Apartment Hunting General Discussion

[at40man]

I wasn't aware Target paid for apartments. Do they subsidize them so their age-20-something employees can actually find them affordable?

As far as the Churchill, I was in it a few times to visit friends. A bit of a dump, in my opinion. It has the odor of musty carpet combined with spicy curry.

ApartmentRatings.com probably has many reviews on these downtown apartments.

[mplsjaromir]

I wasn't aware Target paid for apartments. Do they subsidize them so their age-20-something employees can actually find them affordable?

It would be part of their compensation, just like healthcare benefits or a paycheck. So it's not really a subsidy, as far as I know employer provided housing benefit would be taxed.

[Nick]

Yeah, $1,300 is a little higher than I'd like to pay, sure, but it includes all utilities plus cable and 6mbps high-speed internet (or an equivalent discount if I choose to upgrade that.) Factoring that into the price, that's easily a couple-hundred dollars that I'd normally be spending additionally.

That's not necessarily too bad then. Have you contacted the building at all yet? I'm curious how many vacancies they have. I'm down the street (a few blocks further from Downtown) in Oak Grove Towers which has quite a few vacancies--and I guess 430 Oak Grove down the street has a bunch too. I like my current building, but if LPM Apartments opens up and lots of people "move up" to that building from places like One Ten Grant, it may be worth it to move into one of their places if they start offering deals.

[QuietBlue]

I wasn't aware Target paid for apartments. Do they subsidize them so their age-20-something employees can actually find them affordable?

As far as the Churchill, I was in it a few times to visit friends. A bit of a dump, in my opinion. It has the odor of musty carpet combined with spicy curry.

Sorry; when I referred to OTG as a "Target dorm", I didn't mean it literally -- that's just what that and the other apartment buildings nearby are nicknamed by the Target HQ workers because of all of the younger employees that live in them. I had a manager and another colleague who lived in OTG. There wasn't a housing subsidy when I worked there, though there was temporary housing provided for employees from other locations (Bangalore, Toronto, etc) who were at HQ for an extended period of time as well as relo assistance for people moving here permanently.

Re: the Churchill, a couple of friends of mine used to live in a 2BR there which had been remodeled just before they moved in, and it was pretty nice. The common areas showed their age a bit, but I wouldn't go so far as to call it a dump.

[IllogicalJake]

Yeah, $1,300 is a little higher than I'd like to pay, sure, but it includes all utilities plus cable and 6mbps high-speed internet (or an equivalent discount if I choose to upgrade that.) Factoring that into the price, that's easily a couple-hundred dollars that I'd normally be spending additionally.

That's not necessarily too bad then. Have you contacted the building at all yet? I'm curious how many vacancies they have. I'm down the street (a few blocks further from Downtown) in Oak Grove Towers which has quite a few vacancies--and I guess 430 Oak Grove down the street has a bunch too. I like my current building, but if LPM Apartments opens up and lots of people "move up" to that building from places like One Ten Grant, it may be worth it to move into one of their places if they start offering deals.

I talked to OTG last month and chatted about the situation to them. As you can expect, it's hard to find out actual availability information when I don't have a set moving date yet. But I'm a frontrunner for a downtown position, so hopefully that goes through.

They made it sound like availability of a one bedroom with a skyline view should be no problem at all. I'm a bit spoiled, I live in an Indianapolis high-rise with a skyline view right now (and for about the same rent!) The skyline view isn't a must, but the location seems great.

Oh, and LPM looks great. I'd love to eventually have a unit there. But I'm assuming they'll be a bit above my price range for right now.

Re: the Churchill, a couple of friends of mine used to live in a 2BR there which had been remodeled just before they moved in, and it was pretty nice. The common areas showed their age a bit, but I wouldn't go so far as to call it a dump.

That's sort of the impression I have of it, too. It and OneTenGrant seem to be about equal as far as age goes, but inside the units still looks pretty decent. Plain compared to the more modern buildings, sure, but still more than acceptable.

