Northeast and Southeast Minneapolis - General Topics

[mattaudio]

More history but not really more details on the closing.
http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/ta ... 99441.html

[nordeast homer]

That place has a beautiful bar, I wish i could remember how old it is, (over 100 years if my memory serves me). I hope someone reinvests in this space, it could be so much more than what it has been the last 5 or so years. I'm guessing the brew pub craze has hurt them seeing as how they mainly served craft beers.

[EOst]

Is that the one that doesn't have a happy hour? I went there last summer when tables at Tuggs and Astor were filled, and they wanted like $7 for a Stella and other boring beers. So we left.

They had a pretty decent happy hour in the evening, so we would always go there for a beer after a movie at St. Anthony Main.

[Wedgeguy]

My guess is that they have been in business now for at least 25 years. They were one of the pioneers along the river. They helped inspire St. Anthony Main and Riverplace. I'm sure that they did excellent business during the summer patio months, but the colder months were a drag on their bottom line. I suspect if they did not own the building that the rent rates might have been hiked or were going to be hiked. If they owned the building, then the increased property taxes in that area made it difficult to remain a viable business. I would expect with all of the new apartment that there was plenty of customer base, but the economics just were not in their favor. After 25 years, maybe the owners decided to retire and could not find a buyer for the existing concept? We may never find out, but I'm sure it will eventually come out.

With that gorgeous old bar and the location, I find it hard to believe that it will remain vacant for long. IMO

[nBode]

Pracna to reopen in the spring. Apparently their lease expired. The space is going to be renovated (not sure to what extent) and also they will be expanding bar service into the St. Anthony Main theatre, which sounds pretty prime to me.

http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2015/01/0 ... as-closed/

[Wedgeguy]

Pracna to reopen in the spring. Apparently their lease expired. The space is going to be renovated (not sure to what extent) and also they will be expanding bar service into the St. Anthony Main theatre, which sounds pretty prime to me.

http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2015/01/0 ... as-closed/

Thanks for that update. Bar service would sure help the theater out. Has the theater been update recently?

[lordmoke]

Thea theater just finished/ is finishing renovations. New seats, carpet, etc.

As someone who frequents this theater, I am very much looking forward to it having bar service. Great news.

[lordmoke]

Plans for an old commercial building at 1901 Fillmore that will converted into a restaurant space:
http://minneapolismn.gov/www/groups/pub ... 136434.pdf

[David Greene]

I hate fake shutters but otherwise this looks nice. Love the casement windows!

[seanrichardryan]

B-Line Market! We as troublesome minors illegally purchased cigarettes there.

[Nick]

This all worked out pretty well.

P2080027 by streetsmn, on Flickr

[Wedgeguy]

I like seeing that full wall of buildings and their different textures that they bring to the street. I look forward to spring when this scene will include green trees and no dirty snow banks. This is what the city was envisioning 30+ years ago when they helped finance Riverplace and St. Anthony Main. One of my favorite walks when I show people the city.

[nickmgray]

I love how it looks, but I'm still disappointed that none of those new buildings offer retail space.

[Wedgeguy]

I love how it looks, but I'm still disappointed that none of those new buildings offer retail space.

Main is not a thru street, and the hope of ever linking it to east River road and the U has been talked about for years. When you have a dead end of sorts you don't get the traffic flow to support retail year round. During good months you will get walkers, but winter would be a very difficult time for most retailers with not that much foot traffic. In order to make ends meet most retailers have to rely on customers from outside their immediate neighborhood to also stop and shop and patronize their stores. You only have to look at the current situation in Old Main and Riverplace to see that there is plenty of under used retail that is closer to the Hennepin and Central retail spine that needs to be filled first. I'm curious what will go into the Old machine building behind the A Mill that they are working on right now.

They were right to leave that as residential to make the street feel more like a neighborhood. Commercial is up and away from the river. That is where the grouping of stores makes for a strong commercial zone.

[Nick]

I hears that the Northeast twin of the parcel where the AC Marriott is going, 420 Hennepin Avenue East, has some sort of preliminary proposal. It's a cool site where Hennepin and Central intersect. There's a pedestrian pork chop in the middle of the six-way intersection and I kind of want to replace the whole deal with a roundabout of some sort.

[David Greene]

It's a cool site where Hennepin and Central intersect. There's a pedestrian pork chop in the middle of the six-way intersection and I kind of want to replace the whole deal with a roundabout of some sort.

I *so* want something like that to happen! And two-way Hennepin at least from Central eastward.

[Silophant]

Walking through the area last winter, I found myself on that little island in the middle and I almost starved to death trying to find my way out.

Central is a state highway at that point, right? MnDOT looooves roundabouts now, so it could maybe happen. IDK how it would fit, though. Maybe if we moved the Ray J's building to the back of its lot?

[RailBaronYarr]

Seems as good a time as any to give some relevance to the idea of a roundabout here. I didn't make a new image, but Como/Dale seems about the same size with 3 streets meeting. Could probably work here with streetcar tracks (or whatever) running through it.

Como_Dale

[lordmoke]

Java Properties has had a "for lease- future development" sign up there for a couple months now, and there was a truck doing core sampling right before the sign went up.

[xandrex]

I hears that the Northeast twin of the parcel where the AC Marriott is going, 420 Hennepin Avenue East, has some sort of preliminary proposal. It's a cool site where Hennepin and Central intersect. There's a pedestrian pork chop in the middle of the six-way intersection and I kind of want to replace the whole deal with a roundabout of some sort.

I love the concept of a roundabout, but I wonder how effective it would actually be given the traffic. In my brief time in Europe a few years back, I found the roundabouts seemingly had more trouble handling two major roads intersecting than traffic lights. It all became one jam-packed circle with nobody moving.

There's also just not a whole lot movement between the two. That is, people on Hennepin overwhelmingly stay on Hennepin and those on Central stay on Central. So making people going around in a circle isn't much help.

As for the pedestrian island...it's pretty crappy, but anyone who lives in the area knows how to avoid its long waits.