Soo Line Building Apartments - (501 Marquette Avenue)

[downtowndweller]

Open House tonight... Wednesday, Nov. 6, 4:00-7:00 pm... Appears to be open to the public and will have hors d'oeuvres and refreshments from the restaurant that will be on groud level - Brasserie Zentral. More info on the Soo Line Facebook page...

https://www.facebook.com/SooLineBuildingCityApts

[John]

Walked through the lobby today and I think this project is going to be awesome for downtown. The first floor restaurant has a great street frontage and will liven up the corner. Definitely one of the better apartment developments going up.

[City slicker]

Yes, this building has character, and class made even better.

[Wedgeguy]

Still have a problem with the stark white. I feel a cream would have fit the building better. The layout is fine, but the overly modern just does not jive with the exterior of the building. The White and the aluminum/windows are just so out of place on the interior of the ground floor and skyway.

I look for the first two floor to look very dated very soon. This was done as trendy and not timeless.

[John]

^^^Agree it is a bit gimmicky. It will look better when the restaurant opens up to the first floor lobby area.

[MplsSteve]

I went to the open house last night and was pretty impressed. The model apartments (on 3rd and 4th floors) were really nice - high ceilings, large windows, quite generous closets. Not at all your typical cookie cutter apartments. I was also happy to see that they did try to preserve any remaining historical details that they uncovered - some marble flooring, ornate plaster details, a huge ornate brass mailbox in the lobby. They even kept all of the old (mid century style) elevator doors in the lobby, even though only three are functional. They're still finishing up inside, although tenants are moving in. The rooftop pool and terrace won't be done until early next year. Overall they did a very commendable job.

[John]

It could really be a nice condo conversion in the future.

[Wedgeguy]

While I still have misgivings about the inside of the first two floors. I noticed today that they have painted the area around the outside if the first two levels windows black or it finally shows up black, but it looked fantastic. Once lit up it will be a gem on Marquette.

[min-chi-cbus]

Photo gallery of the newly-installed units:

http://www.bizjournals.com/twincities/b ... ge_gallery

I think what I love most about this project is that it should almost certainly force any competitors who claim to offer "high-end" living and charge high-end prices to raise their standards!

[Avian]

I agree with Wedgeguy. I will have to reserve a final opinion until I can walk through the building and see for myself, but the decor of the public areas look about as wonderful as a shopping mall. I thought the same thing when I saw the renderings months ago.

Disjointed elements in the lobby. Popcorn ceilings in the units (at least in the closet picture, which could easily have been taken in 1985). Ceiling-mounted 4-foot fluorescent fixtures in the exercise room. What appears to be laminate flooring in the units (hardwood would have a non-uniform reflective surface). Bedrooms with a mid-priced hotel aesthetic. That supergraphic paint job in the bath. Really? Just how on-the-cheap was this done?

I'd be happy to be proved wrong, but it seems the interior designers never got past the 1990's.

[mplsjaromir]

Unless prices have decreased considerably since I looked at units downtown 20 months ago it looks to have a solid price / amenity ratio. This place is a palace compared to buildings like Churchhill and Symphony Place, which appear to rent for a similar price.

[Tyler]

Rents are at least 25% more here. Which they should be. Despite the bizarre popcorn ceilings.

[mrcity]

I think its tough to restore a building with artistic splendor, when you are trying to rent to upscale, but still average income or above average income professionals working in the area. Remember its a rental building, no matter how much the rentals go for, you can't really expect the building owners to deliver delux fixtures and design elements which will take a beating, when they need to repaint and repair every year. Granted, you can't apologize for bad taste, and perhaps they could have done more with the budget, but maintenance costs are always a factor.....

[MplsSteve]

I may be wrong, but it seems to me that the popcorn ceilings were only in the closets; I'm pretty sure the rest of the spaces had smooth ceilings. Unless you spend an inordinate ammount of time in your closet, I can't see that it would be much of an issue. The floors are laminate, which I guess I can understand. Things do get ruined, even in high end rental. It's probably a lot easier to tear out and replace laminate, than to refinish hardwood after tenants leave. I think a lot of the "goofy decorator vibe" is coming from the way the model units are furnished. Presumably the rest of the units will have a more neutral finish. Also the lobby furnishings are rather "whimsical", but that's hardly permanent. I imagine that eventually the building will be converted to condos and the lobby will undergo many tasteful redecorations that will be the cause of much contention between the residents and condo board.

[min-chi-cbus]

I'm almost 100% certain that all units are not modeled similarly to the one in the pics. That is just the model, but I'd think the rest of the units are probably neutral like MplsSteve notes, and residents would get a choice of colors to use to paint the walls. Or if they're anything like my family, the residents will insist on painting the walls fun colors for the kids and themselves, even if they have to paint it back before they leave!

[twincitizen]

Strib reports that the first residents are moving in and provides some additional details on the renovation: http://www.startribune.com/housing/234169951.html

[seanrichardryan]

I wish they would have chosen a lighter color around the arched windows to emphasize their shape. They really get lost as they are now. It looks like they may have cheaped out from their original renderings.

[IllogicalJake]

Totally sorry if I shouldn't be resurrecting this thread with the news, I'm just not sure where else to report it...

Scaffolding is going up around the Marquette Ave side of the building now for additional facade work. I don't have a lot of specifics, but I've been told it's mostly removing damaged sections of crowning and replacing them with new terra cotta. It should take about 8-10 weeks, and joins the two other corners of 5th & Marquette that have active construction going on -- 510 Marquette and Nic on Fifth.

[mplsjaromir]

Thanks for the update.

[seanrichardryan]

Maybe they'll jazz up those cheap windows they put in. :/