urbanMSP

And I sort of love the idea of a promenade (like this one in DC: ...

I think I took a photo of that alley when I walked around D.C. two years ago.

103B3EAE-DD45-484C-8A71-9CAC6C6C942A by Eric Anondson, on Flickr

Same one. Full of high end retail with hospitality (restaurants) in the center.

hmmm. I like the layout and the interior circulation. Materials- eh

I think the materials are just poor rendering quality. You can see that the "limestone bands" are actually just a white fill with 50% opacity over the brick kicked out by the render software. Just some sloppy photoshop work -the bricks are literally visible still.

Based on massing, I'd say better. Materials, we will just have to wait and see.

I don't think it is intended to be limestone bands. If you look at their materials they actually show a "bronze" colored brick as the accent. This technique usually doesn't look very good - look at 212 lofts down the street to see how this will really look. In my opinion it looks "faux historic" in a bad way. Maybe they will pull it off but I am skeptical. The massing is otherwise good and the fenestration is good. I wish the residential lobby was accessed off the live-work alley rather than coming all the way to the street. It seems it would be better if that commercial space was able to go all the way to the corner and tuck the entry to the residential behind it. My other question is what is the live-work alley actually connecting? I like the idea but there is just a plain brick wall on the back side and no real destination.

Maybe I'm crazy (and I'm certainly less qualified that some of you), but this looks like a major improvement to me, with the massing of each half being much more congruous with the historical references. At an angle or at a distance, they look good and like separate buildings.

Agreed here - I like the more classic design. Real (looking) brick, and a cornice! It seems like a real compliment in design to the 19th/20th century warehouses as opposed to the earlier proposal that took one element: brick. Either way, this location is going to produce one of the highest quality 5-1s this cycle.

Also agree, though, that the separation breaks up the street front more than it should.

I like the design better than the original. Very curious about the courtyard, it'll work great if there is active retail along the way, otherwise it's just a pathway to an alley with some guards standing around.

The packet mentions the parking ramp will be used by the proposed hotel across the street, looks like the Foundry development will be getting a redesign too.

We need more active alley type spaces like this in Minneapolis. Perfect place for a coffee shop or cocktail bar.

New plans again from HPC: http://minneapolismn.gov/www/groups/pub ... 215460.pdf

Keeps looking better. Now called The Archive.

New plans again from HPC: http://minneapolismn.gov/www/groups/pub ... 215460.pdf

Keeps looking better. Now called The Archive.

Saw crews onsite there yesterday marking up spaces on the ground. Hopefully they're able to get started on this on in early 2019.

Also looked like there were soil boring samples being taken at the adjacent surface lot the Federal Reserve just purchased.

I'm surprised they can go that deep (4 levels underground). They hammered out a significant amount of bedrock from the project site at 128 2nd St N / 1st Ave N. That is only 2 levels underground and a block away.

Glad the facade is no longer a five alarm tire fire, and I'm always for a nice outdoor sign. But... why is this called the Archive? Why does it have 1.6 parking spaces per unit? Still some issues with this one.

*duplicate*

Glad the facade is no longer a five alarm tire fire, and I'm always for a nice outdoor sign. But... why is this called the Archive? Why does it have 1.6 parking spaces per unit? Still some issues with this one.

Could be replacing the lost public parking for the nearby event centers

Looks like this got approved, heard from someone today they're planning to break ground in March.

Fence is up around a portion of the site

Ground broken. Goodbye parking lot.

I think I spot a up.

I think I spot a up.

Nope, no tower cranes onsite yet, just a truck crane & pile driver. They're working on foundation supports against the old Foster building.

Tower crane sections were delivered to the site this morning

Site excavation work is complete. Sub level P3 foundation work should be complete by the end of this week.
Site utility work (water main install) scheduled for this week.
Decking for P2 to begin Tuesday.

Ground retention anchors have been removed from the sub-levels. The post-tension decks have all reached their 90 day cures, and the connecting pour strips all passed and are cured.
Our remaining work is to remove and replace the sidewalk when the project nears completion.