urbanMSP

Possible Redevelopment opportunity of the downtown Minneapolis Pizza Hut building.

https://www.bizjournals.com/twincities/ ... 8uY7qTg8jM


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Is that building within the coverage of the Harmon historic district that puts a limit on heights?

Is that building within the coverage of the Harmon historic district that puts a limit on heights?

I just looked it is. That is dumb, there is literally a high rise apartment building across the street. But I guess a modest redevelopment proposal could still work.

How modest? Can the building be replaced with a taller one that takes up all of the lot? Here's a pdf describing the design details that should be followed within this historic district:

https://www.minneapolismn.gov/media/-ww ... elines.pdf

Having lived and worked in the neighborhood for over a decade, I've wondered if the historic status has contributed to the lack of activity in the area. The buildings were saved but many are underutilized and don't add much to the neighborhood. However, Lunds did a nice job renovating within the restrictions.


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I regret never going to the Pizza Hut sports bar...

I regret never going to the Pizza Hut sports bar...

I went to grad school at St. Thomas, we would wind up there occasionally. Trust me, you did not miss a thing.

In this moment when boosters and mayors are mourning the loss of downtown vitality, at precisely the same moment when ice skaters are mourning the loss of outdoor ice in the region’s many parks, a marriage of the two needs might be the perfect thing. Why not create an ice rink, in the most public possible place, like the middle of Nicollet Mall or somewhere near the Gateway Park flagpole?

https://www.minnpost.com/cityscape/2024 ... nneapolis/

I really like the idea of a rink in Gateway Park. And it might be easier to fund it there than elsewhere - as the only normal MPRB park (the riverfront stuff is a regional park, and the Commons is a whole separate district) in the Downtown West neighborhood, it's the only place that the park dedication fees from development in the neighborhood can be used. Back when I was on the DMNA Board, we approved some kind of workaround to use some of that pot to help fill a gap in the Water Works project, but it was implied that it was a one-time thing and that future funding would have to be spent on Gateway. That was back in 2020 or so, so there should be at least a few hundred thousand in that account again, with more to come when (if?) 27 Washington and Harmonia get started.

Why are there nearly no trees downtown? It feels so sterile...

Just something I noticed last weekend

It’s a good question.

I’d guess a combination of a history of prioritizing the least possible sidewalk and boulevard space to maximum street width, plus excessive sidewalk salt use.

So trees that are planted just die out after a few years.

I can’t know for certain but I’d also wager that in seasons of severe drought downtown trees are among the lower priority boulevard trees to water.

Weren't trees a big focus of the Nicollet Mall redo? How are those trees doing? It also seems that by the time trees mature there is some sort of construction project which removes them.

I just noticed that some parking meters in the vicinity of the Commons are utilizing a split rate ($2/hour during the day and $0.50 after 6pm and on weekends). No idea if this is new or if it's been like this for a while; I'd assumed that there was a technical issue preventing this (although I was also skeptical since they were obviously able to do event parking rates). Anyway, my point is that they really ought to do this for all of downtown like yesterday.

https://downtownrecovery.com/charts/trends

This is great news! I wonder what changed in the last year? Still a lot of work to be done though.