800 Washington Ave S (Guthrie Ramp liner parcel)

[contrast]

Here's the download link to Shermans plans

https://app.box.com/shared/static/rh14c ... 697paf.pdf

Thanks for posting! Says it right on the plans that several elevators could serve ANN if they occupy level 8. Very nice mixed use building! Only odd thing about access to 8th floor seems that the elevators are pushed back pretty far- would tenants really walk through the restaurant or hotel lobby to get to the office elevator?

[Silophant]

Well, they're probably assuming that office tenants would be parking in the ramp and entering through the back door. Either way, though, the building's only about 50' wide, so it's not terribly far from Washington.

What seems odd to me is that, unless I missed something, there doesn't appear to be any internal connection from the hotel to the restaurant, besides the fire escape stairs. Not that it's a huge deal to walk outside for a couple hundred feet, but I would have expected Fire Command to be somewhere else, and the restaurant to have an entrance to the vestibule where Fire Command is.

[MNdible]

I suspect that AAoN would access the office space primarily from within their own office, using the level 3 skyway to access the elevator. The only issue may be sharing the elevator with a restaurant, which may lead to use conflicts and a nasty elevator cab.

[Architorture]

I doubt they intended to resolve everything in the design for an RFP. In the RFPs I have worked on its about conveying an architectural concept In the end the best financial offer typically boils the decision to 1 or 2 proposals, regardless of architectural merit.

[schmitzm03]

City staff recommend Mortenson for exclusive negotiating rights on this site.

Z&P documents: http://minneapolismn.gov/www/groups/pub ... 147628.pdf

Star Trib: http://www.startribune.com/minneapolis- ... 322524301/

[mnmike]

I was hoping for Sherman...This one is OK, but just another building and semi upscale restaurant. I liked the bowling alley idea. I love how one of the reasons is "No proven long term market in this area for a business like pinstripes". That is somewhat valid I suppose...don't want a huge flop, but still, a new more interesting use that could have easily been converted to basic restaurant/retail if it indeed didn't work out.

[Nathan]

We keep seeing all these proposals with various hotel brands... are these hotels continuing to look in the area then? The Radisson red popped up again. If all these hotels are going to makea Minneapolis presence no matter what we're in line fora few more developments.

[acs]

I was hoping for Sherman...This one is OK, but just another building and semi upscale restaurant. I liked the bowling alley idea. I love how one of the reasons is "No proven long term market in this area for a business like pinstripes". That is somewhat valid I suppose...don't want a huge flop, but still, a new more interesting use that could have easily been converted to basic restaurant/retail if it indeed didn't work out.

I was mad about that quote from the city as well. Who are the planning committee staff to be deciding which retailers will and won't be successful? That's the building owner's decision. If we stayed with only what worked before for our retail spaces we'll never have anything unique that the suburbs don't already have (actually, we don't anyways).

[mnmike]

Well I think maybe they were thinking Pinstripes wouldn't work because it is in suburban locations, perhaps that was their reasoning (thinking of Block E)....but yeah, I agree.

[EOst]

In fairness, a bowling alley would probably be a lot harder to convert to a new use if it were to shut down than a simple restaurant. That's bad for the neighborhood too.

[mnmike]

Also true.

[Tyler]

I like the mixed use nature of the Sherman building. Plus the tall top level/rooftop is cool. But it's interesting the projected property tax is so different. That's hard to ignore.

[FISHMANPET]

I think that what they were saying is that they're not sure if Pinstripes would be successful or not, so they also evaluated would would replace Pinstripes if it went under. All it would be is offices and a bigger hotel restaurant. They did the same analysis for Mortenson, and came to the conclusion that retail and and nice restaurants are hot here, so if something happened to businesses the space could easily fill with more active uses.

I think in the grand scheme of things, I'm happier with the city taking the more pragmatic and conservative approach here. If Sherman had a better plan to repurpose the Pinstripes space then they would have done better in that category. But ultimately the problem is that most of their first floor was going to be hotel lobby, not a very active use. If Pinstripes was to be more active on the first floor, then it could easily be repurposed for something more active.

[acs]

Also, according to the Bizjournal article the Mortensen proposal would allow a 10th floor to be built if/when the office tenant decides to expand. That bodes well for keeping the AAN long-term.

Wonder if we'll see an RFP for the other liner parcel soon.

Edit:To be clear, I absolutely support a Pinstripes downtown and it needs to happen ASAP. It's the kind of unique destination restaurant that Downtown needs more of.

[BBMplsMN]

I liked the Sherman proposal better, especially the Pinstripes. It would have brought something unique to the neighborhood. And I wasn't happy that the Mortenson restaurant partner would be managed by Culinare.

My glimmer of hope is that Sherman is working on a number of other blocks in that area and if they were confident that a Pinstripes would be successful, they could still make it happen.

[Anondson]

Don't do daring proposals for city-owned land. Be conventional.

[John]

The Sherman project looks better, but Mortenson's proposal allows the Academy Of Neurology to expand at their present site. They are a great asset to downtown and I would hate for them expand somewhere else. As for Pinstripes, in some ways it feels too "suburban" to be along Washington on such a prominent site. That said , I'm not really opposed to it in a less visible area nearby.

[Tyler]

The Sherman project looks better, but Mortenson's proposal allows the Academy Of Neurology to expand at their present site. They are a great asset to downtown and I would hate for them expand somewhere else.

Just to be clear, the connected office space is already in the Sherman plan.

[John]

The Sherman project looks better, but Mortenson's proposal allows the Academy Of Neurology to expand at their present site. They are a great asset to downtown and I would hate for them expand somewhere else.

Just to be clear, the connected office space is already in the Sherman plan.

But I think the Mortenson proposal allows them to also build additional space (at a future date) above the top floor. I didn't explain that well

[Nathan]

Do we have more than just the one rendering on the winning project?