urbanMSP

Lifetime Work.

What an absolutely terrible name. "Lifetime Fitness" and "Lifetime Athletic" make sense - being fit for a Lifetime is a desirable attribute.

But "Lifetime Work"? Who really wants a lifetime filled with work?

Lifetime Fitness does, and its co-working ambitions: https://work.lifetime.life/home.html

What an absolutely terrible name. "Lifetime Fitness" and "Lifetime Athletic" make sense - being fit for a Lifetime is a desirable attribute.

But "Lifetime Work"? Who really wants a lifetime filled with work?

LOL, yeah, it's so awful you wonder how it got as far as it did.

Lifetime Office.. sounds better IMO. Yea, they really picked a bad name.

What an absolutely terrible name. "Lifetime Fitness" and "Lifetime Athletic" make sense - being fit for a Lifetime is a desirable attribute.

But "Lifetime Work"? Who really wants a lifetime filled with work?

I fully agree with you.

The permanent Dayton's signs were recently added to the corner of 8th and Nicollet. This morning there was a large Santa Bear window display at that corner too. I'd love if this project embraces the Dayton's history and brings back the Santa Bear or 8th floor displays.

I hope this becomes a destination which brings those living Downtown there during non-office hours. Perhaps if we build activity here and we could get it to spread to City Center and beyond for a vibrant downtown. Wishful or hopeful?

I agree. I didn’t grow up in Minneapolis, but I lived there for 9 years. Now I’m in New York and I still follow Minnesota development. The Daytons really were good caretakers of culture and commerce for Minnesota. I hope this becomes a cultural tribute to the labors that name represents.

Stupid things that I truly believe: the revitalization of Dayton's will cause older suburban residents to perceive Minneapolis as safer.

If this project isn’t at least a B- I’m moving to North Branch.

I hope this becomes a destination which brings those living Downtown there during non-office hours. Perhaps if we build activity here and we could get it to spread to City Center and beyond for a vibrant downtown. Wishful or hopeful?

If we ever want there to be any sort of retail/restaurant district in which the skyway level is activated outside of office hours, I've long believed that we need better coordination and branding/signage between 4 key buildings: IDS, Dayton's, City Center, and Gaviidae. Those 4 buildings have the most potential for people to be milling about on evenings and weekends, and they already have some of the most active skyway level businesses during off-hours. IDS always has some amount of people hanging out on Saturdays, as does City Center. Gaviidae is a shell of its former self, but it does have Walgreens, which keeps it pretty relevant.

P.S. I'm 100% on team "activate the streetscape, F the skyway level", but we also have to recognize reality and work with what we've got. Improving the street level is a downtown-wide effort that is going to take decades worth of facade renovations to add more doors, tens of thousands of additional residents, etc. But on these 4 buildings, there's also a unique opportunity to concentrate/focus off-hours activity here, and there is always going to be a lot of movement happening through the skyway. Some very simple & low-cost improvements to wayfinding signage/branding in this "shopping quad" of buildings could pay quick dividends in attracting more stores and restaurants (and customers).

P.P.S. Go to Cardigan Donuts in City Center on a Saturday afternoon. Donuts are half off...and delicious.

In addition to the Walgreens, Gaviidae stays pretty busy on weekends with people going to and from the YMCA. Maybe not the likeliest crowd to stop off to do some quick shopping, but it's still something.

I'm fairly hopeful that Dayton's will be the kick that gets other DT retailers/restaurateurs to wake up and realize that there's actually a lot of people living in the DT core now, and it would be worth their while to actually, like, bother to open up and sell them things on the weekends. I've been to Penny's a couple Saturday mornings recently where I found myself waiting for a seat, and even more hidden places like Angel Food and Cardigan are busy on Saturdays.

As more residents move Downtown who are older. They'll be looking for places they can go to spend money. Whether it is Cardigans for a coffee and donuts or clothes and eateries. Eventually those buying the apartments now ill be come more immobile and forced to navigate through the skyway. Older well to do Downtown residents could help Downtown.

All of the Dayton's Skyways are open again. You can see a lot of the progress walking through.

All of the Dayton's Skyways are open again. You can see a lot of the progress walking through.

This is great news! The recent closure has cut off parts of the skyway system.

Yah it made you have to walk on Nicollet Mall *shudders*

Yah it made you have to walk on Nicollet Mall *shudders*

Ehhh, we would just run across the street from US bank over to RSM and hop back on Skyway over there. We made it work for the temporary inconvenience.

Hard to believe this thread has been dormant for 9 months. Here's an update from Strib: https://www.startribune.com/ambitious-r ... 572386372/

Ernst & Young will be moving into the Dayton's building in November