Soo Line Building Apartments - (501 Marquette Avenue)

[David Greene]

Prices are not outrageous.

I don't know. I bought a SFH at the peak of the market in the Wedge and refinanced for a 15-year loan this year. Including insurance and taxes, our monthly bill is ~$2000. I'm guessing it would be a bit less today since the house has lost value and on top of that a 30-year mortgage would have a much lower monthly payment. $1700 seems pretty outrageous for an apartment in comparison, even for one downtown given how easily I can get there from home.

[martykoessel]

The calculus between owning and renting depends in large part on how long the owner or renter is confident about staying in one place. With a 30-year loan, for the first decade or so most of the money paid to the bank goes to interest rather than principle, meaning that home ownership, financially, works a whole lot like renting. Then there are also all those maintenance costs and maintenance time demands that renters mostly escape.

When home values were regularly shooting up, many buyers could think, "Well, I won't build up much equity for a long time, but even if I end up selling 10 years down the road, the house will be worth more, so I'll come out nicely." Faith in this happening is today much slimmer.

So, unless someone's planning to hang out a good long time, that rent of $1,700 a month could leave a person in better shape financially than paying $2,000 a month for a home, plus pesky maintenance and repair costs, the hassle of taking care of a yard, perhaps a longer commute, the stress of selling when the time comes, etc, etc.

For people on the move, the Soo Building might appear quite like a deal.

[David Greene]

Certainly home ownership isn't for everyone and there are tradeoffs involved. I'm simply comparing the cost of living. I would guess a 30-year mortgage would put us in the $1200-$1500 range.

I'll just note that I didn't buy a house as a financial investment so I didn't count on significant appreciation of the building. Certainly we're going to put a lot of money into it and that's a big factor to consider. We can and have planned for those expenses. If home ownership doesn't work, there are plenty of nice apartments or duplexes in the Wedge renting for much less than $1700/mo. Sure you don't get all the amenities but you've got the lakes for your water fix and there's a Y within easy walking distance or a Snap Fitness if that is more your style. There are multiple yoga studios and wonderful bike infrastructure one won't find downtown.

Plus you can always make friends at Flux if you want to sip umbrella drinks on the patio.

It's about what one wants, of course, but I would say the rent at Soo is definitely steep given the current market.

[martykoessel]

Yeah, David, I'm a homeowner, too. My wife and I teamed up to pay off the mortgage our little house down near Lake Nokomis, and our 3-year-old loves being able to step outdoors without much ado. I even like the gardening when I can dig up time for it (pun intended). I'm just trying to put myself into the mindset of the fairly numerous people for whom $1,700 per month or more sounds OK. At a different point in my life, at a different income level, with different goals....

[mattaudio]

Lots of UrbanMSPers by Nokomis.

[writruth]

Yeah, David, I'm a homeowner, too. My wife and I teamed up to pay off the mortgage our little house down near Lake Nokomis, and our 3-year-old loves being able to step outdoors without much ado. I even like the gardening when I can dig up time for it (pun intended). I'm just trying to put myself into the mindset of the fairly numerous people for whom $1,700 per month or more sounds OK. At a different point in my life, at a different income level, with different goals....

A significant percentage of those young working couples who choose to live downtown, likely have jobs nearby or at least a short LRT or bus ride away. If that working couple can get by with riding a bike to work, walking or taking public transit, the cost savings of having to pay the note on a second car, makes the higher rents competitive. The added benefits of avoiding parking costs, and the time-saving of not having to drive are additional advantages.

[mattaudio]

Indeed. Mr. Money Mustache calculates that for a couple, a second car with a twice daily 40 minute commute can equal $125,000 in purchasing power over a decade. Having fewer cars can either help build wealth, or help people consume higher-priced luxury goods such as an apartment with a sexybath.

[David Greene]

A significant percentage of those young working couples who choose to live downtown, likely have jobs nearby or at least a short LRT orI s bus ride away. If that working couple can get by with riding a bike to work, walking or taking public transit, the cost savings of having to pay the note on a second car, makes the higher rents competitive. The added benefits of avoiding parking costs, and the time-saving of not having to drive are additional advantages.

