The Expo - 215 2nd St SE (285' - 26 Stories)

Northeast, Near North, Camden, Old St. Anthony, University and surrounding neighborhoods
bapster2006
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The Expo - 215 2nd St SE (285' - 26 Stories)

Postby bapster2006 » June 8th, 2017, 3:23 pm

The packet for the 20 story building at the General Mills site:

http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/www/gro ... 200011.pdf

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Re: Northeast (and Southeast) - General Topics

Postby David Greene » June 8th, 2017, 3:44 pm

Those are some crazy-ass drug-induced pictures there.

The mid-rise stuff looks ok but that tower is a hulk. The view along 3rd Ave. reminds me of RiverWest.

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Re: Northeast (and Southeast) - General Topics

Postby EOst » June 8th, 2017, 3:56 pm

Not very active on the ground floors. Big setbacks.

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Re: Northeast (and Southeast) - General Topics

Postby MNdible » June 8th, 2017, 5:16 pm

As long as it has a rooftop Pet Spa, I'm on board.

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VacantLuxuries
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Re: Northeast (and Southeast) - General Topics

Postby VacantLuxuries » June 8th, 2017, 5:22 pm

It reminds me of the Tower of Terror, but in a good way? Is that possible?

Image

amiller92
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Re: Northeast (and Southeast) - General Topics

Postby amiller92 » June 9th, 2017, 9:12 am

Not very active on the ground floors. Big setbacks.
That's my only criticism.

Don't think the tower looks at all out of place.

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Re: Northeast (and Southeast) - General Topics

Postby RailBaronYarr » June 9th, 2017, 9:34 am

I'm not sure the ground floor is so inactive. Obviously no commercial, but almost the entire frontage on all sides is raised patios with steps down to the street. The setbacks are less than, say, most single family homes, and you're far more likely to see people using these front patios because it's their only outdoor space. And I don't mind the setbacks (they look to be about 9' from lot line to townhome face?) if the landscaping is well-maintained. The frontage with the leasing office could be pulled closer to the sidewalk, and it's tough to tell if the "Private Park" has elements to prevent people from the sidewalk from reaching it - if so that should be removed. It also looks like the sidewalk on the tower side is well away from the lot line, which is why there's a boulevard with trees between the building and sidewalk - maybe the developer could flip that relationship and bring the sidewalk closer in and get the trees in the boulevard between it and the street.

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Re: Northeast (and Southeast) - General Topics

Postby EOst » June 9th, 2017, 11:13 am

They're not that dissimilar from the ground-floor dwellings in Grant Park (along Portland), and I can't say those have ever felt inviting or active.

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Re: Northeast (and Southeast) - General Topics

Postby MNdible » June 9th, 2017, 12:02 pm

But unless we're suggesting that this should all be retail (which seems like quite a stretch in this location), I'm honestly sure that you're going to get more active than an occupied unit.

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Re: Northeast (and Southeast) - General Topics

Postby EOst » June 9th, 2017, 12:21 pm

I don't expect every side to be active, but both corners along SE 2nd really need to be. That ramp is going sooner or later, and the 2nd/2nd corner in particular is the natural pedestrian route from all the towers in NIEBNA to the riverfront/St. Anthony Main.

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Re: Northeast (and Southeast) - General Topics

Postby MNdible » June 9th, 2017, 12:31 pm

That ramp is going sooner or later...
It would seem to me that the ramp is becoming more valuable with every passing day. Why, just yesterday they announced plans to redevelop a block of surface parking right next door to it.

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Re: Northeast (and Southeast) - General Topics

Postby RailBaronYarr » June 9th, 2017, 12:54 pm

I mean yeah, but what else is the designer supposed to do? As an aside, I'm not really *wild* about my front stoop being "inviting" to people walking by (get off my lawn, etc). I know that makes me kind of a jerk urbanist, and it may even run counter to things I've said in the past on this very forum. I feel like the major goal of these units and their front patio is to make it the easy, obvious, and therefore primary, entrance - driving foot traffic more often than going to the garage for your car to leave. A secondary goal is to help get people outside doing things like grilling or chilling, facing the sidewalk - putting eyes on the street, interacting with passersby, etc. I obviously agree that a block long blank wall is uninviting in the bad way, but when you have doors and patios and windows for most of a building's front, even if it's still feels uninviting by some very difficult to articulate (and regulate) ways, that's not necessarily a bad thing IMO.

And, I'm not going to say commercial should or shouldn't pencil here, but even if it did, it'd only be a small percent of the block's frontage.

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Re: Northeast (and Southeast) - General Topics

Postby EOst » June 9th, 2017, 12:55 pm

Good thing that redevelopment adds 100 net stalls, then.

Didn't Alatus back off on their plans to build liner townhomes around the ramp when they realized the ramp needed to eventually go?

@RBY: I don't have a problem with most of it being townhomes. Just put something bright and sidewalk-adjacent at the corners.

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Re: Northeast (and Southeast) - General Topics

Postby bapster2006 » July 26th, 2017, 4:51 pm

The General Mills site. Surprisingly, more dense now:

http://m.startribune.com/developers-upd ... ection=%2F

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Re: Northeast (and Southeast) - General Topics

Postby Silophant » July 26th, 2017, 6:22 pm

More housing is better, of course, but I'm a little disappointed that they upped the unit count solely by shrinking the apartments, and not by actually making the building bigger.

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Re: Northeast (and Southeast) - General Topics

Postby J2arkitekt » July 27th, 2017, 8:09 am

It is very rare for an entire city block in an urban location to be up for development all at once. Its disappointing to see that this is all that was proposed. Aesthetics aside, it seems like a missed opportunity.

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Re: Northeast (and Southeast) - General Topics

Postby SurlyLHT » July 27th, 2017, 8:20 am

I have to say I find this project to be much more well designed than the Legacy Project across the river. Both have a lot of massing, but this one is more effective at breaking it up. I'm afraid Legacy lacks the semi-elegance of this project.

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Re: Northeast (and Southeast) - General Topics

Postby Qhaberl » July 27th, 2017, 8:40 am

I totally agree with you. At least, this project has building materials that are a wide variety in color and type. The legacy project looks like a big black, Square box.


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jtoemke
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Re: Northeast (and Southeast) - General Topics

Postby jtoemke » July 27th, 2017, 9:37 am

370 units on a current surface parking lot. Love it. Build it.

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Re: Northeast (and Southeast) - General Topics

Postby mister.shoes » July 27th, 2017, 10:09 am

I'm cautiously in the "I like it!" camp. It's no K/A block redevelopment with actual mixed use and whatnot, but it's pretty good for an entire block of residential. Lots of doors, non-boring blockfaces, entirely hidden parking, and it fits in well with the neighborhood.

I know the idea of housing wrapping the parking ramp across the street has flown the coop, but maybe just maybe someone will bring back that idea and make 2nd Ave SE a genuinely nice street instead of the mess it is now.
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