[at40man]

Sorry; when I referred to OTG as a "Target dorm", I didn't mean it literally -- that's just what that and the other apartment buildings nearby are nicknamed by the Target HQ workers because of all of the younger employees that live in them. I had a manager and another colleague who lived in OTG. There wasn't a housing subsidy when I worked there, though there was temporary housing provided for employees from other locations (Bangalore, Toronto, etc) who were at HQ for an extended period of time as well as relo assistance for people moving here permanently.

Ah gotcha. One of my friends lives in a place like that in Uptown. I swear at least 50% were 20-something Target employees.

Re: the Churchill, a couple of friends of mine used to live in a 2BR there which had been remodeled just before they moved in, and it was pretty nice. The common areas showed their age a bit, but I wouldn't go so far as to call it a dump.

I must've been in one of the Churchill's un-remodeled units, as this was already a few years ago. Dump is probably extreme of me to say, but I wasn't especially impressed for a building that markets itself as "L uxury Apartment Homes". One of my old co-workers used to call the old Tom Thumb convenience store there "Thumbster" and when they changed names she started referring to it as "Dumpster". We would have a good laugh about that on the way to eat lunch at their .... deli.

What would really help the Churchill's image much more than their management may realize is renovating the skyway connection. Ugly worn black carpet, an oddly slanting/banked floor, broken ceiling tiles, and flickering fluorescent lighting probably didn't help my perception. Last time I walked through that part of the skyway this autumn, nothing had changed.

[Minneapolisite]

Loring Park by itself is a pretty good neighborhood, but what really sells it is its location and access to other parts of the city. I've been car free here and couldn't imagine owning one. There are high-frequency bus routes and free rides on Nicollet Mall to other lines including LRT and plenty of bikeways that connect to the rest of the city and beyond. You have NE just across the river with its own distinct business districts and taprooms have recently sprouted all over the place. I liked living there, but felt too removed from the rest of the city.

Loring Park proper could use a better mix of destinations: Nicollet has a couple of average Americanized Chinese restaurants and an expensive pub devoid of any character: I think Salsa a a Salsa is the best thing going on there along with Market BBQ (stick with the cheaper $10 range sandwich options). There are a couple of coffeeshops: quirky GG's and a Dunn Bros with a nice view of the park and basilica. Then directly across from Loring Park you have higher-end spots with pricey food and $10+ cocktails: too many as evidenced by Cafe Maude's closing (I'd love to see a live music venue come back to that spot but one that's heavy on indie rock and boilermakers). At Lotus I've never had anything greasy: actually quite healthful from the items I've eaten, but then I've stuck mainly with the Vietnamese menu and away from the Chinese. There is thankfully a cheap dive bar with the 19 where you can find the best frozen pizza you'll ever have (Heggie's), billiards is $0.75, and a beer is amazingly well under $5: the downside is the jukebox sucks. I would have hoped that something would have moved in to the old King & I Thai to keep the charm of off-main street destinations hidden away throughout the area, but I guess the rumors must be true that it's being converted to residential (bleh, as though there wasn't enough already).

Personally, I'm a much bigger fan of Whittier, particularly its portion of Eat Street.

[Nathan]

Loring Park by itself is a pretty good neighborhood, but what really sells it is its location and access to other parts of the city. I've been car free here and couldn't imagine owning one. There are high-frequency bus routes and free rides on Nicollet Mall to other lines including LRT and plenty of bikeways that connect to the rest of the city and beyond. You have NE just across the river with its own distinct business districts and taprooms have recently sprouted all over the place. I liked living there, but felt too removed from the rest of the city.

