Target Field Station (the Hotel) & Target Field Station (the Station)

[mattaudio]

Metro Transit PD will not have an office at Target Field Station.

http://www.startribune.com/local/minnea ... 69141.html

Maybe there's not enough new parking for their fleet...

[twincitizen]

A few shots from Friday: (let's keep talking about the Metro PD station thing though...that's a surprising development)


Target Field Station - looking northwest on 5th Street by twincitizen, on Flickr


Target Field Station - looking southeast on 5th Street by twincitizen, on Flickr

[Nick]

[kellonathan]

Any chance of retail or restaurant instead of MetroTransitPD, I wonder?

[Silophant]

Hope so. They've gotta do something with that space, right?

[froggie]

Biked along the Cedar Lake Trail through downtown this afternoon…was somewhat disappointed that I didn't see any construction from that level. Did I just miss it?

[illman00]

Biked along the Cedar Lake Trail through downtown this afternoon…was somewhat disappointed that I didn't see any construction from that level. Did I just miss it?

Yeah the Cedar Lake runs lower so you probably cant see the construction though I haven't been on it since last fall. With that said I did bike to a Twins game last year on Cedar Lake Trail and could not figure out what is the best way to get to the bike racks on the north west side of Target Field. The first time I ended up going through that parking lot by the Northstar station then I think I either had to carry it up some random steps or take an elevator or something then walk another block on the sidewalk to get to Target Field. The second time I went up before getting to Target field and it was a little bit better but you'd think they would make it pretty clear and easy to get to all those bike racks.

[Wedgeguy]

I think when you are biking, getting off at the old end of the Cedar Lake Trail ending would be the best. There you can at least follow second to the stadium from the south. It would be only a block or two to the stadium.

[mamundsen]

The way that the Cedar Lake Trail connects to Target Field is criminal. Neither option is very intuitive. You have to either exit the trail 2 blocks early and end up at Glenwood and 12th. Then work your way over on city streets. Or Bike past TF until you can exit near Bachelor Farmer then work back. I know it's only a few blocks either way... But the trail TOUCHES the stadium!!! This is a big pet peeve of mine.

[downfall]

There is a new exit at the Dock Street Flats, but you still have to double back to the stadium.

[mattaudio]

Indeed, why is it not possible to use the vertical circulation on the NW side of the BNSF tracks (this very project) to connect the Cedar Lake Trail to 5th St?

[VAStationDude]

Are the tail tracks in service yet? When I was there Sunday they were not. Also I didn't realize they wrapped all the way around the burner to the bnsf tracks on the 7th street side.

[mister.shoes]

Indeed, why is it not possible to use the vertical circulation on the NW side of the BNSF tracks (this very project) to connect the Cedar Lake Trail to 5th St?

Because the trail is on the E side of the tracks?

Last summer when my wife, sister-in-law, and I had our [mis]adventure trying to get up to Target Field for the Independence Day game, I was struck by just how isolated the trail is from *everything* west of it. The best chance for proper vertical circulation seems to be if and when Hines builds on the surface lot north of 5th Street.

[mattaudio]

They could put in a bike/ped RR crossing. Or connect via the south end of the Northstar platform and use that vertical circulation. Either way, there should be a connection to the trail.

[mister.shoes]

Either way, there should be a connection to the trail.

Completely agree. There's nothing quite like biking to Target Field only to realize there's no way up.

[twincitizen]

http://www.startribune.com/local/west/254443751.html
http://finance-commerce.com/2014/04/cou ... ment-deal/

Agreement between Hennepin County & United Properties finalized. Sounds like the public got an ok deal in exchange for the development parcel and advertising space, etc...relatively speaking. Metro Transit PD backing out of the deal was the best thing to ever happen to this project. Now we might actually get a nice office/hotel project on the development parcel, as shown in the original (albeit speculative) renderings. The PD signaling interest (after the damn thing had already broken ground) threw everyone for a loop. Hopefully the PD's new HQ can be incorporated into the Heywood 2 project (bus garage expansion).

Definitely read the F&C article for complete details. Lots of good stuff in there. I'm not sure what's up with the 10-story height limit on the site though...not that it matters too much:

If United Properties winds up building a10-story building, there could be as much as 280,000 square feet of space total, Kayla Bromelkamp, a Hennepin County spokeswoman, said in an email. Planners think the site will allow for about 30,000 square feet in retail development opportunities. In addition, there is already a 2,370-square-foot Caribou Coffee building on one of the parcels that will pay rent to the county.
Metro Transit originally intended to build a police facility at the site but later changed its plans. As a result, United Properties agreed to purchase one of the properties for at least $1.5 million, with additional payments if it builds more than 100,000 square feet, Bromelkamp said. The old agreement simply gave the company an option on the property.

[Silophant]

As a transit project, this was probably a waste of tens of millions of dollars. But if there's actually going to be some 24-hour public restrooms in downtown? Worth it.

There isn't already a set somewhere that I've been missing for years, is there?

[twinkess]

As a transit project, this was probably a waste of tens of millions of dollars. But if there's actually going to be some 24-hour public restrooms in downtown? Worth it.

There isn't already a set somewhere that I've been missing for years, is there?

I'd be interested to learn of their existence as well.

[ECtransplant]

I'd be interested to learn of a 24 hour anything downtown, except gas stations ugh

[talindsay]

As a runner who ate a Chipotle burrito before taking off for a 12 mile run yesterday I can tell you I wish there were *ANY* kind of restroom between the river and LAKE CALHOUN along the Cedar Lake trail. That was a brutal five miles.