urbanMSP

West Elm furniture retailer is planning a hotel in the North Loop

http://www.startribune.com/west-elm-eye ... 395873761/

Grant called North Loop for this one.

Ooh, which building could it be?

Who said it was an existing building?

Holy crap I was right!?

Can I make another guess? Duffey building?

Who said it was an existing building?

The 120-room hotel will feature a grab-and-go cafe and a rooftop bar. The hotel will "preserve the property's industrial roots while offering localized, community-inspired experiences," according to the website.

http://westelmhotels.com/locations/

The whole north loop has industrial roots. The term property doesn't implicitly mean building. I'm not saying it isn't in a building... but it could be anything. Are they building new or restoring in the first cities?

True. The two-year timeline kinda seems more like new construction, now that you mention it.

The 120-room hotel will feature a grab-and-go cafe and a rooftop bar. The hotel will "preserve the property's industrial roots while offering localized, community-inspired experiences," according to the website.

I think the key phrase here is "preserve the property." That phrasing really doesn't make sense if you're doing a new build and talking about preserving the neighborhood's industrial roots. Because if you were going to build new in such a way that it matches the North Loop, you'd just say that - "The hotel will maintain the neighborhood's industrial feel while offering localized, community-inspired experiences."

You would if there used to be a historic building on the site. The phrase wasn't "preserve the property" the phrase was "preserve the property's industrial roots"

I'm just saying if it's a "showroom" they may want really specific spaces and rooms and features, which might be best accomplished building a new structure.

I'd imagine it would probably have to be on Washington? If that's the case the only large enough existing structure would be what the Duffey Paper building? That would be really awesome.

It would also be pretty awesome at the United properties target field station site since that stalled

My favorite possibility though would be on the vacant lot east of 2nd and Washington.

I wonder if they are looking to create a destination like Restoration Hardware is doing in Chicago and Boston and Dallas...
Those are stores and "destinations" and in Chicago's case - historic renovations

Do we not think it's the reddish brick building shown on West Elm's North Loop page? That's the one here (for some reason they reversed the photo): https://goo.gl/maps/3JyQ3N2uQ6B2
Seems like it might be about the right size for 120 rooms. Then again maybe it's just a random shot of North Loop they tossed in there.

That would be really amazing, but they also show the building that Martin Patrick 3 is in on that main menu?

I didn't think it was the building because that second picture is the Colonial warehouse - I think it was just clip art of facades in the area.

West Elm? A North Loop pal tells me that a developer has gobbled up a good portion of the block that's also shared by the former Theater de la Jeune Lune (I forget what it's called now). It's the part of the block that stretches from JetSet to the Foundry. They're preserving the old buildings, demolishing the concrete block infill buildings and building new in the empty spaces.

West Elm? A North Loop pal tells me that a developer has gobbled up a good portion of the block that's also shared by the former Theater de la Jeune Lune (I forget what it's called now). It's the part of the block that stretches from JetSet to the Foundry. They're preserving the old buildings, demolishing the concrete block infill buildings and building new in the empty spaces.

Aria. Something is definitely going in there, developers gave a proposal to the North Loop Planning Board a few weeks ago:

http://2w5swnzapmf232d0u3vwgc1u.wpengin ... Agenda.pdf

If it doesn't go on Washington or is an existing building my guess is it would be this lot. I could see the hotel working a deal with the large ramp a block over for valet spots.

That has to be a hard block to develop. They must have that giant parking lot on 2nd Ave too, right?

The concrete garage at 123 1st St N is noncontributing and can be demolished, but it will be tricky since it's probably the only thing holding up that abandoned (but protected) structure along 2nd Ave which is part of the Foundry building.

My guess is the Pacific Hotel block where we had a condo/ hotel proposal before the bust in 2007.

Another parking lot sold. Next to the Fed Reserve building slated for future development.

http://finance-commerce.com/2017/03/ber ... rking-lot/

Soil testing was happening here last fall. Rumors were swirling that it'd be a West Elm hotel.