Rex 26 - 2601 Lyndale Ave S

Calhoun-Isles, Cedar-Riverside, Longfellow, Nokomis, Phillips, Powderhorn, and Southwest
Bob Stinson's Ghost
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Re: Rex 26 - 2601 Lyndale Ave S

Postby Bob Stinson's Ghost » February 6th, 2018, 6:13 pm

I believe it’s that the house always wins:

http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/2012081 ... lways-wins
Lol! Almost invariably the house loses and the apartment building wins. In this case multiple houses lost. The city wants tax base and the developer wants to turn a profit. If you lived in the neighborhood before the project you learn to love it or you move. It really is that simple.

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Re: Rex 26 - 2601 Lyndale Ave S

Postby Silophant » February 6th, 2018, 8:32 pm

You're right. Just the other day I crossed the Hennepin Avenue Bridge and went past the 30-story tower that they built on the Nye's site, overriding neighborhood disapproval.
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Re: Rex 26 - 2601 Lyndale Ave S

Postby Bob Stinson's Ghost » February 7th, 2018, 12:39 am

Pretty much every project is built in the face of virulent opposition from the neighborhood. It doesn't even matter, apparently, if you and your neighbors have deep enough pockets to pursue things all the way to the Minnesota Supreme Court: the developer *always* wins.

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Re: Rex 26 - 2601 Lyndale Ave S

Postby ko123 » February 7th, 2018, 7:12 am

Yes, there is usually some form of opposition to development. There are usually proponents to development as well. It is a balancing act. There are a number of recent examples where the developer did not win but I guess we are ignoring those for the sake of your hissy fit.

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Re: Rex 26 - 2601 Lyndale Ave S

Postby David Greene » February 7th, 2018, 8:01 am

Oh come off it. He's dealing with real life disruptions. He's got the right to complain about it.

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Re: Rex 26 - 2601 Lyndale Ave S

Postby VacantLuxuries » February 7th, 2018, 8:50 am

Repeatedly though? On a forum that isn't "Pile Driver Support Group"?

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Re: Rex 26 - 2601 Lyndale Ave S

Postby alexschief » February 7th, 2018, 9:14 am

Don't make this personal.

As for this project, there doesn't seem to be a way to slap the wrists of this developer for the shoddy way he's presented and adjusted this project. Maybe making the guy sweat like this is the best available way to do it. But I hope the City Council still allows for it to go forward. Because again, housing and a grocery for this neighborhood are more important than procedural concerns.

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Re: Rex 26 - 2601 Lyndale Ave S

Postby David Greene » February 7th, 2018, 9:47 am

That's sort of like saying we don't really care about the rule of law.

Yes, I know the law is flexible, and on and on. But at what point do we put our foot down and say that bad behavior by developers won't be tolerated. Plenty of us have complained in the past about developers radically changing an approved design after the fact, usually because materials were downgraded or the facade otherwise cheapened. This is a much more substantial change. What kind of precedent do we want to set?

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Re: Rex 26 - 2601 Lyndale Ave S

Postby MNdible » February 7th, 2018, 10:23 am

Yeah, and to suggest that this project is somehow in peril if he doesn't get the increased FAR doesn't seem legit. They're too far in to walk away -- it's just not going to be as profitable for him and his investors if they don't get these extra units, but it's not as if the grocery store is going to disappear if the City doesn't grant the variance.

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Re: Rex 26 - 2601 Lyndale Ave S

Postby LakeCharles » February 7th, 2018, 12:45 pm

Yeah, and to suggest that this project is somehow in peril if he doesn't get the increased FAR doesn't seem legit. They're too far in to walk away -- it's just not going to be as profitable for him and his investors if they don't get these extra units, but it's not as if the grocery store is going to disappear if the City doesn't grant the variance.
I'm not trying to argue with the broader point, more just curious. But is what you said true? Is ALDI still a lock to open here even if the variance is denied?

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Re: Rex 26 - 2601 Lyndale Ave S

Postby alexschief » February 7th, 2018, 12:45 pm

That's sort of like saying we don't really care about the rule of law.

Yes, I know the law is flexible, and on and on. But at what point do we put our foot down and say that bad behavior by developers won't be tolerated. Plenty of us have complained in the past about developers radically changing an approved design after the fact, usually because materials were downgraded or the facade otherwise cheapened. This is a much more substantial change. What kind of precedent do we want to set?
I'd presume incompetence before I presume malice.

The city should put its foot down if it happens again with this developer. It can't become a trend. At the same time, development is tough, and occasionally things don't work out cleanly. An occasional small mulligan seems fair. This isn't a small change, but it isn't a massive one either. Overall, the city should also be more lenient towards errors that count in favor of its comprehensive plan goals.

