7200 France - Edina

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Tcmetro
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7200 France - Edina

Postby Tcmetro » June 23rd, 2014, 5:21 am

Another 6-story mixed-use development planned on the SW corner of France and 72nd:

http://edinamn.gov/edinafiles/files/Adv ... France.pdf

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Re: Southdale Area Development - Edina

Postby Tcmetro » June 23rd, 2014, 6:09 am

That's strange, here's the meeting agenda:

http://edinamn.gov/index.php?section=pl ... s&agid=538

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Re: Southdale Area Development - Edina

Postby Anondson » June 23rd, 2014, 7:43 am

Looks like it doesn't load in the tapatalk app. Through a browser is fine.

Like the look. Can't wait to see if Edina whittles this down after letting the Lennar development next to Richfield happen.

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Re: Southdale Area Development - Edina

Postby mattaudio » June 23rd, 2014, 8:11 am

Looks like Edina needs to update their zoning code to allow for obvious multifamily residential demand.

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Re: Southdale Area Development - Edina

Postby min-chi-cbus » June 23rd, 2014, 8:40 am

Looks like it doesn't load in the tapatalk app. Through a browser is fine.

Like the look. Can't wait to see if Edina whittles this down after letting the Lennar development next to Richfield happen.
I used to live RIGHT behind this lot when my family briefly lived in a duplex between homes/cities. All of the homes behind this development are duplexes (I think)....i.e. rentals. They did a pretty good job of minimizing the massing near those homes and I suspect that 45 feet wouldn't cast tremendous shadows onto my former backyard, except during winter. There simply aren't that many homeowners (or dwellers) who would be seriously impacted by this development, but it'll be interesting to see who will crawl out of the woodwork nonetheless.

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Re: Southdale Area Development - Edina

Postby twincitizen » June 24th, 2014, 12:27 pm

From the F&C article:

This would have an even higher FAR (Floor Area Ratio) than the Lennar project on York/Xerxes. [So some slight whittling might be justified.]
The project is "fully financed" and they would like to be under construction at this time next year.
This project is going to be 20% affordable.
If this gets built as proposed, there would be over 900 units added around Southdale in a roughly 2-year span, between One Southdale Place, 71 France (Byerly's), Lennar's project and this one. I think there's a couple senior housing proposals floating around too. On top of that, several very desireable parcels remain ready and waiting. I think just as many units could be added on top of what's already in the pipeline, just looking at the remaining empty corner lots of Southdale and other nearby parcels.


Transit thoughts:
Is it time to study Arterial BRT on France Avenue yet? Short term, I'd like to see a limited-stop line connecting Linden Hills to Normandale College, with an extension up to the West Lake Southwest LRT Station when that opens. Remove the local Route 6 branches from France Ave to simplify the system, while adding the aBRT line. Route 6 would then run only on Xerxes.

I rode from Uptown to Southdale a few weekends ago, and surprisingly few stops are requested between Linden Hills and Southdale. The bus practically could have stopped only at Uptown, 36th St, 39th/Richfield Rd, France/44th, France/50th, France/54th, Fairview Hospital, and Southdale. In actuality, I think we made even fewer stops than that. It's pathetic that Metro Transit doesn't offer a faster connection between Southdale and Uptown. There's a large number of city dwellers connecting at Uptown Transit Center to service jobs at 50th&France and Southdale...and this was on a Saturday!

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7200 France - Edina

Postby Anondson » December 1st, 2014, 8:32 pm

I thought there was a thread for this, or at least a thread with this project in it, but I couldn't find it.

http://www.bizjournals.com/twincities/b ... te-in.html

Looks like the Edina Planning Commission voted against this project to add 160 apartments and retail. I thought it looked like an excellent reuse for the site on a street perfect for it. But the commission felt that it was too many people and a land use incompatible with "the plan". Because "the plan" is given wisdom and can't be changed?

If the developer doesn't get the city council to vote for it now the developer plans on building another medical office. Woo...

Chalk this up as evidence Edina will fail to meet the Met Council population projections for Edina?

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Re: Southdale Area Development - Edina

Postby twincitizen » December 1st, 2014, 8:54 pm

Another 6-story, this one on the SW corner of France and 72nd:

http://edinamn.gov/edinafiles/files/Adv ... France.pdf
http://www.bizjournals.com/twincities/b ... te-in.html

Edina Planning Commission unanimously recommended denial. This might not pass when it comes to City Council, but the developer is ready to roll with a medical office bldg with ground floor retail instead. The downside is the office building would have half the value & not add the affordable housing units that Edina desperately needs to hit their Met Council targets (20% of the units were to be affordable). Looks like they already scaled it back from 195 units / 6 floors to 160 units / 5 floors. Not sure if the Planning Commission denied the original or downsized version of the proposal a few weeks back. They seem really hung up on the FAR thing, which is kind of meaningless as it entirely relates to the size of the parcel and not really anything to do with the density of the building itself. Like if the parcel was larger and there was room for landscaping (or let's be honest, surface parking) then the FAR would come down and everything would be fine. Dumb. Approve the apartment development Edina!

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Re: 7200 France - Edina

Postby Anondson » December 1st, 2014, 10:38 pm

So... If the council votes to not approve, doesn't this add evidence the pedestrian improvements on France were nearly a colossal waste of money?

