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Hines Speculative Office Project - 350 N 5th Street

Posted: June 4th, 2012, 7:56 pm
by mulad
When last we left our hero, I believe the city of Minneapolis had passed a conditional use permit for the Dock Street Apartments, and transit officials were finally beginning to raise a stink about clearance issues in the rail trench which also carries the Cedar Lake Trail extension. There was indeed a clearance problem, though it was only about 4.5 feet, ultimately. Hines, the developer, has basically decided to slightly rotate the building to find the needed clearance.

The Cedar Lake Trail will still go through the trench, but it'll gain a slight S-curve by the building.

Some more details in my post on the thread for The Interchange.

Re: Dock Street Apartments

Posted: June 15th, 2012, 10:18 am
by Didier
That's not good for anybody.

Re: Dock Street Apartments

Posted: July 21st, 2012, 12:26 pm
by retiredbanker
I'm not well-acquainted with the Dock Street project at all. However, I stumbled upon some conceptual designs from the Pickard Chilton website of the Hines project in the North Loop. Which I believe is part of the Interchange/Dock Street proposal. (Please correct me if I'm mistaken.). If this is an entirely different project, please let me know, I'll start a new thread for it then, or someone else can.

Re: Dock Street Apartments

Posted: July 21st, 2012, 12:29 pm
by retiredbanker
I'll attach two more renderings from the Pickard Chilton website of the proposed project.

Re: Dock Street Apartments

Posted: July 21st, 2012, 2:13 pm
by spectre000
I'm betting those were part of Hines' original plans for what was to be North Loop Village, also formerly known as Twinsville (2006).

Re: Dock Street Apartments

Posted: July 21st, 2012, 2:31 pm
by mulad
Interesting but confusing renderings. Some of them show two towers, yet the first image in your second post only seems to show one. It's probably best to ignore the second, narrower tower shown next to the Ford Center, since that (and its adjacent sidewalk) would seem to go above the Interchange's intercity/commuter platforms.

But if I only look at the tower that's closer to downtown, then I begin to wonder why it isn't butted up right against the buildings that run along 3rd Ave North, like the Minikahda Mini Storage.

Everything seems to be placed wrongly here, but maybe they did that just for visual effect or something. I also dislike the drop-off area in front of the building.

It seems like some nice pieces are there, but I'd shuffle them around a bit.


Re: Dock Street Apartments

Posted: July 21st, 2012, 7:18 pm
by Downtowner
This looks nothing like the old North Loop Village renders I remember from the past… lots of brick as I recall and I don’t think any of the buildings were all glass as is the case here.

Did a little searching and I convinced myself this is the Hines proposal for the National Marrow Donor Program, which would make it recent. If you recall, their lease is up in their current HQ in 2015 and they’ve been looking for a more “visible” location, including a few options downtown.

The most recent Biz Journal article on this from March 2012 mentions the following:
The Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal reported previously that the NMDP was focused on two different sites near Target Field. One was proposed by United Properties at the site of Shapco Printing Inc. and the other was proposed by Hines Interests of Houston in the North Loop Village it is developing north of the ballpark.
Link to the article: http://www.bizjournals.com/twincities/b ... roker.html

It also mentions that they are looking for 300k sq ft, with another 150k for future expansion. As luck would have it, the Pickard Chilton site has some information under the renders referencing the following:
  • - Anticipated occupancy in 2015
    - 490k gsf (awfully close to the stated 450k near and long-term need)
    - “Confidential” client (possibly NMDP?)
Seems like a match to me...

Re: Dock Street Apartments

Posted: July 21st, 2012, 8:30 pm
by Tcmetro
It would definitely be nice to have more offices near the downtown rail station. This could definitely improve ridership on the commuter rail lines. Maybe one day it'll be like in Chicago where there is a constant flow of people from the rail stations during rush hour.

Re: Dock Street Apartments

Posted: July 22nd, 2012, 12:01 am
by John
Hines concept would be a great addition to downtown. I think the introduction of a taller and more prominent building at this location would create a nice sense of focus and distinguish the North Loop as a more distinct district of downtown. And it would be nice to see some glassy buildings shake up the architectural mix of the area. Would add a whole new level of activity to an already vibrant and growing neighborhood.

Re: Dock Street Apartments

Posted: July 22nd, 2012, 11:06 am
by Unity77
Minneapolis has become too conservative for this type of architecture.

