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Re: 66th Street - Richfield

Posted: July 12th, 2016, 11:28 am
by mattaudio
Does Richfield have any of the following development headaches?
1. Minimum parking requirements
2. Maximum FARs
3. Ridiculous setback requirements
4. etc

As John Anderson would ask, is this a "toxic site" due to zoning and land use regulations?

If you can guarantee it's a non-toxic site, I could potentially be interested in adding it to my analysis for my upcoming decision on a development project.

Re: 66th Street - Richfield

Posted: July 12th, 2016, 7:51 pm
by min-chi-cbus
Come to think of it there really aren't that many redevelopment projects going on in Richfield, esp. residential projects. At least, not compared to its neighbors: Edina, Bloomington, and South Mpls.

Re: 66th Street - Richfield

Posted: July 12th, 2016, 9:06 pm
by Qhaberl
What ever happed to that big project that they were going to build across from the target, just west of richfield Parkway?


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Re: 66th Street - Richfield

Posted: July 13th, 2016, 10:46 am
by Drizzay
I see the Flowerama just down the road (66th/Penn) shuttered it's doors. Anyone have any information on whether they simply closed because they weren't profitable or if the property owner non-renewed them?

Re: 66th Street - Richfield

Posted: July 13th, 2016, 11:22 am
by min-chi-cbus
Oh wow, that's been there since I can remember! Pretty sweet spot for retail...

Re: 66th Street - Richfield

Posted: July 13th, 2016, 12:03 pm
by mattaudio
Personally, I'm convinced 66th and Penn (They call it Penn Central, just like the c.1968 merged mega-railroad that led to a catastrophic bankruptcy and the nationalization of East Coast railroads eight years later) could really use a district parking ramp.

Re: 66th Street - Richfield

Posted: July 14th, 2016, 1:39 pm
by sdho
Does Richfield have any of the following development headaches?
1. Minimum parking requirements
2. Maximum FARs
3. Ridiculous setback requirements
4. etc

As John Anderson would ask, is this a "toxic site" due to zoning and land use regulations?

If you can guarantee it's a non-toxic site, I could potentially be interested in adding it to my analysis for my upcoming decision on a development project.
There's a lot of flexibility within the "Penn Central" area of this particular site. There is either no min setback, or it's 5 ft. There is a max setback, I believe, of ~15 feet. Parking requirements are reduced but, so far, present. (There has been discussion about eliminating them in this district, but has not come to fruition.)

In general, the goal in this area is relatively high-density, walk-up development. To date, there aren't really any examples of the vision being executed. However, there have been some renovations and improvements that bring things closer -- like the liquor store, Salon Junallo, and Fireside Pizza.
Come to think of it there really aren't that many redevelopment projects going on in Richfield, esp. residential projects. At least, not compared to its neighbors: Edina, Bloomington, and South Mpls.
It pales in comparison to the Southdale District, but I think compared to South Minneapolis south of Lake St, I think it's doing pretty well. For the area between Minnehaha and Crosstown, the only major recent project that comes to mind is Zest Apartments. And, Goodwill, I guess.

Re: 66th Street - Richfield

Posted: July 14th, 2016, 1:40 pm
by sdho
What ever happed to that big project that they were going to build across from the target, just west of richfield Parkway?
Still chugging along, we've been told, but probably won't see construction until next year. This is a little tricky, because to fully build out, there are a number of private sales that need to happen on 16th Ave.

There is a larger, ~300 unit project south of 66th on Richfield Pkwy that is likely to happen sooner -- last I heard, they're hoping to break ground this fall. But no land use approvals have been granted yet.

Re: 66th Street - Richfield

Posted: July 14th, 2016, 2:03 pm
by twincitizen
Come to think of it there really aren't that many redevelopment projects going on in Richfield, esp. residential projects. At least, not compared to its neighbors: Edina, Bloomington, and South Mpls.
It pales in comparison to the Southdale District, but I think compared to South Minneapolis south of Lake St, I think it's doing pretty well. For the area between Minnehaha and Crosstown, the only major recent project that comes to mind is Zest Apartments. And, Goodwill, I guess.
This is a good point. While it feels really disappointing that no multi-unit housing development is happening in Richfield (aside from the two projects at Cedar Point), there's been basically near-zero large scale housing development anywhere south of Lake Street. On the flip side, South Minneapolis has seen TONS of commercial properties re-purposed, rehabbed, etc. Lots of investment has taken place over the past 5+ years, just very little multi-unit development outside of the obvious "hot" areas and a couple projects along the Blue Line. Most of the available redevelopment sites in Richfield probably have a lot more in common with plain ol' south Minneapolis than they do with West End or Southdale or Uptown, etc.

Re: 66th Street - Richfield

Posted: July 18th, 2016, 2:36 pm
by twincitizen
Staging of 66th Street project: http://richfieldsweetstreets.org/wp-con ... taging.pdf
Some sidewalks and final landscaping, etc. will not be complete until 2019.
Note: this timeline does not show Met Council's sewer lining project which is still ongoing in some parts of the corridor this year through early 2017.

Re: 66th Street - Richfield

Posted: July 18th, 2016, 7:08 pm
by sdho
I'm glad one accessible pedestrian route will remain at all times during construction. But it is disappointing that the north side sidewalk in downtown Richfield will remain unfinished until 2019.