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Re: Rex 26 - 2601 Lyndale Ave S

Postby MNdible » February 7th, 2018, 1:31 pm

I'm not trying to argue with the broader point, more just curious. But is what you said true? Is ALDI still a lock to open here even if the variance is denied?
I don't know anything aside from what I've read in the articles, but it certainly sounds like Aldi demanded some expensive structural changes, which the developer agreed to make. If you're the developer, that lease with Aldi is hugely important, so unless the developer is really in a position to walk away from the project entirely (which I just don't see, given how much they've already got invested) I would expect that Aldi will be there, regardless of how many apartments are stacked above it.

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Re: Rex 26 - 2601 Lyndale Ave S

Postby Bob Stinson's Ghost » February 7th, 2018, 3:49 pm

Repeatedly though? On a forum that isn't "Pile Driver Support Group"?
3 months of everything in your house vibrating is nontrivial, my friend, but that's not what we're discussing here.

What we are discussing is a particular developer who thinks he has an ingenious strategy for getting his project built as he initially proposed it. There is precedent for TPTB in city hall yanking this particular guy around a little back in 2014 over his back taxes. Maybe there is a backstory here we're not privy to.

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Re: Rex 26 - 2601 Lyndale Ave S

Postby thatchio » February 7th, 2018, 11:07 pm

Per the article, I don't really buy the idea that the developer would be this far into construction and claim that their project is not financially feasible without the additional units. The construction loan was likely predicated on the pre-lease to Aldi and structural changes at this point in the process seem likely caused by the developer trying to adjust the first floor height down. I find it difficult to imagine that the deal/project design that the lender agreed to fund wouldn't be financially viable and that the lease would have left that much space for making a project unviable. Is it possible they blew through contingency, sure, but I don't think the City should be the one bailing out developers for their shoddy pre-development process.

If the project is in fact not viable without it and they don't get the FAR, and if they stop construction...just add this to the laundry list of strange development experiences that Master has under its belt. Don't forget about the deal at 27th & Lyndale with the liquor store that fell through because they didn't have complete site control but had been meeting with the community and city. That's something you don't do.

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Re: Rex 26 - 2601 Lyndale Ave S

Postby RedDutch » February 8th, 2018, 6:33 am

Repeatedly though? On a forum that isn't "Pile Driver Support Group"?
3 months of everything in your house vibrating is nontrivial, my friend, but that's not what we're discussing here.

What we are discussing is a particular developer who thinks he has an ingenious strategy for getting his project built as he initially proposed it. There is precedent for TPTB in city hall yanking this particular guy around a little back in 2014 over his back taxes. Maybe there is a backstory here we're not privy to.
Dude........try 3 years. I live on 35W and 50th St. We endured freeway and bridge construction for 3 years. Welcome to the city. Yes......you have the right to mention your discomfort but we don't need a daily update.

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Re: Rex 26 - 2601 Lyndale Ave S

Postby Bob Stinson's Ghost » February 8th, 2018, 9:18 am


Dude........try 3 years. I live on 35W and 50th St. We endured freeway and bridge construction for 3 years. Welcome to the city. Yes......you have the right to mention your discomfort but we don't need a daily update.
No complaints for a week. No more on the way. I get it.

If nobody wants to talk about Don Gerberding's idiosyncratic style, that's cool too.

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Re: Rex 26 - 2601 Lyndale Ave S

Postby David Greene » February 8th, 2018, 10:04 am

I'd presume incompetence before I presume malice.

The city should put its foot down if it happens again with this developer. It can't become a trend. At the same time, development is tough, and occasionally things don't work out cleanly. An occasional small mulligan seems fair. This isn't a small change, but it isn't a massive one either. Overall, the city should also be more lenient towards errors that count in favor of its comprehensive plan goals.
This developer has a history of "incompetence" and the design he's proposing is essentially the design that was rejected several years ago. He's trying to backdoor something he wanted to do in the first place.

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Re: Rex 26 - 2601 Lyndale Ave S

Postby Bob Stinson's Ghost » February 8th, 2018, 10:16 am

My first encounter with Gerberding was the presentation he gave to the Whittier neighborhood when he was trying to sell the Trader Joes project. It seemed kind of half baked.

It's interesting that Magrino said he would have approved the first iteration of Rex26.

I didn't understand this line from the Minnpost article:
Last Thursday, Gerberding appealed the variance denial to the Minneapolis City Council.
Can he actually get before the full city council for an up or down vote?

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Re: Rex 26 - 2601 Lyndale Ave S

Postby Silophant » February 8th, 2018, 10:20 am

Yep. It's pretty common, actually.
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Re: Rex 26 - 2601 Lyndale Ave S

Postby FISHMANPET » February 8th, 2018, 10:43 am

The Zoning & Planning Committee will hear the appeal and recommend granting or denying the appeal, and then the full council votes on it.


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