WaHu Student Housing - 1000 Washington Avenue SE

[mulad]

I'd be itching to get rid of Little Dearborn if it was just a typical garage service place (like Mercil's was along Washington Ave a bit to the west), but it's basically a neighborhood hardware store that happens to specialize in vintage car parts (though they probably have customers coming from several states away sometimes).

[seanrichardryan]

That is a great building too. Leave it be!

[FISHMANPET]

Alright, I'll take back what I say about Caspian, that sounds like a pretty cool place, I'll have to be sure to check it out.

But I'm still not convinced on the auto parts store. It also sounds like a cool little business and certainly something that makes an urban area interesting, but is that really the most productive use for that land? An auto parts store is by its very definition an auto oriented business. Are people going to come from out of state on the light rail to this store? There's going to be a high demand for housing in this location, and I think even with this existing building rents are going to go up to the point where Little Dearborn might have to move. It just seems like such a niche business that there can't be that much money in it. If I'm wrong then so be it, but it still strikes me as strange.

E: Somehow didn't read Mulad's post, if it's the case that it's also a general hardware store, then I take back everything I said. With a little change in marketing (I'd have no idea they had anything but obscure auto parts from just walking by) and a slight change in products carried this place could thrive surrounded by housing.

[mulad]

It's auto-oriented in function, but not form. The parts are for cars that probably only driven a few times per year. I'm sure some of the parts are big, but others can fit in a pocket.

[Nick]

http://www.mndaily.com/2012/10/03/bistr ... r-new-apts

A 333-unit student-housing development will begin construction in Stadium Village by January. The complex, WaHu Student Housing, is set to open by fall 2014 at the intersection of Washington Avenue and Huron Boulevard.

Man that's a big building.

[mulad]

Huh. I never would have thought about snow loads increasing because of a taller building next door. That seems like a tough thing to predict -- sometimes air currents push snow away from buildings, while other times they induce snow to pile up significantly. The 10-foot gap they're talking about strikes me as a good spacing, though I wonder what would happen to the building walls if a lot of snow ended up falling straight into that gap. Plus the developer is offering to help strengthen the Caspian's roof, which is good to hear. Hopefully they'll work it out.

Just because this project is across the street, does anyone think the triangle of land between Washington, University, and Huron (er, the LRT tracks) will ever see anything built on it?

[FISHMANPET]

It looks like that might be a drainage pond, since it's dug so deep and I think there's a sewer drain at the bottom. I imagine that makes it pretty unlikely that anything will be built there.

[Nathan]

On the Henn Co property map it says it's owned by the U board of regents, and home to some building, which I would guess left when they altered the intersection there. So I doubt anything would happen unless the U needs something???

[FISHMANPET]

It was a Chinese restaurant once upon a time, then got demolished when they rebuilt the roads right there (before CC construction started, maybe for Stadium construction?) which would explain why the U owns it now.

[MSPtoMKE]

Yeah, it was when they realigned the Huron/Washington/University/Oak St. area to make way for the new Stadium. It used to be a slightly larger triangle, and with the tracks going in, I don't think the remaining land would be very feasible for development, even without a drainage pond. It is something of a gateway to the campus, I would hope that it has some attractive landscaping beyond the typical water retention pond.

[Didier]

Yeah I moved to Minneapolis in 2009, right around the time the stadium opened, so I never really knew the U of M area before that. Not that long ago I was looking at Google Maps and they still hadn't updated the satellite view of that area to add the stadium. It was quite a bit different.

[twincitizen]

MN Daily reports: Plasma move axed, could delay WaHu

The proposal would’ve moved the Stadium Village CSL Plasma Center one block along University Avenue to make way for CPM Development’s WaHu, a 333-unit student housing project....Councilman Gary Schiff said fellow Councilman Cam Gordon — who represents the University and its surrounding neighborhoods — is crafting an amendment to the zoning code that would allow blood and plasma donation centers in other zoning districts....The hearing drew a large crowd, with emotional testimonies from donors, Prospect Park residents, CSL employees and a Minneapolis police sergeant.

Initial thoughts: Gary Schiff is really good at getting his name in the paper! Here he is, quoted for saying what another councilperson is doing. Impressive.

[Unity77]

According to Finance & Commerce, the sale of the properties included in this project closed December 18th. Here is the rendering they released.

[Nick]

So that's where the Nicollet Residences' crown went!

[min-chi-cbus]

For some reason that looks a lot taller than 11 floors...

[MSPtoMKE]

For some reason that looks a lot taller than 11 floors...

I think it is because the perspective has been "corrected", making the vertical lines truely vertical. In an actual photograph, vertical lines tend to converge at a vanishing point above. Correcting for it, often done in architectural photography, can distort actual proportions.

[twincitizen]

This seriously better not get hung up over that damn CSL Plasma relocation. C'mon Cam Gordon (and Gary Schiff) get the rezoning for a single business done...just don't tell Meg Tuthill about it

[Le Sueur]

For some reason that looks a lot taller than 11 floors...

I think it is because the perspective has been "corrected", making the vertical lines truely vertical. In an actual photograph, vertical lines tend to converge at a vanishing point above. Correcting for it, often done in architectural photography, can distort actual proportions.

Right. I think the render way back on page two gives a little better perspective of the overall project.

I can't see any major changes, although going back to look at it I had not realize how far back the 11 story building carried diagonally into the lot.

[mplser]

this will have street level retail spots, right? if so, why can't CSL Plasma move into the first floor of this building when it's done?

[twincitizen]

this will have street level retail spots, right? if so, why can't CSL Plasma move into the first floor of this building when it's done?

For the same reason it couldn't move to the site they had originally planned on moving to: zoning.

I'll have to look up what the WaHu site is being rezoned to, but it sure as heck won't be Light Industrial or whatever a plasma center requires.