Cedar Ave Corridor - Richfield

Twin Cities Suburbs
User avatar
sdho
US Bank Plaza
Posts: 736
Joined: August 17th, 2013, 12:54 pm
Location: The Urban Hometown®
Contact:

Re: Cedar Point Commons (Target) - Richfield

Postby sdho » May 20th, 2014, 10:04 am

Sorry. Did not mean to offend. The homes themselves are nice. I was referring to the condition of the street itself, and some of the commercial areas that look blighted, not the houses.
We're on the cusp of a lot of new work. 76th Street was completely reconstructed east of 35W over the last few years. The Xerxes (494), Xerxes (Crosstown) Penn (Crosstown), Bloomington Ave (Crosstown), and Portland (Crosstown) have been redecked or replaced in the last 10 years, or will be shortly. Penn and Lyndale 494 bridges were also stroadified in the last 10 years. 66th Street is being rebuilt from the ground up in 2016-2017. Portland Avenue (south of 66th) will also be fully rebuilt next year. Nicollet and Penn will be resurfaced this year, and Nicollet is likely to be fully reconstructed in about 2018. 90% of Richfield's residential streets are going to be resurfaced by 2021 as part of a city-wide mill and overlay.

And we'll be adding... <1 miles of sidewalk. You can't win 'em all, apparently.

By the way, the city is soliciting input on the 66th Street reconstruction here: http://richfieldconnect.mindmixer.com/t ... on-project. We could use support for one-way cycletracks from people who use the street. Support for on-street parking in commercial areas would also be helpful.

at40man
Rice Park
Posts: 438
Joined: January 3rd, 2013, 6:49 pm
Location: Maplewood

Re: Cedar Point Commons (Target) - Richfield

Postby at40man » May 21st, 2014, 9:16 am

I guess I feel less guilty shopping here than in Roseville, because here I'm at least paying Hennepin county tax rather than Ramsey county tax.
I'm not quite sure that I understand that rationale. You would feel guilty paying Ramsey County tax because............?

Don't get me wrong, in contrast I personally prefer Saint Paul over Minneapolis and would rather pay a sales tax in Ramsey County than in Hennepin, but can't say that I have any feelings of guilt when I head over the the other side of the river and they get some tax revenue from what I buy there.

mattaudio
Stone Arch Bridge
Posts: 7752
Joined: June 19th, 2012, 2:04 pm
Location: NORI: NOrth of RIchfield

Re: Cedar Point Commons (Target) - Richfield

Postby mattaudio » May 21st, 2014, 9:41 am

I have driven to Dakota County to make a few large purchases (new computer, etc). I'm still helping CTIB but not paying for stadiums.

Last week I paid about $60 in Hennepin County sales tax when purchasing sheetrock for my home. Yeah.

Edit: ....at the Cedar Point Commons Home Depot. Way to tie this back into the thread topic, Matt!

twincitizen
Moderator
Posts: 6368
Joined: May 31st, 2012, 7:27 pm
Location: Standish-Ericsson

Re: Cedar Point Commons (Target) - Richfield

Postby twincitizen » May 21st, 2014, 2:59 pm

I appreciate the tie-in to Cedar Point, but your comment really got me thinking about sales tax... but I don't think your math is accurrate. Even if you're talking about .25% CTIB (regional transit) AND .15% Target Field taxes combined, $60 in sales tax means you spent $15,000 on sheetrock. That doesn't sound right.

It does go to show how little a sales tax increase really costs the average person though. If I were to buy a $1000 laptop or bicycle in Hennepin County, I'd be paying $2.50 for transit and $1.50 for Target Field. Even driving to a suburban Apple store or bike shop, is only going to save me the .5% Minneapolis city sales tax ($5 on this hypothetical purchase...not even worth the gas for the trip).