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Re: 7200 France - Edina

Postby sdho » December 2nd, 2014, 8:50 pm

"[citing] the project's abrupt transition from to single family residential homes to the west"

I should think that multi-family housing would be a better way of transitioning to residential than a medical office building -- especially since their proposal included townhomes adjacent to the SFHs. This is disappointing.

That said, since the comp plan does allow 30 units per acre and 4-story height, is it really impossible to include housing in alternative?

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Re: 7200 France - Edina

Postby Anondson » December 2nd, 2014, 8:56 pm

The city cared far less (hardly at all?) about the Lennar project transitioning abruptly to the east (Richfield) to single family. Shameful.

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Re: 7200 France - Edina

Postby Anondson » December 3rd, 2014, 7:35 am

Late word was that it was approved conditionally. Haven't seen reporting what the conditions are.

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Re: 7200 France - Edina

Postby sdho » December 3rd, 2014, 12:29 pm

Late word was that it was approved conditionally. Haven't seen reporting what the conditions are.
Interesting. I like the result of it being approved, although I do not like the process matter of the city council ignoring the recommendations of staff and a unanimous vote of the Planning Commission.

That said, it seems odd that unelected, relatively secure staff would oppose this, while elected council would do something more directly against the wishes of residents -- especially as one of the most outspoken progressives on the council, Josh Sprague, was booted out in what seems to be a referendum on how the council is moving too far forward too quickly.

But let us know if you hear more.

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Re: 7200 France - Edina

Postby HiawathaGuy » December 3rd, 2014, 1:29 pm

Edina reaches compromise with Dovolis on 7200 France apartments

The City Council, during a meeting Tuesday that lasted nearly six hours, voted to table the 7200 France project until its next meeting on Dec. 16.

In the meantime, the Council directed city staff to outline details for approving the project with certain conditions, including: limiting auto access to France Avenue, reducing the height of the complex to 63-feet (down from the 77-foot height proposed on part of the building), protecting trees on the west side of the property and providing bike amenities and facilities....

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Re: 7200 France - Edina

Postby twincitizen » December 3rd, 2014, 2:00 pm

"[The Council] really did not want to see a smaller medical office building," Dovolis said in an interview Wednesday morning.
Ha! The threat of developing the lesser building was just too much. To me it seems that the City Council just kind of realized that their Comprehensive Plan isn't quite perfect, and they still need to make tweaks to things like FAR (Floor-to-Area Ratio) regulations, recognizing that redevelopment is going to be happening on increasingly constrained sites. For example, the York Avenue development had a big surface parking lot to help bring down its FAR. Same story at One Southdale Place - surface parking and open space between the buildings brought down the ratio. FAR alone is not a good limiter of density. You can build a massive building, as long as you have a bunch of open land (or likely surface parking) alongside it...that's a pretty counter-intuitive regulation. The 5-story building is extremely reasonable for this site, and the City Council knows it. They were just kind of stuck in trap with the FAR limitation being written into the Comp Plan.

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Re: 7200 France - Edina

Postby sdho » December 3rd, 2014, 3:09 pm

Hah, this:
Some Council members and Mayor Jim Hovland, who expressed support for the multifamily proposal, drew comparisons between this site and one at 6725 York Ave. to the east of Southdale Center, where earlier this year the city approved a six-story development by Lennar Multifamily at the site of the former Wickes Furniture store. Homeowners on the other side of the Richfield border objected to that project.

"I haven't heard this much support for the comprehensive plan in my eight years on the council. But I don't remember an Edina resident testifying against the Lennar project and that involved two big changes to the comprehensive plan," said Council Member Joni Bennett.

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Re: 7200 France - Edina

Postby MNdible » December 3rd, 2014, 3:17 pm

In my limited interactions with Jim Hovland, he's always struck me as a pretty smart guy who "gets it" most of the time.

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Re: 7200 France - Edina

Postby HiawathaGuy » December 3rd, 2014, 3:17 pm

Hah, this:
Some Council members and Mayor Jim Hovland, who expressed support for the multifamily proposal, drew comparisons between this site and one at 6725 York Ave. to the east of Southdale Center, where earlier this year the city approved a six-story development by Lennar Multifamily at the site of the former Wickes Furniture store. Homeowners on the other side of the Richfield border objected to that project.

"I haven't heard this much support for the comprehensive plan in my eight years on the council. But I don't remember an Edina resident testifying against the Lennar project and that involved two big changes to the comprehensive plan," said Council Member Joni Bennett.
Yes! I thought that was awesome too!

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Re: 7200 France - Edina

Postby sdho » December 3rd, 2014, 3:18 pm

The video is interesting, particularly shameless points for some parent shoving their middle schooler up to the mic to talk about the asthma concern she has regarding the 100-some units' cars. Yet, oddly, parents were not concerned with buying a house adjacent to 30,000 ADT France Ave: http://edina.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.p ... ip_id=2045 ("Sophia Wright, Resident").

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Re: 7200 France - Edina

Postby sdho » December 3rd, 2014, 3:47 pm

Another highlight: a Nancy Thorvilson complained that their neighborhood deserved to be treated better than Richfield:
"I don't think you can compare the Richfield Lennar site with this site. There's a whole difference in valuation of the residential housing, as well as the density of the housing that is adjacent to the site."
She later went on to decry this development as "elitist" since people in the affordable housing would be forced to live near France Avenue.


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