Nic on Fifth - (290' - 26 Stories)

[Silophant]

The ramp will get torn down in 2014, to make way for Xcel's new HQ building. I'd assume they'll use it up until that point, though they may not bother connecting that skyway stub unless that's where they plan to put the skyway anyway.

[Didier]

Isn't the skyway coming from the Fifth Street Towers?

[Andrew_F]

Yes, the Nic will hook up to the classic "skyway to nowhere" out of 5th Street.

I wonder how long the stub on the parking ramp has been there.

[mullen]

thanks for finding these renderings. i feel a lot better about the building with the lighter coloring. if this is how the building will look it will be a great asset. i wish the developer would release these to the local media.

[min-chi-cbus]

I wonder if it's the same coloring issue going on with Loring Vue Apartments -- with a recent rendering showing darker colored stone vs. the (actual reality) lighter colored stone. Maybe these simulations have a difficult time determining what limestone looks like here???

[Wedgeguy]

Yes, the Nic will hook up to the classic "skyway to nowhere" out of 5th Street.

I wonder how long the stub on the parking ramp has been there.

The stub will be torn down with Mc Donalds. Ther is nolonger any access for it to functionand I truely doubt that Exel will have a skyway access to their new building. But I could be wrong is there is not sensative functions going on. I'm figuring this new building will be more administative.

Limestone tends to darken as it weathers. See Rand Tower as an example.

[Nathan]

Limestone tends to darken as it weathers. See Rand Tower as an example.

All stones will 'darken' but it's typically just atmospheric soiling that could easily be removed with a nice/special bath.

Didn't someone post in the xcel thread that there were plans for a skyway drawn in?

[Avian]

I wonder if it's the same coloring issue going on with Loring Vue Apartments -- with a recent rendering showing darker colored stone vs. the (actual reality) lighter colored stone. Maybe these simulations have a difficult time determining what limestone looks like here???

I do renderings for a living (which hasn't been much lately!). We can accurately portray any material in CGI's although the appearance may vary depending upon the final output (print vs. web vs. monitors, etc).

[mattaudio]

I wonder if Nic on 5th leaves the skyway over 5th St out of the picture right now to leave that burden on Gaviidae when they figure out how to fill the Needless Markup void.

[Wedgeguy]

I wonder if Nic on 5th leaves the skyway over 5th St out of the picture right now to leave that burden on Gaviidae when they figure out how to fill the Needless Markup void.

My thinking is if you don't have at least 2-3 anchors downtown then you can kiss a shopping distict good buy. You need a synergy to get people to come to a particular place to shop.While 50th and France and Grand Ave in St. Paul don't have large retail anchors. They do have a great grouping and variety of stores that makes people want to come and shop along these streets. True, this has to be done in downtown as well.

[Lancestar2]

Limestone tends to darken as it weathers. See Rand Tower as an example.

All stones will 'darken' but it's typically just atmospheric soiling that could easily be removed with a nice/special bath.

Didn't someone post in the xcel thread that there were plans for a skyway drawn in?

Yes, they are building it with the possibility to build a skyway across to the old Excel energy building in the future. Also I think they will have a skyway connection to Nic on 5th. If my memory serves me correctly lol

[trkaiser]

Having a hard time getting this to show up - but here's today's view of the site from Fifth Street Towers.

[web]

Having a hard time getting this to show up - but here's today's view of the site from Fifth Street Towers.

hmmmm

[mulad]

Looks like the URL points at a web page rather than an image. Here's an attempt -- let's see if Wordpress freaks out about hotlinking or not...

[mattaudio]

Interesting... the link is hosted by http://tomabouttown.wordpress.com/ which looks like a solid add to my Google Reader.

[trkaiser]

Thanks for the mention, Matt! You have given me good incentive/reminder to get off my butt and upload some of the things I've planned for my little outlet. Aside from photos, I had planned to add a feature on my someday-most-desirable vacant lots of Northeast. It's going to be a real barn burner.

Also, my good friend works at Fifth Street Towers and has promised to keep the construction update pics of this site coming. I will hold him to this promise with a succession of carrots and sticks.

[mattaudio]

Maybe a network of UrbanMSP webcams is in order? I bet a directional antenna (finding some free wifi) hooked up to a wifi webcam behind that cube wall could stream a webcam without trouble.

[web]

I wonder when that old mcdonalds will come down????

[nasa35]

I wonder when that old mcdonalds will come down????

why was it even closed? Man that was a busy M in the day

[mattaudio]

Probably when they opened up one in the food court on the fourth floor of Gaviidae... I bet there's some sort of spacing as part of franchise rules, or something like that.