urbanMSP

I'm really not complaining, but to think that this is almost what got built instead:











http://en.phorio.com/the_penfield_condo ... ted_states

Okay, I admit I haven't been following this project (or much of st. paul for that matter) at all... but what happened to the tower portion? Not enough demand? Too expensive?

...please don't reply to photo albums.

Cool model, it would have been an impresive building! I am normally pro "super tall" but I always felt like this one was going to upstage the capitol building. St. Paul's tri point connection between the capitol, the cathedral, and the downtown has a nice feel. Put the height tighter to the core of the central business district.

Also, If you are seeing a 404 on the first image, I apologize. The URL is correct, but for some reason it doesn't display.

This building is unimpressive from three sides, but the 10th Street frontage almost makes up for it. Iits got some nice seating areas, greenery, and the reused historic facade steps back from the sidewalk very generously. And it's only a block from the 10th ST station. This little corner of St Paul is becoming very interesting.

Weird building and unfortunately it forces you to take notice, but the Lunds had the cat food I was looking for. I definitely prefer the look of the building just south with Black Sheep, Key's, etc.

http://finance-commerce.com/2014/08/top ... -penfield/

"nearly 80 percent leased"

So it didn't fill up immediately like some of its contemporaries in Minneapolis, but it certainly seems to be a success. Rents here probably represent a new all-time high for St. Paul apartment living. Though in this case, I think an additional measure of success is if the St. Paul HRA can sell the property to a private investor and not lose any money. Keep in mind, the St. Paul HRA developed and owns this property. That did not sit well with a few private developers.

The building has been getting more and more move-ins lately. Judging from the occupation of parking spots 80% sounds about right. This is a very quirky building in terms of design and layout, which seems odd considering it is brand new. Management (Village Green) seems like they're still trying to figure things out as well.

Went in the Lund's today while in St. Paul. It is a large store with a great layout. Street presence with the exception of Minnesota are good as far as walkable and lack of blank walls. Some nice landscaping helps to hide the Lund's parking garage on 11th. Being a block and a half from the LRT station on Cedar I see this as a good deal for many people that want to take the train. Being 6 blocks from Mears Park and the amenities there will also help.

St Paul's Penfield doing better than anticipated

http://www.twincities.com/localnews/ci_ ... source=rss

St Paul's Penfield doing better than anticipated

http://www.twincities.com/localnews/ci_ ... source=rss

Having walked by last week and thru Lund's I'm not surprised at all that this is doing well. Very glad the city is well past the breakeven point where the Na-sayers will not have little amo to spout off about. As they say in Vegas, Most times you gamble and loss, but sometimes you have the right hand to win and you make your bet and win. This was their second win, their first was the Farmer's Market Apartments that filled up extremely fast. Now this being at 80% is great news and I hope that they can sell the building for a nice profit. I also hope that it will show developers that they can build in St. Paul and have great luck with great products. As I remember no one wanted to build and then were pissed that the city was competing against them. Showed them how wrong they were.

That's a pretty dubious analysis. I'm glad the Penfield is doing well, but that doesn't mean that the city should have done what it did.

That's a pretty dubious analysis. I'm glad the Penfield is doing well, but that doesn't mean that the city should have done what it did.

Someone has to give the snowball a start for it to roll down the hill. The developers were not willing to do their part. The city wanted a grocery store downtown that would help be a selling point for future development. They had a partner in Lund's which other developers for that site would have also had. The city had to take the lead to help the future of their city. Do I think they should hold onto these buildings, no. They should find a buyer who will give the city a nice ROI for having the balls to go out on a limb. Now it will be up to those other developers to come to the table with some worthy projects to compliment the investment that the city has given them for their marketing.

Once Pedro Park is there, I expect demand to be quite a bit higher for this building and the surrounding areas. This "neighborhood" is already right at the cusp of becoming much like its Lowertown brother to the south.

I stand by the City's decision to develop this themselves. The private sector wasn't stepping up and St. Paul had a vision for increased residential population downtown (including a grocery store). Yeah, it was a gamble that could've lost taxpayers money if it hadn't leased up or rents had to be lowered, but with LRT coming in and nothing else on the market, it seemed a pretty safe bet. But yeah, they should definitely be marketing the property for sale to a private investor as soon as realistically possible. The City has no business owning a market rate apartment building long term.

Looks like this gamble paid off.

http://twincities.com/2016/01/23/st-pau ... -market-2/

Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL Income Property Trust) is buying the Penfield for $65.5 million, about $3.5 million more than the city put in to build it.

http://www.twincities.com/2016/09/26/st ... 5-million/

I'd say that's a win.

Just because the city didn't lose its shirt (and the feds were actually taking most of the risk) doesn't mean that it was a good idea for them to play developer.

Just because the city didn't lose its shirt (and the feds were actually taking most of the risk) doesn't mean that it was a good idea for them to play developer.

Yeah, that's the role of the Port Authority.