I'm sort of resigned to the final landscaping and lighting taking till '19. Good things take time! Considering what a task it was to install the Portland roundabout, doing two of those in one year makes sense that that fills a full construction season.

Re: 66th Street - Richfield

Posted: August 7th, 2016, 7:25 pm
by Sacrelicio
I drove along this today and saw that some of the houses had been demolished. Are they planning to cut all those trees down too? Some really nice oaks and and a couple pines along there. Would be a shame to see them go.

Re: 66th Street - Richfield

Posted: August 8th, 2016, 10:13 pm
by sdho
I drove along this today and saw that some of the houses had been demolished. Are they planning to cut all those trees down too? Some really nice oaks and and a couple pines along there. Would be a shame to see them go.
Unfortunately, most of them have to go -- the roadway will be shifted significantly south from where it is today. However, the south 20' or so of the cleared lots will remain as a buffer for the next house in. My understanding is that trees in that area will remain unscathed. I guess even for trees that would "land" in the new boulevard, they have to be cut down because it's considered impractical to try to do the heavy construction around them.

On the bright side, hundreds of new trees are going in after all is said and done. They had a landscape architect redesign aspects of the project (in terms of soil and boulevard width) with the intent of making those new trees grow to true canopy trees.

Re: 66th Street - Richfield

Posted: August 8th, 2016, 10:41 pm
by Sacrelicio
I drove along this today and saw that some of the houses had been demolished. Are they planning to cut all those trees down too? Some really nice oaks and and a couple pines along there. Would be a shame to see them go.
Unfortunately, most of them have to go -- the roadway will be shifted significantly south from where it is today. However, the south 20' or so of the cleared lots will remain as a buffer for the next house in. My understanding is that trees in that area will remain unscathed. I guess even for trees that would "land" in the new boulevard, they have to be cut down because it's considered impractical to try to do the heavy construction around them.

On the bright side, hundreds of new trees are going in after all is said and done. They had a landscape architect redesign aspects of the project (in terms of soil and boulevard width) with the intent of making those new trees grow to true canopy trees.
Well that sounds nice I guess. I just hate to see oaks get cut down.

Re: Lyndale-HUB-Nicollet & 66th St area - Richfield

Posted: August 25th, 2016, 9:01 pm
by sdho
On Tuesday night, a developer presented a proposal for a small mixed-use building on the former site of Southview Baptist Church, at 66th St and 1st Ave S. Currently the site is 1.02 acres, to be slightly reduced by right-of-way for the new 66th St. It is currently zoned residential, which would have to change as well.

The project was described as a "miniature" Kensington Park (the mixed-use development from the mid-aughts at 76th and Lyndale). The developer envisioned 10,000 sq ft of retail space and between 5 and 10 apartments above. There would be surface parking only, but the parking would be behind the building and a fairly modest size.

Although there are concerns about neighboring single-family homes, the project was really well-received by Council and Planning Commission (including by me!). A previous proposal got a pretty tepid response -- a similar potential site plan, but strip retail only with no mixed-use component. They also did not envision any level of frontage like this on 66th.

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Re: Lyndale-HUB-Nicollet & 66th St area - Richfield

Posted: August 26th, 2016, 10:57 am
by MNdible
Those presentation drawings are... really... something.

Re: Lyndale-HUB-Nicollet & 66th St area - Richfield

Posted: August 26th, 2016, 11:46 am
by HiawathaGuy
I actually think this is a good infill project, and breaks the norm of the adjacent strip malls on both the north and the south sides of 66th along Nicollet, where the building fronts the sidewalk/street, instead of parking.

Re: Lyndale-HUB-Nicollet & 66th St area - Richfield

Posted: August 26th, 2016, 12:47 pm
by sdho
It would also be the only mixed-use development on the east side of the railroad tracks. Richfield has a fair number of medium-large scale mixed-use projects, like City Bella and Kensington Park. But I'm not aware of anything on such a small scale.

The developer also won points with his proposed mix of tenants (yoga studio, his own potential office, and a coffee shop without drive-thru), although I wouldn't be shocked if that mix changed. Per the resistance last time, and the small size of the site, I think a drive-thru is pretty safely out, though.

Re: 66th Street - Richfield

Posted: October 7th, 2016, 7:53 am
by twincitizen

Re: 66th Street - Richfield

Posted: December 30th, 2016, 2:22 pm
by sdho
A couple weeks ago, the Richfield Planning Commission and City Council heard a work session proposal (not a formal land use application) for a Dunkin Donuts at 66th St and Penn Ave. This is the current CarHop site, just north of the corner on the NE corner.

Write-up in the Richfield Sun: http://current.mnsun.com/2016/12/24/dun ... richfield/

I don't have the site plan, although it was shown at the meeting. What they proposed was sort of stock suburban, on a relatively small lot. They wanted a drive-through surrounding three sides of the building, with no direct sidewalk frontage or pedestrian access. It would need several variances to happen. Of particular concern is that they propose to remove the existing grassy buffer between the apartment property on Oliver and this property. The drive-through speaker would face the apartment building -- I'd guess about 20' away from the structure -- and cars would queue under the windows of this building.

I asked at the meeting if they would consider doing a building in compliance with Richfield's Penn Ave Design Guidelines, and forgoing the drive-thru. The Dunkin Donuts franchisee's rep informed me that Dunkin Donuts corporate is only considering "conventional" drive-thru designs for their initial build-out in the Twin Cities.