That's a very good point. I work downtown St. Paul and while the 53 used to work for me, with the new baby I'm finding it difficult to justify being away from family for an additional hour each day. Once Central goes on line and especially Southwest I'll have to reevaluate as it's more realistic to do actual work on the LRT, meaning less time in the physical office. One thing I would really like to see on our transit system is wifi access. That would make working during the commute completely seemless for me and I suspect a number of others. I can tether to my phone now but the speeds are pretty awful.

[spearson]

Taking out old street level windows and starting main entrance.

[samuelgeris]

Hello everyone, I was just wondering if anyone on here knew anything about when the pre-approved residents can start going through the building. i.e. hard hat tours

Thanks in advance

[uptowner]

When I went to the sales office a couple months ago they said hard hat tours would be in August, but I haven't heard any updates since then.

[seanrichardryan]

The owners of Meritage of St. Paul are opening two new concepts here, 'Brasserie Zentral' on the street level and 'Cafe Zentral' on the skyway level- http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/ta ... 66541.html

[mister.shoes]

Sounds like an ambitious project and one that could really be a showpiece not only in that building, but in MPLS in general. The end of that article did point out the obvious: there are going to be >750 brand new high-end apartments within a block of this restaurant in the very near future. That's a huge potential customer base.

[MNdible]

This sounds fantastic.

[midwestsouth]

Any update on where this project is at? I'm moving to MSP and am strongly considering Soo Line Building but do not know much about the neighborhoods or this location. Is it close to restaurants? Will the building be shaded by the surrounding skyscrapers? Is it a safe area? Thank you to all who contribute to this board - it has been incredibly helpful for a Twin Cities newcomer!

[Nathan]

Any update on where this project is at? I'm moving to MSP and am strongly considering Soo Line Building but do not know much about the neighborhoods or this location. Is it close to restaurants? Will the building be shaded by the surrounding skyscrapers? Is it a safe area? Thank you to all who contribute to this board - it has been incredibly helpful for a Twin Cities newcomer!

Hey, Welcome to the area!
There are plenty of restaurants in Downtown! but not too much open late as it's in the Central Business District. North Loop, not far from there has a bunch of cool eateries. However in the near future there are going to be hundreds of residents in that area in new buildings for the first time. So a lot more things will follow. It's also just blocks from the new Whole foods, and fairly close to two Lunds Grocery Stores. It sounds like this place is going to be one of the best new apartment buildings in the area, modern amenities and historic charm. It's near the river and trails, the theatre district, and is fairly safe. Obviously there are some strange things that happen in the city Friday and Saturday nights, but a conscious person could easily avoid any confrontation with the club scene lol.

[Minnekid]

Just out of interest, where are you moving from and what is your general age? Don't mean to be intrusive, just curious to see what people are moving to the city.

[DTSB]

Any update on where this project is at? I'm moving to MSP and am strongly considering Soo Line Building but do not know much about the neighborhoods or this location. Is it close to restaurants? Will the building be shaded by the surrounding skyscrapers? Is it a safe area? Thank you to all who contribute to this board - it has been incredibly helpful for a Twin Cities newcomer!

It will have possibly one of the best restaurants in the Twin Cities right inside: http://m.startribune.com/?id=218466541

it probably is shaded because it's one block east of one of the biggest buildings downtown (Cappella Tower). But I think it's a sweet location in a sweet building. I live a few blocks south of there and I feel safe. You need to be aware of your surroundings, but for the most part, I think it's good.

[Didier]

I'm pretty sure there's a bunch of restaurants a few block away that are open late. Brits, the Local, Barrio, Newsroom, Hell's Kitchen, Melting Pot, McCormick and Schmicks, etc. etc.

[Moderato]

The restaurant, cafe, wine bar and liquor store desitined for this building all sound truly awesome. I wonder if I could talk the Kleins into putting a real, authentic German/Turkish Doner Kebab place at skyway level. I've always wondered why there isn't one anywhere in America as far as I know. Seems like it would be up their alley...