urbanMSP

Those townhomes look great. Modern and historic at the same time. Love the density and mixture of stone and brick.

I agree, and preferably not part of mega-block construction. Yes, I realize that under current zoning realities (and the market need to own a car + preference to have it stored indoors) that may the only way to get the numbers to pencil out (at least with higher-quality materials).

I agree, and preferably not part of mega-block construction. Yes, I realize that under current zoning realities (and the market need to own a car + preference to have it stored indoors) that may the only way to get the numbers to pencil out (at least with higher-quality materials).

Are there particular zoning realities you're referring to? I can't think of anything particularly in the code that would prevent more of this.

The other reality, I suspect, is that once you've decided that you're the type of person who wants fairly high-density living, a flat probably offers a level of convenience, ease of living, and efficiency of layout that's preferable to multi-level living. Not to mention that it's easier for a building of flats to provide access to amenities.

I really like the townhouses. They have started on the stone work on the Emerson Ave units finally. The west building is now topped off and they are starting one the brick facing on the southeast end of the Emerson side. Will see how fast they can get the facade on this buildings before the snow flies.

They are working on the foundation for the promenade bridge on the south end of the center building.

The townhomes are coming along. I wish Minneapolis had a bunch more of this type of building scattered around town.

Elan II townhomes NE corner 9-16-14 by bapster2006, on Flickr

Elan II townhomes north face 9-16-14 by bapster2006, on Flickr

I walked by those today and was thinking the exact same thing! I lived on the East Coast for awhile and after moving back to Minneapolis I've really missed the feel of rowhomes everywhere. I'm happy to see a few popping up here and really hope that a few more are developed.

There are financial reasons that are making three story/townhome/rowhouses rare in Minneapolis. The big reason that you don't see these more often on "infill" sites is that the parking "requirement" generally means that you have to go down at least one level for a full floor plate of parking and once you excavate and do all of that concrete framing, it is a massive expense to then "only" have 4-8 units to rent. There is a project going up at Nicollet and Diamond Lake that has 45 units which seems dinky relative to everything else that is going up around town. We'll see how it works out but that one is probably right on the edge of financial feasibility...at 45 units.

I really want to see more narrow and skinny housing going in, similar to the shaft house in Toronto or some homes in Japan

Was nice to see what the townhouses would look like when finished at the the IDS display that BKV had displays of. Nice to see other perspectives.

Was nice to see what the townhouses would look like when finished at the the IDS display that BKV had displays of. Nice to see other perspectives.

BKV? Elan is an ESG project.

Was nice to see what the townhouses would look like when finished at the the IDS display that BKV had displays of. Nice to see other perspectives.

BKV? Elan is an ESG project.

Might have been the ESG display, the ESG and BKV were next to each other on the floor. But there were about 4 different pics of the Elan II and one or two showed the townhouses from the perspective of across the street at 28th and Emerson. Looks like some nice materials and finishes.

Was nice to see what the townhouses would look like when finished at the the IDS display that BKV had displays of. Nice to see other perspectives.

BKV? Elan is an ESG project.

Might have been the ESG display, the ESG and BKV were next to each other on the floor. But there were about 4 different pics of the Elan II and one or two showed the townhouses from the perspective of across the street at 28th and Emerson. Looks like some nice materials and finishes.

Honest mistake. There are...similarities in all of these multi-family projects.

^^^Similarities, yet the final result of the exterior of the Elan project appears so much superior to the other nearby projects going up.

Truth. I thought Flux was pretty nice until Phase II of Elan started getting finished. There is really no comparison. It's much better than Phase I, even.

Noticed today that there is a 3rd set of townhouses behind the Emerson facing townhouses. How I missed them until now I don't know.

What a great project.

Elan has released the floorplans of the town homes on their facebook page. It really is too bad these are rentals and not condos. Either way, I am obsessed with them and I wish our city was filled with a lot more of this type of development!

The townhomes facing 28th had some cement board or something that looks a lot like it put over the second story. That's unfortunate and I think it really detracts from the rest of the design. Overall it's still a high quality project but I was disappointed to see the blandness right in the middle of what is otherwise a beautiful set of townhomes.

The townhomes facing 28th had some cement board or something that looks a lot like it put over the second story. That's unfortunate and I think it really detracts from the rest of the design. Overall it's still a high quality project but I was disappointed to see the blandness right in the middle of what is otherwise a beautiful set of townhomes.

Agree, I noticed that recently while biking by and was sort of pissed about it. Everything else looks high quality , and then they had to add that crappy siding. Still like it though for the most part though.

Townhomes are going for $3605 and $3785. Holy CRAP! I knew they would be pushing $3K but I honestly didn't think it would be pushing $4K!

Townhomes are going for $3605 and $3785. Holy CRAP! I knew they would be pushing $3K but I honestly didn't think it would be pushing $4K!

With those prices they should just do for sale townhouses.