urbanMSP

Class A 11.4%
Class B 16.5%
Class C 3.6%

http://www.colliers.com/en-us/minneapol ... xlA_-Sh42x

Cray, Lawson Software, any other subsidy mistakes? While it was great these companies were in St. Paul while they were, hopefully St. Paul can learn it's lesson. Building neighborhoods is a better use of money and energy than subsidizing headquarters. The jobs will follow the neighborhood, just as we now see North Loop or Brooklyn as hot office markets after they became hot neighborhoods.

A ways back there was news that the white building adjacent to the iconic 1st Bank tower was sold and something other than office space planned. It has the cool copper skyway that connects like 10 stories up. When I first saw the article my hope was that it was for that. Anyone have any intel on that building?

The Degree of Honor building would be a tough sell to convert to class A space, most likely. A lonely corner of the skyway terminates over there, and the building feels really, really cramped and dated. You can put new finishes in, but you can't fix 6' hallways and 8' ceilings.

The bigger topic is whether all these housing to office conversions are a good thing for the city. I go back and forth. Residents are great to have downtown, but occupy buildings at a lower density than office users. 150 people work on my floor in my building, plus all the comings and goings of clients and consultants and sales reps. If my building were converted to housing, maybe 50 people would live in the equivalent amount of space. But then again, maybe residents are better than a slowly decaying office building that cannot invest in upgrades because rents are too low. I don't know. Maybe, as in most things, balance is good.

What would really help Downtown St. Paul office-wise is if there was a moratorium in place (20 years ago) on new government office space north of 94. Imagine if all of those state workers were actually downtown instead of just out of reach?

What if instead of building that new Senate Office Building, the department of administration had instead picked a nearby existing building and displaced that department(s) to leased office space downtown, then renovated said existing building for the Senate.

As they say, the best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now. The Department of Administration should have policies in place that give preference for locating more state workers in downtown proper, as departments expand, reorganize, etc. or as existing state buildings exceed their useful lifespan.

What would really help Downtown St. Paul office-wise is if there was a moratorium in place (20 years ago) on new government office space north of 94. Imagine if all of those state workers were actually downtown instead of just out of reach?

What if instead of building that new Senate Office Building, the department of administration had instead picked a nearby existing building and displaced that department(s) to leased office space downtown, then renovated said existing building for the Senate.

As they say, the best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now. The Department of Administration should have policies in place that give preference for locating more state workers in downtown proper, as departments expand, reorganize, etc. or as existing state buildings exceed their useful lifespan.

The issue with this is that it makes too much sense for the Government to actually want to do it.

This especially makes sense since 97% of state employees don't have to interact with legislators (or the type of people that interact with them) at all. As a Mpls resident, I would have been far less interested in a job with the state if it were up in that complex of buildings. Being downtown is great (even if it's nothing compared to DT Mpls).

Anyone familiar with this Cathedral Hill project which is under construction on streetview as of last fall?
https://goo.gl/maps/kop6bn6FBSN2

I'm not sure if there's already an existing thread for this or not, but I'll place it here for the time being. I'm rather excited to see where this goes and what comes out of this.

St. Paul is hosting a community meeting Thursday to update the public on the latest plans for the proposed river balcony project in the city’s downtown.
Mayor Chris Coleman is expected to make remarks at the event, which will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday in the Discovery Room at the Science Museum of Minnesota.

Imagined as a “dramatic public promenade,” the river balcony seeks to link the Science Museum and the Union Depot via a one and a half mile elevated walkway.

Located along the river bluff, it would connect key downtown development sites with restaurants, offices, shops and open spaces.

http://www.twincities.com/2016/04/26/fl ... 1461711148

The old mid-century Woolworth's building at 428 Minnesota is finally going to get some love.

http://www.twincities.com/2016/04/27/st ... -makeover/

Interesting to note, it was STILL leased. Wahh?

Woolworth’s long-term land lease expired last year, giving the building owner the full go-ahead to move in an entirely new direction. By next summer, it plans to have the site ready for office tenants--

That's great news though, as the building is such an eyesore right now.

Anyone familiar with this Cathedral Hill project which is under construction on streetview as of last fall?
https://goo.gl/maps/kop6bn6FBSN2

I believe they are doing some renovations to the Cathedral Hill Homes (just west of the Cathedral on Selby and Dayton avenues):

https://www.google.com/maps/@44.9445404 ... a=!3m1!1e3

The Science Museum of Minnesota will lead a campaign to build a exhibit featuring NASA's science research, after receiving a $14.5 million contract from the space agency.

I just thought this was kinda cool.

http://www.bizjournals.com/twincities/m ... 14-5m.html

Thank god. They need a new exhibit and some improvements to the ones they currently have. I tried going there last fall thinking they may have updated things over the years, but nope. It was the same stuff I remember from when I was 10. This should help.

You must not have gone to the old location (where the Church of Scientology is now) if you don't think they've changed anything over the years.

Exciting news for the Woolworth Building! I'm surprised it held such a long-term lease, but that explains why it has looked derelect for so long with no signs or anything else.

Downtown is great (even if it's prettier, more pedestrian-friendly, and classier than DT Mpls).

Fixed it for you.

http://www.twincities.com/2016/05/01/bi ... buildings/

A new hotel, skybar, and restaurant are in the works .... downtown development is definitely on the up-and-up.

The Pioneer Press building needs some major help. Not sure I'd be chomping at the bit to take up residence there.

Ooh, hopefully they fix the ground floor of the Empire Building. That's a real mess right now.

I think that the merchants bank building is very charming.... that would be a nice addition to the downtown residential mix. Super cool high altitude skyway too.