com/twincities/ ... tonka.html

The lake is surprisingly short of lakeshore hotels.

[Mdcastle]

What would the market be for those hotels? Maybe there could be one or two, but if you're from the area spending a day at the lake, you just drive home at the end of the day. I'm not sure Lake Minnetonka is a big destination for people out of state. If you're just here on business or visiting relatives you stay at a downtown hotel or a Hampton Inn by the freeway exit.

[DanPatchToget]

What would the market be for those hotels? Maybe there could be one or two, but if you're from the area spending a day at the lake, you just drive home at the end of the day. I'm not sure Lake Minnetonka is a big destination for people out of state. If you're just here on business or visiting relatives you stay at a downtown hotel or a Hampton Inn by the freeway exit.

Some people may prefer a downtown hotel or a freeway hotel, but I'm sure plenty of people would be appealed by a hotel on Lake Minnetonka. Not everyone wants a lakeside cabin or driving roundtrip to/from the lake in a single day.

[Anondson]

Excelsior’s vacant lakefront plot now has designs for the proposed hotel.

https://www.bizjournals.com/twincities/ ... james.html

[mamundsen]

Is it on the lakefront? This took me a minute. The address according to the packet is 10 Water Street. Which is across lake street from the Port of Excelsior. I read lakefront as directly on the water.

This will be a great addition to the lake!

[Tom H.]

Strib: Excelsior's first new apartment building in 50 years raises questions about the city's future

Wherein a new 50-unit market-rate apartment building with 300 underground parking stalls, and starting rents as high as $7,000 per month, causes city leaders to fear "that we no longer feel the comfort of being home".

Meanwhile a prime corner parcel at the end of Water Street, right next to the lake, remains vacant for nearly 15 years.

[Bakken2016]

Strib: Excelsior's first new apartment building in 50 years raises questions about the city's future

Wherein a new 50-unit market-rate apartment building with 300 underground parking stalls, and starting rents as high as $7,000 per month, causes city leaders to fear "that we no longer feel the comfort of being home".

Meanwhile a prime corner parcel at the end of Water Street, right next to the lake, remains vacant for nearly 15 years.

That is like paying North Loop prices but living way out...

[grant1simons2]

Have you been to Excelsior? It was my only escape to an "urban" form as a kid.

[Bakken2016]

Have you been to Excelsior? It was my only escape to an "urban" form as a kid.

I have, but even though it has an urban form, it doesn't have the amenities like Minneapolis, i.e. public transit

[grant1simons2]

And yet people are paying a lot of money for the other amenities, i.e. a big lake

I'm not usually a suburb defender but this is my one. I'll defend Excelsior and beg for commuter rail to return to Wayzata with ferry service to the lake. Metro Transit branded ferries anyone? Like the Copenhagen ones...

[Tom H.]

Excelsior really does have excellent urban form, but the real problem in Excelsior today is that the urbanism there is unattainable (i.e. millionaires-only). That's really what the crux of the arguments about building new apartments in Excelsior is about - it's not about building materials or "neighborhood character". It's that Excelsior is more or less a country club, with housing prices high enough to exclude the riff-raff, and anything that threatens to "open the floodgates" gets fought tooth-and-nail.

Not to get to Strong Towns-y, but it really sucks that these quaint, walkable town centers are so desirable that only the very rich can afford to live near them, but are also illegal to build basically everywhere in suburbia and are also not allowed to evolve and grow / intensify to meet the market.

[Korh]

And yet people are paying a lot of money for the other amenities, i.e. a big lake

I'm not usually a suburb defender but this is my one. I'll defend Excelsior and beg for commuter rail to return to Wayzata with ferry service to the lake. Metro Transit branded ferries anyone? Like the Copenhagen ones...

What ever happened to the old steamboat, last I checked it was sitting try docked next to the bike trail (literally went by it last summer).
It's kinda been on my list of things I want to try in the twin cities but never had the time for in the past.

Excelsior really does have excellent urban form, but the real problem in Excelsior today is that the urbanism there is unattainable (i.e. millionaires-only). That's really what the crux of the arguments about building new apartments in Excelsior is about - it's not about building materials or "neighborhood character". It's that Excelsior is more or less a country club, with housing prices high enough to exclude the riff-raff, and anything that threatens to "open the floodgates" gets fought tooth-and-nail.

Not to get to Strong Towns-y, but it really sucks that these quaint, walkable town centers are so desirable that only the very rich can afford to live near them, but are also illegal to build basically everywhere in suburbia and are also not allowed to evolve and grow / intensify to meet the market.

I would argue there are a few more towns like excelsior that are on the various rail trails like the Dakota, Bunyan, Luce Line but that might be somewhat biased because I only really saw the parts of each town the directly sat on each trail.