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

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

Postby writruth » June 4th, 2012, 4:24 pm

Mod Note: The old "Target Field Station" thread and "United Properties Target Field Development Site" have been merged to a single thread to talk about Target Field itself, the transit station, and the development pad site held by United Properties.

Back in February, there were requests for proposals and rumors of some potentially interesting projects, including a hotel tower that could rise above The Interchange and possibly overlook into Target Field.

I know only a portion of the needed funding was approved to move forward with the multi-tiered transit platform but it seemed like some of the proposals, depending on how they faired, could result in a private infusion of revenue to help move The Interchange project forward.

Also, back in February, there was a sense of urgency about this project, even a plan to pursue a design-build streamlined construction process to allow completion of the project before Spring of 2014 when The Central LRT line is up and running.

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Re: The Interchange (At Target Field)

Postby mulad » June 4th, 2012, 7:49 pm

I went to Mn/DOT's Passenger Rail Forum meeting today and there was a significant presentation talking about how they were squeezing in the tracks next to the Dock Street Apartments. Mn/DOT and the Interchange folks have been scrambling over the past 10 weeks or so to get things going, following a Conditional Use Permit that was approved by the city. The transit planners went and filed an appeal after they learned about it, and say they've been able to come to a solution.

Sounds like Hines (the developer) is basically going to take their existing plan and rotate their building ever so slightly. The transit officials said that the clearance problem came down to about 4.5 feet.

The Cedar Lake Trail will still go through the trench and won't go up to grade level, but its alignment will be changed a bit, to have a bit of an S-curve next to the apartments.

It sounds like Hennepin County is going to spend $1.7 million to get a 25-year easement from Hines for the bike trail to keep the area clear. However, Hines has plans to further develop the parking lots in the trench (apparently they own them). The next buildings will probably be towers, and the bike trail may end up in a "colonnade" area with support columns between the trail itself and the station area.

The existing Northstar platform will be narrowed from 40 feet at present to 26 feet, and a second platform will be added. Both will be about 900 feet long in order to handle intercity trains. They claim that the two platforms and 4 tracks will be capable of handling 60+ trains/day.

The presentation is supposedly going to appear on the web at some point, though I don't know if that'd be on the Passenger Rail Forum site, the Interchange site, or even possibly a Hennepin County site...

There was some acknowledgement by Dan Krom of the state Office of Passenger Rail that this whole fiasco should be taken as a lesson. With better planning and communication, this could have been avoided. Peter McLaughlin has been calling this "the Kmart moment of this generation".

Anyway, I don't know when that might actually be built. As far as I know, any future projects in the trench will be part of "Phase 2" of the Interchange. I'm guessing "Phase 1" is going to be more focused on the LRT platforms.

Hennepin County is expecting Best and Final Offers by June 11th, with recommendations made for a design-build team on June 19th, and final approval by the full Met Council on June 26th. Sounds like construction will begin post haste in July, with opening of at least the first phase expected in 2014.

They still seem to be scraping together funding for the project in bits and pieces. There was also a special meeting of the Met Council's Transportation Committee today where it looked like some of the CCLRT contingency funding would get directed to MTI, but I haven't checked it out yet (there should be video of it on the Met Council's site, though I doubt minutes will appear for a few weeks yet).

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Re: The Interchange (At Target Field)

Postby writruth » June 4th, 2012, 8:20 pm

Mulad: Thanks for the quick, informative update. Awesome to have this forum back!

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Re: The Interchange (At Target Field)

Postby Nick » June 4th, 2012, 8:55 pm

There was some acknowledgement by Dan Krom of the state Office of Passenger Rail that this whole fiasco should be taken as a lesson. With better planning and communication, this could have been avoided. Peter McLaughlin has been calling this "the Kmart moment of this generation".
+10 McLaughlin points
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Re: The Interchange (At Target Field)

Postby pfreyre » June 19th, 2012, 4:00 pm

From the Star Tribune today:
The Hennepin County Board on Tuesday tentatively approved a $79.3 million transit hub near the ballpark in Minneapolis' North Loop area, even though the project is still $22 million short in funding.

On 5 to 1 votes, commissioners agreed to proceed with the Interchange project now so that it can be built in time for the arrival of the Central Corridor light-rail trains, which are expected to reach Target Field by 2014.

Commissioners approved $22 million from the county's general fund to cover the funding gap. They said they expect to recoup much of that money through future parking revenues and other sources...

...The board voted in committee on Tuesday, so it will have to ratify the vote next week while meeting both as the full board and as the county railroad authority.
I guess we find out the final decision next week.

Source: http://www.startribune.com/local/west/159621465.html

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Re: The Interchange (At Target Field)

Postby Jfuss » June 20th, 2012, 7:41 pm

I found a new rendering of The Interchange. Use the following link to find a larger image size of the attached rendering. It is under the Hennepin County Committee Meeting 6_19_12, http://theinterchange.net/index.php?opt ... Itemid=184

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Re: The Interchange (At Target Field)

Postby writruth » June 20th, 2012, 9:02 pm

JFuss: Great job. I just found the same link. You beat me to the punch.