A regular person making ~$50k/year can't spend more than $10-12k annually on sales taxed items (subtracting out food, gas, other non-sales-taxed items). That regular person would be paying just $25 annually for transit improvements. Obviously this doesn't apply to everyone in the 7-county metro, but I would gladly be paying an extra $50-75/year for rapid buildout of our transit system. Hell, that's less than I pay annually for Netflix, or contribute to MinnPost & MPR (combined).

blobs
Nicollet Mall
Posts: 144
Joined: November 26th, 2012, 2:22 pm

Re: Cedar Point Commons (Target) - Richfield

Postby blobs » May 21st, 2014, 5:58 pm

It's great to see people supportive of the off-street cycle tracks on 66th street, as well as reducing the through lanes from 4 to 2 west of Nicollet.

User avatar
sdho
US Bank Plaza
Posts: 736
Joined: August 17th, 2013, 12:54 pm
Location: The Urban Hometown®
Contact:

Cedar Ave Corridor - Richfield

Postby sdho » February 6th, 2015, 11:57 am

A rather bold proposal for the Cedar corridor was publicized in this week's Sun-Current. For a brief history/geography lesson, TH 36 (now TH 77) Cedar Freeway was built in the 1960s through Richfield. Later in the 90s, the portions east of Cedar were bought out and destroyed for airport expansion. In the 2000s, the right-of-way of Old Cedar Ave north of 66th Street was abandoned and redeveloped. The southern portion remains, adjacent to the modern Cedar Freeway. South of Diagonal Blvd/70th St, Old Cedar runs through the Richfield RCAP (racially concentrated area of poverty) and also one of the densest concentrations of housing in the city. This proposal, were the project built to full completion, would require removing most of that existing housing.

As one other related reminder: currently neither Old Cedar nor 77th St crosses 494 or Cedar Fwy (respectively), so this SE corner is currently a dead end on surface streets. 77th is proposed to be completed to 24th Ave. No proposals for Old Cedar to connect.

Anyway:

Indoor farming, skydiving proposed for Cedar, 494 corridors
Richfield could one day be the home of an indoor farm, a food waste processing plant and an indoor skydiving facility, according to a redevelopment concept unveiled Tuesday, Jan. 27.

The proposal from a team of business partners is unique to the Twin Cities and “in some ways unique to the region and maybe the nation,” said Dean Dovolis, the Minneapolis architect who presented an overview of the preliminary proposal at a joint study session of the Richfield City Council and Richfield Planning Commission.
http://current.mnsun.com/2015/02/indoor ... corridors/

User avatar
sdho
US Bank Plaza
Posts: 736
Joined: August 17th, 2013, 12:54 pm
Location: The Urban Hometown®
Contact:

Re: Cedar Ave Corridor - Richfield

Postby sdho » February 6th, 2015, 11:58 am

Image

Online
Anondson
IDS Center
Posts: 4645
Joined: July 21st, 2013, 8:57 pm
Location: Where West Minneapolis Once Was

Re: Cedar Ave Corridor - Richfield

Postby Anondson » February 6th, 2015, 12:55 pm

Impressive. I like it. But the resistance to that much SFH being removed, no matter how poor quality, in a suburb that has had its edges shaved down for decades is sure to be objected to.

User avatar
sdho
US Bank Plaza
Posts: 736
Joined: August 17th, 2013, 12:54 pm
Location: The Urban Hometown®
Contact:

Re: Cedar Ave Corridor - Richfield

Postby sdho » February 6th, 2015, 1:00 pm

Actually there wouldn't be a huge number of SFH removed. Biggest impacts by far are to apartment buildings -- which are thought of as blighted and in need of repair/replacement, but also provide low-cost housing to a sizable percentage of the city.

I need to review it more thoroughly, but the Cedar aspects of this are pretty close to in-line with the Cedar corridor plan (http://www.ci.richfield.mn.us/modules/s ... entid=4513), while the 494 aspects are not at all in line with the 494 corridor plan.

mattaudio
Stone Arch Bridge
Posts: 7752
Joined: June 19th, 2012, 2:04 pm
Location: NORI: NOrth of RIchfield

Re: Cedar Ave Corridor - Richfield

Postby mattaudio » February 6th, 2015, 1:33 pm

If there's anything that's a blight on Richfield, it's the big box crap south of 77th.

min-chi-cbus
Capella Tower
Posts: 2869
Joined: June 1st, 2012, 9:19 am

Re: Cedar Ave Corridor - Richfield

Postby min-chi-cbus » February 6th, 2015, 4:13 pm

Kinda reminds me of Urban Renewal in the 1960's: tear down the "unattractive" and poor housing and replace it with suburban-style concepts (or in this case rural concepts).

