Alia Tower - 200 Central - 483' / 40 Stories

[helsinki]

architecture, and specifically towers, should be indicative of technological progress and modern design ideas instead of shallow, vapid, regressive, historicism.

Why?

Historicism gets a bad rep. "Neo" anything is derided as a cheap imitation of some supposedly pure or authentic original. I have always thought this itself a rather lazy exercise in rejection. Is Vienna's Ringstrasse "bad"? Is the National Cathedral in Washington DC (and by extension anything Gothic built after the middle ages like the British Houses of Parliament, or Yale University) "regressive"? Is the the Capitol building shallow because it imitates classical forms? Again, why must architecture be indicative of technological progress? To me, this is nearly as vapid as looking to the past - it is merely looking at the present. The notion that buildings must "represent" some transient zeitgeist instead of appealing to widespread aesthetic considerations seems to me not only faddish but also responsible for many of the unapproachably mystical garbage buildings that get built by starchitects nowadays.

Just because Adolf Loos didn't like something doesn't mean we have to dislike it too. The 'style-wars' of the 20th century were ridiculous for this very reason: there is no intellectually or culturally superior style.

[uptown067]

When is this one going before the Historical Preservation Committee? Any speculation on whether or not they will be supportive of their tentative plans?

[mrcity]

When is this one going before the Historical Preservation Committee? Any speculation on whether or not they will be supportive of their tentative plans?

I speculate without basis in fact, that they are well aware ahead of time that the HPC will approve based on their prior conversations.

[Andrew_F]

They went before HPC as an information item a couple weeks ago. The reception was mixed.

[VAStationDude]

http://www.bizjournals.com/twincities/b ... ml?ana=twt

[FISHMANPET]

New plan doesn't keep the existing buildings, goes to 40 stories. Interesting, you'd think going higher would mean more money to preserve the buildings. It could be bad journalism, but according to the article it looks like he's planning on tearing down the existing buildings based on neighborhood feedback.

[EOst]

I like everything about this project except the fact that they're actually demolishing the building.

[Silophant]

Yeah, that's what it sounds like. Maybe the neighbors all hate the building for some reason?

I'm liking the plans to build walk-up townhouses around the ramp. The Rampton was an interesting proposal, but made for some oddly long, thin units, since they needed to fit a corridor in that narrow space. Walk-ups will work better.

[Edit: I was confused about the townhouse plans]

[mullen]

bulky but reminds me in a way of the nicollet mall tower that was proposed a few years ago for the block across from target hq.

[MplsSteve]

It was probably always their intention to tear down the old club. I never really believed that stuff about relocating it on the site. Probably just building a case for why they couldn't save it. I can't imagine that the HPC will go along with that. They certainly shouldn't.

[mattaudio]

I really like the plan to wrap the ramp with townhomes on three sides (I was always a fan of the Rampton idea).

I've never been in the club building, but I can't imagine it's as nice on the interior as the old Club Row institutions across the river. If only they could just pivot the old Tudor facade from Central over to University, sandwiched between the Southeast Library/Phillips Foundation building and the large parking ramp. The current space between the Phillips building and the ramp is 80' and the tudor facade fronting Central is less than that. Clearly it could work, and it would be better than a surface lot, but it would require an additional land owner's involvement.

[Tcmetro]

40 stories is quite a big deal! Especially on this side of the river!

[HiawathaGuy]

I think it's a very Toronto or Vancouver-esque building... I'm loving it.

[twincitizen]

It does seem like a given that the HPC will block demolition. Would the city council overrule them? I dunno...probably. But should they?

I hope they're working hard on a relocation plan for that building!

[mattaudio]

Does anyone want to weigh in on how feasible it would be to rotate part of that building around to the Phillips Foundation parking lot? Looks like the parking lot was redone with the recent renovation, and has roughly 23 spaces. It would be great if the building could move, maybe the developer could reserve 20 spaces in the ramp on contract in perpetuity for the foundation, and we can have even more street frontage on University Ave (which would hopefully fill in even more when the union parking lot gets developed).

Speaking of the Phillips Foundation renovation, they make their conference room available (for free!) to other groups. It looks really nice. http://phillipsfamilymn.org/contact-us/conference-room/ They also fund transit/equity initiatives. Clearly a civic/urban minded foundation, so maybe they'd be open to moving part of the building to their parking lot if it was no skin off their back.

[Minneboy]

Wowzer. This is great and the views of downtown will be fantastic.

[nickmgray]

Wow. Wasn't expecting that. Any time they come back with new plans it's typically for something shorter than the original proposal. A 40 story building on that side of the river would really make a statement and could give other developers a good nudge to think a little bigger on future proposals for the neighborhood.

I'm hoping that 7,000 square feet of retail space will be divided up. A destination restaurant sounds nice, but this building sounds like it would be the perfect destination for some high-end retail too.

[seanrichardryan]

Odd, just two weeks ago it was very conceptual with a thoughtful site plan. Now it looks like a fully designed building. The old preservation bullshit parade or did thy just pull a 40 story building out of their folder?

[nordeast homer]

It may stick out like a sore thumb now, but it certainly ups the ante for Superior Plating. There are other parcels that could be good filler for this neighborhood too.

[MplsSteve]

It may stick out like a sore thumb now, but it certainly ups the ante for Superior Plating. There are other parcels that could be good filler for this neighborhood too.

I would actually rather see this on the Superior Plating site (along with an expanded retail base and townhouses), where the two full blocks could be put to good use. The proposed site just seems a bit cramped for something this big. Maybe it wouldn't across the river, but it does here