Re: Dock Street Apartments

Posted: July 22nd, 2012, 11:35 am
by Andrew_F
Wow! Good find. My initial thought was that this was part of the old 2006 proposal, but looking more closely, I think this is something new!

Re: Dock Street Apartments

Posted: July 22nd, 2012, 12:26 pm
by seanrichardryan
Two towers with reflective glass surrounded by useless empty plazas. Are we in minnetonka?

Re: Dock Street Apartments

Posted: July 22nd, 2012, 1:52 pm
by trkaiser
Do you have a link for these renders? They don't show for me (says I don't have permission to view) and I haven't been able to find them on the Hines site.

Re: Dock Street Apartments

Posted: July 22nd, 2012, 2:01 pm
by min-chi-cbus
Minneapolis has become too conservative for this type of architecture.
I agree. I see someone (probably from an renter, too) complaining about not being able to view Target Field from their window anymore, or something lame like that. That, or this won't fit with the "historic character of the neighborhood". Yes, we've become THIS pessimistic when it comes to new development proposals anymore that sound too good (or big) to be true!

Otherwise, I'd be stoked to have something like this downtown, let alone North Loop!!

Re: Dock Street Apartments

Posted: July 22nd, 2012, 2:07 pm
by min-chi-cbus
Two towers with reflective glass surrounded by useless empty plazas. Are we in minnetonka?
This city could use a LOT more plazas IMO....it doesn't have enough of them. There aren't many good public spaces in the city and a plaza is the next best thing to a park.

I conted 28 floors on the taller of the two buildings -- 28 floors is usually 450K SF.....so what would the OTHER building be?

Re: Dock Street Apartments

Posted: July 22nd, 2012, 3:06 pm
by Nick
Minneapolis has become too conservative for this type of architecture.
I agree. I see someone (probably from an renter, too) complaining about not being able to view Target Field from their window anymore, or something lame like that. That, or this won't fit with the "historic character of the neighborhood". Yes, we've become THIS pessimistic when it comes to new development proposals anymore that sound too good (or big) to be true!

Otherwise, I'd be stoked to have something like this downtown, let alone North Loop!!
You're being hysterical.

Re: Dock Street Apartments

Posted: July 22nd, 2012, 6:20 pm
by Downtowner
trkaiser wrote:
Do you have a link for these renders? They don't show for me (says I don't have permission to view) and I haven't been able to find them on the Hines site.
The renders are on the Pickard Chilton site: http://www.pickardchilton.com/

Click "portfolio" then "commercial" then "350 North Fifth"

Re: Dock Street Apartments

Posted: July 22nd, 2012, 9:14 pm
by min-chi-cbus
Pretty slick if you ask me. I seriously don't see this just slipping quietly into the skyline and neighborhood with nobody to speak out against it (I'll be glad to be wrong about that though!).

I think it makes SO much sense that this Bone Manor Donor organization would place their HQ here though. Think about it: 40,000 people spend maybe 20 minutes watching the game of baseball, and the other 2.5 hours staring around and looking at things, and the biggest/closest thing around are these two buildings that are (hopefully) beautiful and display their logo facing Target Field. AMAZING marketing potential -- and for a good cause!

I guess when I put everything together from what I've heard about this project the more and more it's starting to make sense and become a reality. I like to wait until shovels hit the ground (or in the case of The Reserve, when the project turns keys) but it's fun to get caught up in the excitement!

Re: Dock Street Apartments

Posted: July 22nd, 2012, 11:20 pm
by Unity77
Minneapolis has become too conservative for this type of architecture.
I agree. I see someone (probably from an renter, too) complaining about not being able to view Target Field from their window anymore, or something lame like that. That, or this won't fit with the "historic character of the neighborhood". Yes, we've become THIS pessimistic when it comes to new development proposals anymore that sound too good (or big) to be true!

Otherwise, I'd be stoked to have something like this downtown, let alone North Loop!!
You're being hysterical.
Go back and look at what was proposed and / or built during the mid-70s to early 2000s.

Minneapolis has hit a wall in terms of... everything (architecture, business, music scene, etc...)

Re: Dock Street Apartments

Posted: July 23rd, 2012, 8:23 am
by Konante
Those would be fantastic additions to that area.