Needless-to-say I'm not a big fan.

User avatar
sdho
US Bank Plaza
Posts: 736
Joined: August 17th, 2013, 12:54 pm
Location: The Urban Hometown®
Contact:

Re: Cedar Ave Corridor - Richfield

Postby sdho » February 7th, 2015, 6:57 pm

Kinda reminds me of Urban Renewal in the 1960's: tear down the "unattractive" and poor housing and replace it with suburban-style concepts (or in this case rural concepts).

Needless-to-say I'm not a big fan.
Fair point. I don't feel I know enough of the indoor farming aspect, but I gather the idea is to bring the rural concept into the city. Since people live in cities and people eat produce, bringing it super close (in a much more land-efficient manner) does make sense at first whiff. Not sure how well the building, truck traffic, etc work into an urban environment but on a very base level, it seems intriguing.

As for replacing poorer housing -- I agree, we've been here before, and I think it's dangerous to see homes (especially high-density housing) as simply property that hasn't seen redevelopment yet. That said, if developers want to build something new in the metro core, they've got to tear down something. It stands to reason that they'd lean toward a.) the cheapest options and b.) the options with the fewest owners to negotiate with.

Online
Anondson
IDS Center
Posts: 4645
Joined: July 21st, 2013, 8:57 pm
Location: Where West Minneapolis Once Was

Re: Cedar Ave Corridor - Richfield

Postby Anondson » April 23rd, 2015, 6:55 pm

Six teams of developers jumping at Cedar Point redevelopment opportunities.

http://current.mnsun.com/2015/04/slew-o ... east-side/

User avatar
sdho
US Bank Plaza
Posts: 736
Joined: August 17th, 2013, 12:54 pm
Location: The Urban Hometown®
Contact:

Re: Cedar Ave Corridor - Richfield

Postby sdho » April 23rd, 2015, 8:37 pm

Wish the developer presentations were available online. Unfortunately, the work sessions aren't televised either, so there's not even video to reference.

But the picture shown of one of the concepts is very handsome. Certainly it's a quantum leap from the breathtakingly suburban-looking, no-outdoor-space, no-street-presence, all-senior development proposed a couple years ago:

Image

I look forward to seeing this progress.

User avatar
sdho
US Bank Plaza
Posts: 736
Joined: August 17th, 2013, 12:54 pm
Location: The Urban Hometown®
Contact:

Re: Cedar Ave Corridor - Richfield

Postby sdho » May 5th, 2015, 10:15 am

Proposals are now online on Richfield Connect. Click "topic details" here to download PDFs: http://richfieldconnect.mindmixer.com/t ... t-phase-ii

Four of the six have some pretty blank frontage along 16th Ave, but basically all have great frontage along Richfield Pkwy.

Here is one of them:

Image

twincitizen
Moderator
Posts: 6368
Joined: May 31st, 2012, 7:27 pm
Location: Standish-Ericsson

Re: Cedar Ave Corridor - Richfield

Postby twincitizen » May 5th, 2015, 10:30 am

I agree with you that #1 and #6 are superior choices at first glance. #1 needs to include some kind of quasi-public pedestrian passage at 64th St, as #6 does. This is important and should not be ignored. Good point about the singular vehicular access point on Richfield Parkway. I like what #6 is showing in that regard.

