Alia Tower - 200 Central - 483' / 40 Stories

[HiawathaGuy]

Judge temporarily blocks Alatus LLC’s condo project
http://finance-commerce.com/2016/11/jud ... o-project/

Court date set for December 16, 2016.

[mattaudio]

Shouldn't they need to put up a surety bond?

[amiller92]

And again, our historical preservation laws are nonsensical and undemocratic.

[Silophant]

But for real, why didn't they demolish the building at any point in the last six months or whatever that they've had the permit to do so?

[bapster2006]

That is exactly what I have been thinking since the day the demolition was approved. I could not figure out why they didn't have equipment out there the next day. At least prepare the site when you had legal permission to do so.

[thesilverpen]

So... how many times has Alatus said that they "expect to start construction in a couple months"? My guess is they can't get financing... Banks that would consider a (comparatively) small local sponsor, such as Lux, are already over invested in the market in general, and larger lenders or out of town money won't get on board with the current condo construction defect laws that are in place.

They can't get financing... that's why they aren't starting. Everything else is just an excuse or a delay tactic until they (hopefully) get project financing and save face.

[seanrichardryan]

Demolition delayed for old funeral home building near downtown Minneapolis
http://www.startribune.com/real-estate- ... 404100036/

[twincitizen]

Yeah I don't know why anyone thought Alatus would spend any money on demolition or construction when they have been well aware this lawsuit was forthcoming.

Chris Osmundson, development director for Alatus, said that demolition was supposed to start on Nov. 22, but it was suspended to wait for the court hearing.

Hennepin County District Judge Daniel Moreno is scheduled to hear the complaint on Dec. 23.

[grant1simons2]

Is there anyway to see how this went?

[seanrichardryan]

Goes to trial in MARCH.

http://finance-commerce.com/2016/12/ala ... -in-march/

[grant1simons2]

Glad that our legal system is being put to good use. This will never be built now.

[jtoemke]

This is across the river from downtown and near to other very tall buildings. This is so ridiculous that it can be held up like this. It got approval. Tear it down in the dead of night and deal with the consequences later.

I know thats not how it works, but its just frustrating. Its alongside a massive parking garage and a 12 story building, not in the middle of some neighborhood.

[TroyGBiv]

March is when this goes to court...

[spearson]

If this continues on as planned, can Alatus counter sue the neighborhood group for any increases in cost due to their appeal?

[MNdible]

Didn't the official neighborhood group actually support the project?

[grant1simons2]

Yes

[Qhaberl]

Were you saying yes to post #594 Or #595?


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[bubzki2]

Cost reimbursement (e.g., attorneys fees, etc.) for the suit are basically up to the judge to decide.

[Qhaberl]

Let's say the judge allows the development to proceed, anyone have any idea as to how long we might wait before construction actually commences?


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[twincitizen]

Still a mystery to anyone not involved in the project. They aren't doing condo pre-sales at all, which is unusual, so are they still lining up financing? Self-financing? (unlikely for a project this costly) Who knows? We really haven't heard much about how this project will be financed.

As far as I know, Alatus didn't push back against the lengthy court timeline for trial (March date was set back in December). Presumably they could have petitioned the court to hear the case sooner, but I didn't see any media reports of that happening, so I can only assume they're comfortable with this delay and never had any intention of breaking ground before Spring/Summer 2017 anyways.

While the March 13 trial date will effectively delay any start to the project until at least this spring, representatives for Alatus said Friday they believe the overall project timeline is not yet impacted by the lawsuit.
“We feel like from a project schedule standpoint this is the most expedient way to deal with this [lawsuit] and stay on our timeline” for delivering the project, Chris Osmundson, development director for Alatus, said in an interview after the hearing on Friday.