Page 10 of 30

Re: Nye's Polonaise Room - 100 block of E Hennepin Avenue

Posted: February 10th, 2015, 7:04 pm
by grant1simons2
They, the church, compared the wall to a highway sound barrier. I mean it can be looked at that in a way but it is an urban setting. They did make it clear that they're not against development next to the church, but just this building. A woman said she moved to this part of town because it's not downtown Minneapolis. She didn't want to see any highrises or tall buildings. She then said that it's starting to look like downtown with a 40 story and a 30 story building planned. I didn't get to hear some of the comments because I was walking with Mr. Frey asking him about developments and talking about this one in particular. It seemed that the most vocal people were the people who really cared about the church, which is understandable. With the extra level of underground parking being removed, it raises the building by only 2 feet because they shortened the heights of the other park levels to try to avoid making the podium taller than it needs to be.

There's a possible canopy that might go over part of the sidewalk, think of the Mayo Clinic Square one, more of a ledge to protect you from sun and rain. They also want to restore some windows, painting and other parts of the Harness and Nye's building. The glass on the parking structure and podium will be more translucent to let more light out at night maybe a welcome affect on Hennepin

Re: Nye's Polonaise Room - 100 block of E Hennepin Avenue

Posted: February 10th, 2015, 7:38 pm
by Silophant
A woman said she moved to this part of town because it's not downtown Minneapolis. She didn't want to see any highrises or tall buildings. She then said that it's starting to look like downtown with a 40 story and a 30 story building planned.
Did anyone pleasantly remind her that there are two existing 30-story buildings directly across the damn street?

Re: Nye's Polonaise Room - 100 block of E Hennepin Avenue

Posted: February 10th, 2015, 7:55 pm
by Wedgeguy
That building would also help to filter out some of the vibration and bus noise as they go by on Hennepin. What better place to have a blank wall than next to a building that is only used a few hours a day a few days a week. They sure don't have the hardship of looking out side their windows every day and seeing it. Plus the church has stain glass windows so they would not see the building from the inside anyway.
Silo you are correct with the two towers and they were placed where they were to keep a vista from across the river. That is why there is a stair case from the river to the churches front door. This tower does not hide the church anymore than a 6 story building would. To say that they are grasping at straws.

Re: Nye's Polonaise Room - 100 block of E Hennepin Avenue

Posted: February 10th, 2015, 8:01 pm
by Anondson
It will be northwest of the church, more north than northwest even. Shadows are hardly a real concern. But a looming blank wall I can see as unsightly, there are opportunities to make such a wall less plain.

Re: Nye's Polonaise Room - 100 block of E Hennepin Avenue

Posted: February 10th, 2015, 8:09 pm
by Wedgeguy
It will be northwest of the church, more north than northwest even. Shadows are hardly a real concern. But a looming blank wall I can see as unsightly, there are opportunities to make such a wall less plain.
Like there are NO mural painters here in MPLS that could come up with something PRETTY!!

Re: Nye's Polonaise Room - 100 block of E Hennepin Avenue

Posted: February 10th, 2015, 8:11 pm
by Silophant
An exhaustive three-minute search on streetview revealed exactly zero spots where even the tiniest bit of the steeple is visible now, but wouldn't be with that tower there. The church just isn't that tall. As Wedgeguy said, the six-story building they're going to wind up getting if they manage to block an actual tower here would be just as or more view-destroying than the current proposal. The developers should do everything possible to prevent vibrational damage to the church, but as for all their other concerns, they're in the middle of a major city, and they need to accept that buildings might be built nearby.

Edit: Clarified pronoun.

Re: Nye's Polonaise Room - 100 block of E Hennepin Avenue

Posted: February 10th, 2015, 8:12 pm
by RailBaronYarr
I'm not overly concerned about the church and it fitting into this environment. In addition to the Montreal example, St Patrick's cathedral hasn't lost any of its beauty or impact being surrounded by high rises. http://f.fwallpapers.com/images/st-patr ... w-york.png They'll still have the beauty shot from the river looking up the stairs.

From a construction standpoint, seems there are enough examples out there of it being done. If we could build the Lowry tunnel next to St Mark's 40+ years ago, we can figure out a way to do it safely here.

I'm not wild about the parking ramp being at grade as mattaudio alludes to, and these podiums (even if the shrouding is getting better) are becoming frustrating. But overall it's basically what I expected and a pretty good look. The fact that they are keeping the 2 main Nyes buildings should give SR a good amount of bonus points to start with and some leeway in their choices as far as I'm concerned.

Re: Nye's Polonaise Room - 100 block of E Hennepin Avenue

Posted: February 10th, 2015, 8:42 pm
by grant1simons2
A woman said she moved to this part of town because it's not downtown Minneapolis. She didn't want to see any highrises or tall buildings. She then said that it's starting to look like downtown with a 40 story and a 30 story building planned.
Did anyone pleasantly remind her that there are two existing 30-story buildings directly across the damn street?
Yep. Right away.