The approved Knutson design is really amazing. I love the modern architectural "surfboard" that covers the LRT loading zone. I also am enthusiastic about the large sprawling, green space on both the upper and lower tiers of the public plaza. The angular design beautifully complements Target Field and serves as a front door to the North Loop area sloping down toward the Holiday Gas Station.

I'm intrigued by the two structures, an office building of about 10 stories to the right of the tracks and the red shed-style building at the base of the structure. I wish these were included in the construction plan but my guess is they are placeholders for future development. Perhaps a hotel to accommodate future Target Field visitors.

What a welcome addition this will be. It's open, welcoming qualities make it an ideal meeting space and the pie-slice triangle could possibly serve as a venue for small outdoor concerts, Shakespere in the park or outdoor movie projections. Excellent proposal Knutson Construction. And smart decision to fund this by The Hennepin County Board.

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Re: The Interchange (At Target Field)

Postby Didier » June 20th, 2012, 10:35 pm

Where is Target Field in relation to that rendering?

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Re: The Interchange (At Target Field)

Postby MSPtoMKE » June 20th, 2012, 10:48 pm

Nice to know it will move forward. I too think that this will make for an impressive station, certainly a step up from what is there now. Of course they will have to change the "Circle M" Metro logos to the final "Circle T" branding that was decided on. I too was going to post that rendering but was beaten to the punch as well. Since I took the time to copy the rendering out of the .pdf, I'll post a higher resolution version. (Is there no way to click on the attachment to see the whole photo without scroll bars like the old forum?)
Interchange_Render.jpg
Where is Target Field in relation to that rendering?
Target Field is on the left edge, near the Interchange logo. This rendering covers where the current tail tracks extend from the current Target Field Station.
My flickr photos.

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Re: The Interchange (At Target Field)

Postby mullen » June 21st, 2012, 6:31 am

this is awesome. i'm curious what the mortenson proposal looked like. but this looks great, imo.

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Re: The Interchange (At Target Field)

Postby mullen » June 21st, 2012, 6:32 am

the roof design blends with target field's overhang.

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Re: The Interchange (At Target Field)

Postby mplser » June 21st, 2012, 8:28 am

so is this just going to be a light rail station? are they completely scratching the Amtrak station?

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Re: The Interchange (At Target Field)

Postby mulad » June 21st, 2012, 9:08 am

I believe LRT is "Phase 1". Heavy-rail is "Phase 2". I don't know how the money works out between the two, though.

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Re: The Interchange (At Target Field)

Postby Didier » June 21st, 2012, 9:19 am

Thanks for posting the larger picture. Looks great!

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Re: The Interchange (At Target Field)

Postby MNdible » June 21st, 2012, 9:37 am

From a brief glimpse I've seen of some of the other proposals, this wasn't the most impressive -- probably just the most affordable.

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Re: The Interchange (At Target Field)

Postby Nick » June 21st, 2012, 9:46 am

From a brief glimpse I've seen of some of the other proposals, this wasn't the most impressive -- probably just the most affordable.
Given its location next to HERC I'm happy they didn't spend the extra money to get Calatrava to design the thing ;)
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Re: The Interchange (At Target Field)

Postby woofner » June 21st, 2012, 9:56 am

I preferred the office building screening the garbage burner, as in some earlier renderings. Not sure if potential office tenants would have preferred that, of course, but maybe the amenity of Target Field is enough of a draw.

This is a pretty big plaza - about a half block - and it's going to take some intense programming efforts if it's not going to be deserted outside of every Twins game. Certainly this is an improvement over what's there, but I feel like a better plan would have been to finish the deck plaza between Targets Field & Center (where they recently added a landscaped turnaround to the freeway for some reason) and use the roof of the Interchange parking ramp for development. I hear developers like to build near transit stations, do think Hennepin County has heard that?

I'm not sure the urgency that Hennepin County is adding to this project is warranted. Yes, Central LRT will probably double boardings at Target Field. But it seems like the possibilities for improved boarding procedures haven't been exhausted. It's possible a developer would have financed a good chunk of this project if they waited a bit and provided more space for development. I don't know, maybe they already looked into that and it didn't work, but I haven't seen the evidence.
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Re: The Interchange (At Target Field)

Postby Andrew_F » June 21st, 2012, 11:15 am

The tower with the M on it reminds me of the new Morgan station that just opened here on the Green and Pink lines. Hopefully the new Interchange station has the finish quality that Morgan does! Really excited about this.

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Re: The Interchange (At Target Field)

Postby mullen » June 21st, 2012, 1:00 pm

maybe the county couldn't wait in order to receive the federal money. if u get a special appropriation like that if u snooze u lose. it would just go to another city.

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Re: The Interchange (At Target Field)

Postby Nick » June 25th, 2012, 11:42 am

Just saw this and noticed some similarities to the renderings on the last page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Cg1_expo_exterior.jpg
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