Loring Park proper could use a better mix of destinations: Nicollet has a couple of average Americanized Chinese restaurants and an expensive pub devoid of any character: I think Salsa a a Salsa is the best thing going on there along with Market BBQ (stick with the cheaper $10 range sandwich options). There are a couple of coffeeshops: quirky GG's and a Dunn Bros with a nice view of the park and basilica. Then directly across from Loring Park you have higher-end spots with pricey food and $10+ cocktails: too many as evidenced by Cafe Maude's closing (I'd love to see a live music venue come back to that spot but one that's heavy on indie rock and boilermakers). At Lotus I've never had anything greasy: actually quite healthful from the items I've eaten, but then I've stuck mainly with the Vietnamese menu and away from the Chinese. There is thankfully a cheap dive bar with the 19 where you can find the best frozen pizza you'll ever have (Heggie's), billiards is $0.75, and a beer is amazingly well under $5: the downside is the jukebox sucks. I would have hoped that something would have moved in to the old King & I Thai to keep the charm of off-main street destinations hidden away throughout the area, but I guess the rumors must be true that it's being converted to residential (bleh, as though there wasn't enough already).

Personally, I'm a much bigger fan of Whittier, particularly its portion of Eat Street.

Being an employee of Cafe Maude I can tell you it wasn't the $10 dollar cocktails that closed it, if anything those kept it open longer... mostly internal stuff...
*Also we're re-opening there in May with a new concept, unfortunately probably not like what you're looking for...

[IllogicalJake]

So One Ten Grant fell through, but for a much higher-quality apartment at Soo Line Building. The rent isn't great, but it works well for me, and the interiors seem top-notch. Looking forward to being able to walk any direction and find great things...

This thread helped me learn a lot about the Loring Park and Downtown areas, so thanks a lot everyone. I'll see you around on here and in the cities.

[FISHMANPET]

Be sure to post pics and thoughts in the Soo Line thread, I'm sure plenty of people would be interested in your experience.

[seanrichardryan]

Like the atrocious lighting setup in the bathrooms

[Silophant]

Speaking of the bathrooms, I'm interested to hear your thoughts on the sexy bath.

[IllogicalJake]

Speaking of the bathrooms, I'm interested to hear your thoughts on the sexy bath.

Hah. It's my favorite part of each floorplan.

Even the half-baths in the 2 bed units are labeled sexy.

But overall the project seems fairly solid. I love seeing conversions of old buildings, especially office to residential. The interiors are nice and there's a pretty good amount of amenities. Plus, the location can't be beat. Not perfect, but much closer than where I live now.

As soon as I'm there I'll post some pictures of the unit, common areas, and other details to bump the Soo Line thread.

[Viktor Vaughn]

Demand has seemed to mostly keep pace with new apartment developments so far, but as ever more projects open, I suspect that certain buildings will have to offer some sweetners or even lower rents in order to lease up. As one barometer of the apartment boom and rental market, it could be interesting to track rental concessions in one thread.

The first one is ripped from the Track 29 thread. What other concessions are new buildings offering?

"Two months free" is being advertised on Craigslist: http://minneapolis.craigslist.org/hnp/a ... 59590.html

[xandrex]

Brunsfield North Loop has been offering a half month for free, plus a year of parking included.

[twincitizen]

36 Park in SLP had/has giant ads at the West End movie theater advertising 2 months free, dating back to last fall.

[uptown067]

Elan Uptown has one month free.

With this project, in particular, I'm curious when they will start lowering rates. They are ridiculously overpriced now.

[TommyT]

IF you could really even call it Lux*ry... The Murals is offering 2 free months according to this craigslist post.

http://minneapolis.craigslist.org/hnp/a ... 48681.html

[twincitizen]

I'm hoping the incentives get really sweet in Sept/Oct, when my current lease is up. I'm ready to move beyond the $650-750/mo soiled carpet & smelly hallways life. It's a shame there's so little available in that medium range $800-$950 level in the Whittier area. Citywide even, there's not much mid-range in existence. I guess that's what happens when you basically don't build any apartment units between 1971 and 2004.

[mattaudio]

Step up to the good life... a SFH in Northrop, Longfellow, Nokomis East, Kinfield, etc.