urbanMSP

A Walgreens 4 blocks from a brand (kinda) new Walgreens? Yup, developer of it has several ongoing residential projects in the North Loop and has been trying to bring in something for awhile to support the growing population. Haven’t heard anything about the hours of operation so can’t speak to that.

There was a presentation to the DMNA tonight. No renderings beyond massing diagrams, but it sounds like they're paying a lot of attention to the boundary between the glassy towers of downtown and the brick of the warehouse district, so I'm optimistic. The tower, while running the length of the bloc...

Washington Avenue continues to Happen. The DMNA LUC agenda next week includes: An 18-20 story, 350-unit apartment tower with 350 underground(!) parking stalls on Hennepin Avenue between Washington and 3rd. It's proposed by Harlem Irving, the developers of the the Link/Fresh Thyme in Prospect Park.....

I would have loved to have the Four Seasons at this location, but it appears the hotel market is softening so I can't say I'm surprised. I'm guessing the West Elm Hotel project may get axed next, if it hasn't already since we haven't heard anything about it in ages.

This does not sound right but I guess I'll have to go over there on the way home. I was over at Izzy's last week around 3:30pm and it was complete gridlock. 11th was backed up, 2nd was at a standstill from people getting off Washington, even WRP was backed up all the way down to the stop sign past ...

Yes, surprised no one has mentioned it yet, but (if I'm reading correctly) the condo component has increased to 50 units. They also now describe a potential scenario where both the hotel and condos components are replaced with apartments if the hotel is "deemed unfeasible". I wonder what'...

Planning Staff recommending the project be denied:

http://www.minneapolismn.gov/meetings/p ... MSP-210587

Should make for an interesting meeting next week.

If the NL could get something like Uptown Target, that'd be a big win for the neighborhood. It would be great to get something like Target here, but I'm a little skeptical this is the spot for such a place. This is effectively the end of the North Loop. If you're relying on a lot of neighborhood/fo...

I'm a little surprised they're going for fewer than 0.5 parking spots per unit. This area of the North Loop is pretty poor for transit access. So either they've realized other nearby places are oversupplied with parking, or they're planning on relying on the ramp across the street. I'm assuming sin...

6-8 stories? That's just a guess right?

Cause you have both a guess and a statement in there.

6-8 stories is just a guess.

Timeline estimate is based on them doing core samples right now and where that, in my experience, falls during the acquisition of a property.

They did several core samples on the Wells Fargo parking lot on 8th between Portland and Park on Wednesday. Anyone want to speculate? https://farm1.staticflickr.com/784/27544698878_1336ec4c32_z.jpg IMG_9817 by Sarah und Phil I'm guessing the bank will be torn down and something 6-8 stories will be ...

Also, it seems to me that this design is backwards...the downtown facing side would seem to make more sense facing the river.

I'm guessing the layout is due to the irregular shaped lot, its ~80 feet longer going north/south versus east/west.

I have to chuckle because every few years there is a push to do something with the site/building and each time the Post Office comes out and says they're not going anywhere. I'm sure eventually they'll move and it's always good to prepare for that since it is a prime piece of property but still.... ...

What do you all think about the reports that Target and Kroger might merge? While that brand doesn't have a big presence in our area, it's the second-largest retailer (behind Walmart) and 18th largest company in the U.S. according to Wiki... this could be good for downtown. Supposedly it's only rel...

My guess is Four Seasons has a requirement for onsite parking since they're a very high end hotel and their average guest isn't willing to wait 10-15 minutes for the valet to run a few blocks away to retrieve their car. Plus the nearest large ramp (1st & Hennepin) is at capacity and there is a l...

I don't understand why this is being proposed as a public-private project. Why would the city want to own a waterpark? Why is that the city's job? If they're going to claim they need to exploit lower municipal interest rates to even make the project profitable, that should be a big red flag for the...

Well good thing there are at least 3 large new parking garages going up in the neighborhood. That might actually help the price of valet parking in the area which could help with some of the perceived congestion from people coming into the neighborhood. I work at the Hewing and spaces for valet are...

It would be almost unthinkable for the Winter Olympics to go anywhere in the U.S. but Salt Lake City in the near future, and SLC is very likely to get the 2030 Olympics (with 2026 possibly in Calgary). The Twin Cities offer a pretty ideal setting for the ice events but really nothing else. Besides ...

I've lived in the North Loop for 10 years now. Parking has become significantly harder to find in that time. I'm not saying that's a bad thing... I'm happy with everything that has driven it, but to not expect people to complain when a convenience has gone from easy to hard is naive. Agreed. I've b...

There was a meeting a few weeks ago with North Loop businesses (looking at possibly creating business improvement district for the NL) and several of the businesses commented on the lack of parking for customers. Evenings and weekends I've found it's relatively easy to find a spot, but during the da...