Nye's Polonaise Room - 100 block of E Hennepin Avenue

Posted: February 10th, 2015, 9:10 pm
by Anondson
Neighborhood task force gives is thumbs up.

http://www.startribune.com/local/minnea ... 76491.html

Re: Nye's Polonaise Room - 100 block of E Hennepin Avenue

Posted: February 10th, 2015, 9:35 pm
by John
It's a great design , especially the base along Hennepin the preservation of the historic buildings. The tower has some elegance and is about as good as it gets in this city without being too daring..lol. Needs some improvement on the side facing the church, but I think they will work out a compromise. Exciting times for this part of town!.

Re: Nye's Polonaise Room - 100 block of E Hennepin Avenue

Posted: February 10th, 2015, 9:49 pm
by David Greene
From a construction standpoint, seems there are enough examples out there of it being done. If we could build the Lowry tunnel next to St Mark's 40+ years ago, we can figure out a way to do it safely here.
I wonder about that. What condition is St. Mark's in? Does it have huge cracks like the Basilica? In some ways I can see how vibration might be less with a tunnel and more with an elevated freeway next door.

My main concern with the church is damage during and after construction. That is a real concern with real world examples in our city.

Re: Nye's Polonaise Room - 100 block of E Hennepin Avenue

Posted: February 10th, 2015, 11:27 pm
by seanrichardryan
St. Mark's, Hennepin Methodist, & the Basilica of St. Mary are steel & concrete construction with stone veneer and around 100 years old. Our Lady of Lourdes is crumbly Plateville Limestone and 160 years old.

Re: Nye's Polonaise Room - 100 block of E Hennepin Avenue

Posted: February 11th, 2015, 2:26 am
by UrsusUrbanicus
but as for all their other concerns, they're in the middle of a major city, and they need to accept that buildings might be built nearby.
THIS. This cannot be said enough. If our speaker were really seeking Not-Downtown, aren't there tons of places that would better fit her bill (Linden Hills? Kenny? Kingfield?) Choosing a neighborhood that best fits one's priorities is a much more realistic approach (and much more respectful of what a city is) than attempting piecemeal blockage of everything one doesn't 100% like.

Re: Nye's Polonaise Room - 100 block of E Hennepin Avenue

Posted: February 11th, 2015, 7:32 am
by twincitizen
A woman said she moved to this part of town because it's not downtown Minneapolis. She didn't want to see any highrises or tall buildings. She then said that it's starting to look like downtown with a 40 story and a 30 story building planned.
Did anyone pleasantly remind her that there are two existing 30-story buildings directly across the damn street?
Yep. Right away.
I'm guessing she did not actually live in "East Bank" / Old St. Anthony area, but slightly further out in NE. It's pretty hard to live in "this part of town" without being aware of the existing tall buildings.

Re: Nye's Polonaise Room - 100 block of E Hennepin Avenue

Posted: February 11th, 2015, 7:44 am
by MplsSteve
It will be northwest of the church, more north than northwest even. Shadows are hardly a real concern. But a looming blank wall I can see as unsightly, there are opportunities to make such a wall less plain.
Plus the church's current view of the back of Nye's is hardly a thing of beauty. I do think their concerns over structural issues with the church are legitimate. It seems to me that back in the 1980's when La Rive was constructed there were some issues of minor structural damage to the church.

Re: Nye's Redevelopment - 100 block of E Hennepin Avenue

Posted: February 11th, 2015, 9:32 am
by grant1simons2
Image

Re: Nye's Redevelopment - 100 block of E Hennepin Avenue

Posted: February 11th, 2015, 11:19 am
by Konante
I really like the way the podium and tower appear to twist, separately, and in a way that coordinates with the odd shape of the parcel. Cheers!

Also, the NIMBY church needs to sit down and accept the reality of being in a large metropolitan area; big things are built nearby and sometimes next door. Enjoy the fact that this proposal adds mightily to the quality of the streetscape and neighborhood, and hey, maybe you'll even get some new parishioners.

Re: Nye's Redevelopment - 100 block of E Hennepin Avenue

Posted: February 11th, 2015, 11:35 am
by Anondson
I wonder if the rendering is telegraphing that Nye's will return...

Re: Nye's Redevelopment - 100 block of E Hennepin Avenue

Posted: February 11th, 2015, 11:36 am
by David Greene
Also, the NIMBY church needs to sit down and accept the reality of being in a large metropolitan area; big things are built nearby and sometimes next door.
I'm sorry but this is not NIMBY. There are real concerns here, especially potential structural damage. We should not be telling the parish to shut up and "sit down." That is exactly what all the *real* NIMBYs will point to to discredit our community.

Re: Nye's Redevelopment - 100 block of E Hennepin Avenue

Posted: February 11th, 2015, 11:40 am
by Anondson
If the river front towers from the recent past caused damage it is very believable this could/would inflict damage.