urbanMSP

Walking by the property yesterday, If the property includes all the parking from the Freeman's parking lot to next door to bunkers that will be a very wide or long building. Do anyone know if this property is just fronting Washington, or does it go all the way back to 3rd?

I'm also assuming that the parking may have a district parking affect for the area. The parking maybe hid at the back and below some of the residential floors with the retail facing Washington. There is a lot of footage fronting Washington. There could still a parking entrance on Washington, but the parking structure would be behind the retail portion of the structure. I'm also assuming that the residential parking will be underground and separate from the public parking. Also not sure if the alley could be vacated and used for parking entrances on 7th and 8th.

Looks like it's just the property fronting Washington:

I've always felt that the city should have stepped up 10 years ago and bought this parcel and the one directly to the SW for the neighborhood park between 3rd and Wash.

(729 Washington Ave. N., 728 N. 3rd Street)
Projected DEED Request: $572,080
Projected Metropolitan Council TBRA Request: $572,080
Greco, LLC is proposing to redevelop two vacant parcels, currently used as parking
lots, into a mixed-use development that will include 50-60 market rate apartments,
12,000-15,000 square feet of retail/office, and structured parking. The projected
total development cost is $36,719,000. Grant funds, if awarded, will be used
primarily for soil remediation.
This site is zoned B4N with the Downtown Parking Overlay. It is classified as a
mixed-use project, which is a permitted/conditional use in these districts. In
general, the project is supportable, but there may be changes recommended by
staff during the public hearing review and approval process. The development site
is located the North Loop. The site is located in the Downtown Growth Center and
Target Field Transit Station Area as well as along the Washington Commercial
Corridor as identified in The Minneapolis Plan for Sustainable Growth. The future
land use map in The Minneapolis Plan for Sustainable Growth designates the site as
Mixed Use which supports the proposed uses of residential, retail, and office. The
project’s proposed uses would be appropriate in this area and would be in
conformance with the comprehensive plan for land use.

I've always felt that the city should have stepped up 10 years ago and bought this parcel and the one directly to the SW for the neighborhood park between 3rd and Wash.

Completely agree. Note that the (apparent) route of Bassett Creek hugs the property line here, so that will likely limit what they're able to do with footings/pilings on this portion of the lot.

I've said it before, but the city needs to re-establish an "opportunity fund", so that when key parcels like this come to market, they can snap them up quickly. There have been a number of missed opportunities in the North Loop.

They're already opening the school in downtown east, I'm really hoping that can work well. I'm talking about park space in North Loop