I do have to question the economic viability of #1 and #6 though, given the 100% (or nearly 100%) underground parking. With such a large site, it makes some sense to do partial underground parking (like a single level), partial surface parking. These units won't fetch Uptown/Edina rents. Not even close. They still have to acquire like a dozen homes on the 16th Ave side too, plus whatever they pay for the city-owned land fronting Richfield Parkway. It makes sense to cut costs wherever possible to make the numbers work... brand new market-rate apartments seem like a big stretch without TIF assistance or getting the land for free, etc. The ownership townhomes seem pretty pie in the sky... love the concept though

User avatar
sdho
US Bank Plaza
Posts: 736
Joined: August 17th, 2013, 12:54 pm
Location: The Urban Hometown®
Contact:

Re: Cedar Ave Corridor - Richfield

Postby sdho » May 5th, 2015, 10:45 am

The other missing piece (although it's a detail that could easily change) is the lack of walk-up units from Richfield Pkwy. I guess that's a double-edged sword, given trail traffic. But I do like the walk-up apartment units included in Lyndale Plaza

#1 (shown) also has only one trail conflict point, but it's at a more awkward angle than #6 that may make it harder to see cyclists coming down the trail.

And although I'm grateful to see no surface parking, I'm also curious how #1 plans to accommodate car-driving visitors to the apartments. No on-street parking is allowed on Richfield Parkway. So I assume either they plan to add a curb parking lane, or perhaps they've designated an underground area for them? But given that underground garages are usually secured at the entrance, that seems unlikely.

User avatar
mister.shoes
Wells Fargo Center
Posts: 1294
Joined: November 26th, 2012, 10:22 am

Re: Cedar Ave Corridor - Richfield

Postby mister.shoes » May 5th, 2015, 10:57 am

And although I'm grateful to see no surface parking, I'm also curious how #1 plans to accommodate car-driving visitors to the apartments. No on-street parking is allowed on Richfield Parkway. So I assume either they plan to add a curb parking lane, or perhaps they've designated an underground area for them? But given that underground garages are usually secured at the entrance, that seems unlikely.
Work out some sort of deal with Home Depot to use the west end of their lot? While the Target lot can get full, that's *never* the case for the HD end.
The problem with being an introvert online is that no one knows you're just hanging out and listening.

User avatar
sdho
US Bank Plaza
Posts: 736
Joined: August 17th, 2013, 12:54 pm
Location: The Urban Hometown®
Contact:

Re: Cedar Ave Corridor - Richfield

Postby sdho » May 5th, 2015, 11:07 am

I do have to question the economic viability of #1 and #6 though, given the 100% (or nearly 100%) underground parking. With such a large site, it makes some sense to do partial underground parking (like a single level), partial surface parking. These units won't fetch Uptown/Edina rents. Not even close. They still have to acquire like a dozen homes on the 16th Ave side too, plus whatever they pay for the city-owned land fronting Richfield Parkway. It makes sense to cut costs wherever possible to make the numbers work... brand new market-rate apartments seem like a big stretch without TIF assistance or getting the land for free, etc. The ownership townhomes seem pretty pie in the sky... love the concept though
I guess I don't see this as undesirable as you do. The only major issue, in my opinion, is the airport noise. But much-worse airport noise in the "South Loop" area hasn't prevented more-significant investment there. In general, I think this is a more desirable site than the townhomes on the Pillsbury Commons site, which are envisioned as going for 200-300k.

The proximity to highways, airport, parks and trails, and (ugly but very handy) retail make this pretty desirable in my book. Maybe I'm being too optimistic, but I really believe if the Intercity Trail is done right, it will really drill in that this is an easy, low-stress 5-minute bike ride from Nokomis. This is the only site in Richfield or the southern half of Edina that can make that kind of claim.

The only urbanist strike I'd have against living at this particular site is lack of good north-south bus service. The 14 runs, but only every 30-60 minutes. 111 to the U of M is nice, but only two runs a day.

User avatar
sdho
US Bank Plaza
Posts: 736
Joined: August 17th, 2013, 12:54 pm
Location: The Urban Hometown®
Contact:

Re: Cedar Ave Corridor - Richfield

Postby sdho » May 5th, 2015, 11:08 am

Work out some sort of deal with Home Depot to use the west end of their lot? While the Target lot can get full, that's *never* the case for the HD end.
Good point; that's vastly underutilized. Due to the angle of the Cedar Ave exit ramp, it's much larger than the Target lot, too.


Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 17 guests