Wabasha Center (Former Macy's) - Downtown St. Paul

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rhettcarlson
Nicollet Mall
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Re: Wabasha Center (Former Macy's) - Downtown St. Paul

Postby rhettcarlson » January 17th, 2018, 1:38 pm


Not having been in th e St Paul store yet, can you describe how it is lower quality?
For me it's the combination of the concrete floors, all-white shelving/fixtures and warehouse fluorescent lighting. Polished concrete in itself isn't bad, but the lack of color or any accents to soften it really makes it seem bland.

at40man
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Re: Wabasha Center (Former Macy's) - Downtown St. Paul

Postby at40man » January 29th, 2018, 10:03 am

I took a swing through yesterday, followed by a trip to the Gaviidae store to compare and contrast.

-The lighting is LED, and actually looks a bit nicer and more modern than the lighting they have in the Gaviidae store.
I like the polished concrete far more than the rubberized and ugly tiles in the Gaviidae store.
-The store shelves look the same to me in both stores.
-It seems colorful enough, looks like it has the scheme their newer stores have.
-It's a bit smaller than Mpls store.
- I say that it is marginally nicer than the Gaviidae store.

I also took a swing through the rest of the building:
-Staircase between skyway and the Cedar Street level is not finished.
-I am not a fan of the black ceilings and seeing all the junk that is typically hidden, but the LED lighting fixtures are pretty cool.
-Why is there no vestibule on the Cedar Street entrance? Seems like sliding doors would be a good idea for the second set, as I saw lots of people with hockey gear entering and leaving.
-The new rink is great! It is neat being able to see the view. I think they should add Solatubes to further enhance the natural light in there.
-They still are putting on finishing touches. Looks like the walls will be getting another coat of paint.
-The exterior signage has now covered up the yellow bricks on the facade. The windows make the building not look like a bunker anymore.
-I personally like the mural that is being constructed.
-They are working on the Wabasha Street entrance to the building. It is going to be a jarring transition from the nicely-appointed Wells Fargo Center to the rather spartan decor of the Wabasha Center if they plan on going the "exposed pipes ceiling" look.

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seamonster
Nicollet Mall
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Re: Wabasha Center (Former Macy's) - Downtown St. Paul

Postby seamonster » January 29th, 2018, 5:56 pm

Having not seen the Walgreens in St. Paul, I was going to say, it would take an extra level of incompetence to be demonstrably worse than the Gaviidae version.

nate
Landmark Center
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Re: Wabasha Center (Former Macy's) - Downtown St. Paul

Postby nate » February 12th, 2018, 8:33 am

I know this building is right in the middle of lease-up, so judgment may be premature, but I am extremely unimpressed with what I'm seeing out there:

- Interior circulation is confusing, there isn't a great sense of how to move through the space, or your relationship with the outside world, or your connections to the skyway on either side of the block. This despite the fact that the hallways are really, really wide. It's as though they leased up a certain amount of square footage at the front of the building, another block of square footage at the back, and the in-between became wide hallway that jogs around oddly between retail spaces. Just doesn't feel right.
- Interior finishes are spartan to say the least. Bare concrete floors, bare white walls, no ceiling. Then there's some random splashes of reclaimed barnwood at elevators, for some reason, and murals on the walls that, no shit, say things like "SOMETHING IS HAPPENING HERE". It's possible to do minimal finishes in a space, but it really takes a lot of time and money to do it right. This application just feels cheap.

All in all, I'll put it this way. St Paul spends a ton of public money on a project that is introduced to great fanfare and a solid lease-up. This movie never seems to have a happy ending. I don't see one in this instance, either.

rhettcarlson
Nicollet Mall
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Re: Wabasha Center (Former Macy's) - Downtown St. Paul

Postby rhettcarlson » April 26th, 2018, 8:37 am

Tim Hortons signage went up yesterday. It looks like they are pretty far along in their buildout so I would expect an opening within the month.

The choice of glass for the first floor of this is just horrible for street frontage. It's opaque and extremely reflective making it hard to see inside in any daylight. I would assume as a business you would want people able to see activity inside at all times of day. It's fine for the upper office floors but as a pedestrian it's harsh.

mattaudio
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Re: Wabasha Center (Former Macy's) - Downtown St. Paul

Postby mattaudio » April 26th, 2018, 8:44 am

Wow, St. Paul allows opaque storefront glass downtown?

MNdible
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Re: Wabasha Center (Former Macy's) - Downtown St. Paul

Postby MNdible » April 26th, 2018, 8:49 am

I assume it's not literally opaque, just reflective enough that when interior spaces are underlit compared to exterior daylit conditions, it's hard to see through.

rhettcarlson
Nicollet Mall
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Joined: May 19th, 2015, 10:50 pm
Location: Downtown

Re: Wabasha Center (Former Macy's) - Downtown St. Paul

Postby rhettcarlson » April 26th, 2018, 10:12 am

OK - not literally opaque, maybe semi-opaque is better. Either way not good. The street front kitty corner to this at Lawson Commons is so good for new construction, all it took was using normal glass!

xandrex
Wells Fargo Center
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Re: Wabasha Center (Former Macy's) - Downtown St. Paul

Postby xandrex » April 27th, 2018, 9:07 am

Yeah, the storefront glass here is just...not great. I haven't checked at night, but during the day you literally can't see into the Walgreens as you're walking by. I stopped in there yesterday and was thinking about how dull this stretch seemed. I also nearly missed the entrance, because there's no context as to where you are in relation to the inside (and it's one of several nondescript doors along that stretch). Just really bad frontage here.

alexschief
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Re: Wabasha Center (Former Macy's) - Downtown St. Paul

Postby alexschief » June 13th, 2018, 8:39 pm

It doesn't save this building from being a five alarm tire fire, but there's a really nice and colorful hockey mural on the 6th and Cedar corner.

KML_1981
Nicollet Mall
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Re: Wabasha Center (Former Macy's) - Downtown St. Paul

Postby KML_1981 » June 14th, 2018, 9:03 am

What's really frustrating about this project is that it could have been so much better by just having the damn street-level windows NOT black/opaque!! One small change would have made a real difference. Boo to the city and this developer.

Rube Dali
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Re: Wabasha Center (Former Macy's) - Downtown St. Paul

Postby Rube Dali » October 28th, 2019, 7:41 pm

Blope.

Red's Savoy is taking over the old Tim Hortons space on Wabasha St. Expected to open late this year.

https://www.twincities.com/2019/09/13/r ... n-st-paul/
Buildings, what buildings?


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