Saint Paul - General Topics

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jw138
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Re: 1st national bank building sold

Postby jw138 » November 2nd, 2015, 1:50 pm

Which building is this exactly? I didn't know there were three separate buildings here. Office to residential conversion maybe?
I'm guessing that the "north" building is the shorter structure that holds the Real Meal Deli on the skyway, the "west" building is the tallest structure with the "1st" sign on top of it (1st National Bank Building), and the "east" building is the slightly shorter crappy building (Merchant's Bank Building).

Pro tip: Take the elevator in the "east" building to the top floor (16th). It's a vacant floor and when you step out of the elevator you'll find the hallway mostly dark (at least it was in 2014). Follow the hallway around until you reach the door at the end. This freely opens up into the highest skyway in the Twin Cities (built in the 1930's). It connects the 16th floor of the Merchant's Bank Building to the 17th floor of the 1st National Bank Building. You can get to the skyway through either building's elevators but it feels more adventurous going through the Merchant's Bank Building.

ProspectPete
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Re: Saint Paul - General Topics

Postby ProspectPete » November 3rd, 2015, 4:52 am

This is the Merchants Bank building:
http://www.emporis.com/buildings/128099 ... aul-mn-usa

It's across the street from the old pioneer press building (now apartments). It would be a nice to convert that into residences. It would help fill up the emptiness between Lowertown and the Rice Park/ Ordway area.

seanrichardryan
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Re: Saint Paul - General Topics

Postby seanrichardryan » November 5th, 2015, 10:28 am

Well there goes my hopes for housing here: http://www.twincities.com/localnews/ci_ ... e-building
Q. What, what? A. In da butt.

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Re: Saint Paul - General Topics

Postby seanrichardryan » November 12th, 2015, 8:14 am

Parking could be returning to portions of University Avenue-

http://www.twincities.com/localnews/ci_ ... ue-parking
Q. What, what? A. In da butt.

acs
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Re: Saint Paul - General Topics

Postby acs » November 12th, 2015, 11:24 am

This would be great if it could be made permanent. One of the big excuses for the Green Line being so slow and bad at priority was the minimum crossing times for pedestrians. If parking was added back, then maybe in the future we could get bump-outs at intersections thus shortening the crossing time and speeding up the Green Line. Right now it's borderline unacceptable as the only connector between the two main hubs of our system.

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Re: Saint Paul - General Topics

Postby Wedgeguy » November 12th, 2015, 11:59 am

The parking is only from 6 pm to 2 am. The rest of the time they are traffic lanes so there will be no bump outs built. Think of Marquette, Washington, and 2nd where you can't park during the morning and evening rush hours, but able to any other time. The city and tow companies will be making some money from the poor saps that think they can park there when ever they want. Wonder if it will be metered parking, or will that confuse those that can't read the signs that say No Parking 2 am to 6 pm?

acs
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Re: Saint Paul - General Topics

Postby acs » November 12th, 2015, 12:39 pm

Yes I know it is only after 6, I can read. What I was saying was that this is a step in the right direction towards making that lane parking 100% of the time which would benefit the green line.

Wedgeguy
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Re: Saint Paul - General Topics

Postby Wedgeguy » November 12th, 2015, 1:58 pm

Yes I know it is only after 6, I can read. What I was saying was that this is a step in the right direction towards making that lane parking 100% of the time which would benefit the green line.
You are much more of an optimist than I am. My reality is that the evening parking become permanent. But the traffic count will never decrease enough for them to go down to one lane. As I'm reminded, more people will be coming to live in the city, and only a certain percentage will be opting for transit. My reality is that as more people move to the city, more will use transit. But part of those moving in will also need to use their cars to get around, so I don't see the count going down. I see the count slowly increasing over time. One also has to remember that this is still a trunk highway/main artery between MPLS and St Paul. My prediction is that it will stay 2 lanes each direction, with parking in the evenings as the compromise.

If 94 closes due to accidents or gridlock, this will always be a preferred alternate route. Sorry, I look at the big picture and all of the what ifs, that can make or break a plan.

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jw138
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Re: Saint Paul - General Topics

Postby jw138 » November 16th, 2015, 8:50 am

The Jax Building has been sold:

http://www.twincities.com/business/ci_2 ... evelopment

Redevelopment is imminent though no details are known yet. It's one of the last non-residential buildings in Lowertown exclusively full of artist spaces. They were told that they'll be allowed to remain until at least May 1st.

