urbanMSP

Luxury Condos proposed overlooking Mississippi River and Fort Snelling.

http://www.twincities.com/localnews/ci_ ... epard-road

Complaints the heights proposed will harm the scenic beauty of the area. Maybe more controversial, rerouting Shepard Road will be studied.

I think I can get behind the Shepard reroute if it were done as a multiway boulevard through the Norfolk reroute. Even better would be making the rest of Shepard up to 35E a half multiway boulevard.

I am still incapable of understanding the concern over heights in a heavily urban center to "protect" the scenery. A urbanized river's edge has its own beauty people shouldn't be afraid of.

I work with a couple of guys that used to be at Sperry. Real gurus. Amazing talents, those two.

How would the reroute affect the Riverview Corridor study?

As I understand it, the complaints about height aren't so much that the developments will block all sorts of views. It's that a handful of residents are mad that it will block THEIR private view. It's the classic problem of that guy who buys the house on the edge of the subdivision and gets mad when someone has the nerve to build a new house next to him afterwards.

to my knowledge, there is no river view from anywhere in this neighborhood. I do a lot of my long runs along shepard road and you can't even see the river from there, let alone 2-3 blocks north. All you see are trees. I like the idea that there are going to be multiple building built over time, but I think there needs to be a master plan in place. It looks like the first building will not have any retail - something that's lacking from the three block residential development just north of this spot. yes, there are a few stores on 7th street just a few blocks away, but there needs to be a better plan for the thousands of residents who will eventually move here.

This spot affords a nice view of the Hwy 55 bridge to the south, and thats about it from street level. Maybe 40 feet in the air will provide the angle to see down to the river. The area has such an uncomfortable industrial/commercial feel to it, compounded by the bright street lights, signs, and open lots of the airport parking structure (It gives me deja-vu to an Atlanta [or was it Detroit?] airport shuttle ride). They better get some trees planted to provide a canopy from the nothing-ness ASAP. Project timelines might begin to overlap so this spot will be in direct competition with whatever will ultimately arise at the HP Ford spot. Sink or swim...lets see what you got JB.

Apartments pitched for St. Paul riverfront site
By: Adam Voge April 8, 2015 4:15 pm 0

Shepard Road Development will present plans for a six-story, 211-unit market-rate apartment building at the former U.S. Bank center location on Shepard Road.

Read more: http://finance-commerce.com/2015/04/apa ... z3WmUtN93l

Almost posted this just this moment in the "Former Sperry Rand/US Bank" thread. Anyone able to get in and see if that article discuses the future of the Shepard Road reroute?

At $250/year would it be worth it to fund access to Finance-Commerce to be able to view these articles in full? If there's say 50 of us who regularly participate in this forum, it would only cost $5/person to fund something like that and have one of the mods be the person with the subscription.

Just a thought....not sure if it's worth it though.

Scrapped.

http://www.twincities.com/localnews/ci_ ... apartments

Because. "River views".

Since this was going into a spot which screwed up some of my favorite ideas for a redo of the MN-5/West 7th Street/Shepard Road interchange, I have the sense that this is the right thing but for the wrong reasons. We'll have to see how the interchange plans shape up, though -- my favorites were not the city's leading redesign candidates when I last looked.

Yeah, I am not a fan of any of the leading interchange designs for the area. But the irrationality of "river view" restrictions along the most heavily urbanized river corridor in the region is ... I have no kind words.

I think it's okay though....no big loss if instead of 6 floors of luxury apartments we get 5 floors of market-rate and affordable apartments. That's a "win" in my book, IFF they go through with the alternative project.

what river views? even with no building on the site, it's impossible to see the river. There are 50 foot trees which don't even allow you to see across to the other side of the river, let a long the water itself which is a good 80 feet lower. Did anyone actually do out and look to see what views would be blocked?

https://www.google.com/maps/@44.8956086 ... 56!6m1!1e1

The aspect of this that I find objectionable is how prominent this will likely be from Fort Snelling and the surrounding natural areas.