urbanMSP

Cool. Thanks, guys!

Is that where the powers that be would like me to post this eventual update also?

I think that makes sense, min-chi-bus. It's good practice to try to keep the pure rumors in their place and save this thread for projects that people are ready to announce publicly.

The HCMC/Elliot Park discussion sparked a question... What would be a better human-scale street to connect Elliot Park and Downtown? 9th or 10th St?

That's a false choice. Can't both be lovely streets?

Of course, I'd like that. But we need to triage and focus our efforts on the highest-return investments first. With a downtown where nearly all streets suck, we need to strategically encourage investment in the public and private realm that will drive quality bike/ped experiences between neighborhoods. The rest of the grid will follow once improvements increase demand to the point that demand overflows those streets.

I think both have potential for two-way conversion, given that neither of them really connect to anything on the east end. Traffic counts probably fall off pretty sharply.

10th Street seems like a no-brainer two-way, south/east of Hennepin Ave.
9th Street would need to wait until we fully resolve the east-west transit spine issue.

Of course, I have my own idea for the future of 9th or 10th someday... Streetcar?
http://goo.gl/maps/yoO9C

9th Street seems to be a stronger candidate to me for immediate improvement. 10th Street has those ramps onto SB 35W that make for a not-so-good experience leading up to that.

10th in Elliot Park has a row of like five little storefronts clustered together just west of Band Box Diner (looked like there's work being done on the interiors). I don't recall much on 9th on the east end that would make it as strong a candidate.

Driving on Washington last night, I saw a Sherman Associate sign on the parking lot next to Old Spaghetti Factory advertising 30k sq ft for retail and 150k sqft for office/medical. Looking at the Sherman Associates website it doesn't look like any of their buildings in the area are big enough to qualify, but it also doesn't list that parking for sale (or at least I don't think it does). Anyone know anything about this?

that might be for their spot on gold medal park?

Isn't this the site that they had proposed the hotel and housing development for Sherman? I know it was the Grainger building, but I thought it also included the parking lot.

I think Elliot Park has a lot of potential. I walked around the area last week and was pleasantly surprised at the number of older buildings clustered together. The pedestrian realm of course needs some improvements - better sidewalks, lighting, etc. and some of the buildings need some tender loving care. I actually came across one older residential building that appears vacant and would be prime for restoration.

If anybody else is curious or finds this interesting, I started re-tracking projects on February 19 after I thought I had lost my old list, and since that date I have added 20 new projects to-date:

13 Residential -- 1,955 units proposed
4 Office -- 698,500 square feet proposed (assuming ~500K SF for the conceptual tower on Opus' Ritz Block)
1 Hotel -- 167 rooms proposed (Target Station)


Not included are two projects: 1.) The Habitat Building project in the U of M area, and 2.) Kraus Anderson's future Office/Residential development on their HQ block near DTE. Neither project has enough information yet.

And since I've been so busy traveling at work lately there's a good chance I'm missing a few more projects.

What about the hotel at the corner of 8th st N and 9th st N by A ramp?

Did a bit more walking around Elliot Park and am really starting to like the neighborhood for the historic building aspect. More old brownstones/brick apartment buildings than I thought. Also walked around the North Central College area and came across several streets of what were obviously single family homes that now belong to the school and being used for student housing? Still well kept up. Question - does anyone know the circumstances surrounding the college moving into the city and buying up so many properties?

What about the hotel at the corner of 8th st N and 9th st N by A ramp?

Is that either 1.) the Hampton Inn, already proposed well before February and currently under construction, or 2.) the Target Station proposal?

If it's neither and it's new, I'll be sure to add it!

I believe that's the Hampton Inn.

Not sure which blocks you are talking about, but I live a half block south of north central and I can tell you that there are very few, if any north central students living on my block. All of the student housing seems to be in those grey buildings along Chicago ave.