It brings up an interesting topic. Are there really many options left for artists in the city? Any unused industrial buildings in North-East or along the Hiawatha corridor that could be converted into artist spaces? It's great to see ongoing redevelopment but it would be really sad to see artists pushed out of the community altogether. It's one of the many things that make this metro area really great.

gcm
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Re: Saint Paul - General Topics

Postby gcm » November 16th, 2015, 8:56 am

Can Can Wonderland?

http://cancanwonderland.com/

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jw138
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Re: Saint Paul - General Topics

Postby jw138 » November 16th, 2015, 9:14 am

Great idea, and I'm not knocking it, but nothing in the video indicated that there are going to be affordable artist studios. Reusing currently unused industrial/warehouse space is great but there's no long-term guarantee that the artists will always have a home there. It'd be great if we could see some sort of new development exclusively targeting artists that would future proof their ability to remain in place. Densely laid out studios with minimal infrastructure might allow pure volume to make it worth the effort. Picture 1000 units with spaces ranging from 50 sq ft to 500 sq ft where most units are in the 100-200 sq ft range. Put shared restrooms on each floor. Every unit has 4 walls, no closets, lighting, heat, and a ventilation fan. There's always more money in residential developments but we can't forget about the arts either.

MNdible
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Re: Saint Paul - General Topics

Postby MNdible » November 16th, 2015, 10:02 am


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jw138
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Re: Saint Paul - General Topics

Postby jw138 » November 16th, 2015, 11:34 am

Mystery employer seeks $1.4M to add 330 jobs in St. Paul
WTF:

http://www.bizjournals.com/twincities/n ... stery.html
http://www.bizjournals.com/twincities/m ... -jobs.html

They want taxpayers to foot the bill for bettering their customer service?!

grant1simons2
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Re: Saint Paul - General Topics

Postby grant1simons2 » November 16th, 2015, 11:40 am

I think it'll make you more pissed off to find out that it's Comcast

http://www.bizjournals.com/twincities/n ... stery.html

mattaudio
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Re: Saint Paul - General Topics

Postby mattaudio » November 16th, 2015, 2:33 pm

Isn't it really sketchy that Comcast is seeking subsidy from St. Paul given that the mayor's brother is a Comcast lobbyist?
http://politicsinminnesota.com/2011/03/ ... -heritage/

Chris Coleman is a DINO anyways. His actions during the RNC were disgusting.

MNdible
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Re: Saint Paul - General Topics

Postby MNdible » November 16th, 2015, 3:32 pm

Good, good. Let the hate flow through you.

ProspectPete
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Re: Saint Paul - General Topics

Postby ProspectPete » November 18th, 2015, 6:18 am

Re the Jax building being sold. There is a tremendous amount of change coming to 4th street.

As far as real estate, there is the parking lot that has been sold across the street from it. And kitty corner from that is the Lowertown parking ramp space which is to be redeveloped into apartments, and also the Station 4 building which may or may not survive depending on how much work the structure needs.
Timberland is planning on turning the building on 4th and Sibley into market rate apartments (any word on this?)
Let's not forget about it being a part of the downtown bike loop as well.
It certainly has the potential to be a bustling little street in a few years time.

Wedgeguy
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Re: Saint Paul - General Topics

Postby Wedgeguy » November 18th, 2015, 10:34 am

The energy continues to increase in the block surrounding, and away from Mears park. The opening of Muddy Waters, Rayette Diner, CHS Stadium, and the Depot LRT station all are expanding the energy that has been the soul of Lowertown for years.

Wedgeguy
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Re: Saint Paul - General Topics

Postby Wedgeguy » November 19th, 2015, 1:49 pm

Anyone on this site know anything about a condo project,1170 Grand Ave, that the city council gave a thumb downs to yesterday? Apparently the $11 M Macy's TIF district did get approved though. So that is good for that project to move forward.

RailBaronYarr
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Re: Saint Paul - General Topics

Postby RailBaronYarr » November 19th, 2015, 2:06 pm

The St Paul project that was denied on Grand Ave is here: http://www.stpaul.gov/DocumentCenter/View/79453

You can watch the hearing & public comment here, item 34 (click and the video will jump ahead) http://stpaul.granicus.com/MediaPlayer. ... ip_id=2888

It's pretty outrageous. The proposal's documents may not be the finest, but it's obvious the scale is definitely close to its neighbors in terms of lot coverage & setbacks. It provides more parking than units, and the slightly wider design is at least partly because the underground parking requires so much building width. A small developer (I've never heard of them..) proposing a 36' high condo building between 3-story apartment buildings on one of St Paul's most well-known mixed-use corridors should be the easiest decision in the world.


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