urbanMSP

A Dallas-area developer is proposing an 11-floor apartment building at the current Tryg's site, and any new development would cater to any pre-existing retailers on the first floor (i.e. Tryg's, if they're still there). For those who are unaware of this location, it's right near where Lake St. and Excelsior Blvd merge in the West Calhoun neighborhood, and it's set back from the lake quite a bit and may not have any direct views from the lake (or will be partially blocked), as there is an office building that takes up most of the lakefront developable parcels.

http://www.bizjournals.com/twincities/m ... -lake.html


I'm personally giving this a 1% chance of passing through approvals as-is, but perhaps they know this and perhaps that's why they are STARTING with 11 floors now, so when they "compromise" down to 7 or 8 floors the little people will feel like they've won. Perhaps I'm just being pessimistic though.

Whatever happened to the proposal at 2626 West Lake St. by the way? Weren't they also looking for about 10 floors??

Tough to beleive it makes economic sense to tear down a building that was so thoroughly renovated less than 10 years ago where there are tons of surface lots within just a couple blocks.

Oh I can totally believe it makes market sense to do so, considering that rents in that area are upwards of $2.50 to $3.00 a foot (without great views)! Plus, Tryg's can stay and continue paying (retail) rent. Tryg's is definitely an underutilization of that parcel, but I can say the same thing about many other parcels in that area.

The one good thing that's going on at the macro level is that the city eventually plans to have the SW Corridor running behind here and a stop nearby, and most of the area where the current strip malls of West Calhoun are SHOULD be up for serious rezoning and redevelopment.

The Cedar-Isles-Dean neighborhood (CIDNA) will put up a fight, but I don't think there will be any serious resistance from the Planning Commission or City Council. The area is represented by Lisa Goodman, so really it could go either way, but I think the newcomers on the City Council would be inclined to support this, even over a single councilmember's objections. It could get interesting, but I doubt it will be "Save Dinkytown"-level controversy.

Here's a look at the site's property lines and how it meets up with the Greenway and its neighbors: http://gis.co.hennepin.mn.us/property/m ... 2924340043

It's a long narrow parcel, but as you can see, the neighbors to the east did just fine. In that context, I'm surprised they are proposing to go taller(concrete) here, when you can clearly squeeze in quite a few units at 6 stories.

Sure, the existing building was renovated not too long ago and actually looks pretty nice, but it's still horrible under-utilization of the site. That's big parcel in a prime location, and that property tax bill has got to be a heavy burden on the restaurant. I'm sure that's a factor in deciding to sell.

Most of that site is a parking lot.

I'd also like to see Calhoun Village next door (Punch/Burger Jones mall) redeveloped. Hopefully West Lake station will get this area going.

Another apartment tower proposal, this time a Dallas Developer, Trammell Crow is trying to build a 11-story apartment tower on the site of the Trygs Restaurant, 3118 W Lake St on the northwest side of lake Calhoun.

articles:

http://www.bizjournals.com/twincities/m ... -lake.html

http://finance-commerce.com/2014/01/tra ... partments/

good luck Trammell Crow, the NIMBY'S will be out in force.

These articles all say that this neighborhood has a history of fighting tall buildings, but it also has a history of building tall buildings. My guess is it's just the (rich, connected) dude who lives across the greenway from Calhoun Beach Club and 2626 who has a stick up his butt about the latter site. Unfortunately it looks like he still chairs the Land Use committee, so I guess we'll see whether the stick in his butt will drive land use policy for this entire area.

A usual excuse against tall buildings has been the worry they will diminish/affect the wind for sailboarders on the lake. Felt like BS to me, but officials bought it before.

Proximity to the trails and rail cries out for density now. No excuses.

I assume this one will be 11 stories on Lake Street, and then taper off to about 5-6 stories by the greenway. If this is the case, I dont really see any way they could argue against it. It wont cast shadows on any houses. And it is surrounded by commercial development, another condo building, a busy street, and railroad tracks. Better get approved.

http://cidna.org/issues.html

CIDNA Meeting for Trammell Crow/Tryg's Apartment Project
Monday, January 6, 2014
6:00 p.m.
Jones-Harrison Residence, Lake View Room
3700 Cedar Lake Ave

Alternatives being considered include an 11-story building with a dedicated pocket park facing the
Midtown Greenway. This will be a meeting of the CIDNA Land Use and Development Committee.
Preliminary drawings, perspectives and shadow studies will be presented. You will have an opportunity
to comment on possible designs and project issues. Another public meeting will be held in the coming
weeks or months after a firm proposal is presented by the developer.

Please contact Bob Corrick, Chair of the CIDNA Committee with questions or comments at
[email protected] or 612-927-5599. Your participation is important, and you can make a
difference. You are encouraged to attend.

EDIT: Oh yeah, Bob Corrick runs a blog for the CIDNA land use committee as well. http://cidnalanduse.wordpress.com/

A usual excuse against tall buildings has been the worry they will diminish/affect the wind for sailboarders on the lake. Felt like BS to me, but officials bought it before.

I was rummaging through the garage today and came upon my stash of 1987 Star and Tribune I kept for the Twins playoff stories. One of the headlines is about tall building ruining sailing on Calhoun.

You should totally take a photo and post it here!

For those who wish this building to be built, stop calling an 11 story building a tower. That should help. It's all about phrasing and really is 11 stories a tower? Not in my mind.

The Bridges. Tower? Not tower? But agreed we should stop using the word tower for this one for the neighbors' sake.

sounds like good news!

To my mind, "tower" signifies a building that has a footprint:height ratio below a certain point, not just a building above a certain height. So, like mattaudio said, is The Bridges a tower? Maybe, maybe not, but Middlebrook Hall certainly is, despite being only a few feet taller. So I can't really say if I'd think of this as a tower until some renderings show up, but I'd guess not, unless they only use a section of the lot.

Thank God Chicago developers ignored the NIMBY's or else there wouldn't be those great looking towers along Lake Michigan! Do we have more than our share of NIMBY's here in Minneapolis/St. Paul?

Well Chicago is a different beast altogether, because the city is much more corrupt than Minneapolis and gives its developers a lot of power to build whatever they want wherever they want it, just as long as it brings in tax revenues. This is a theory, btw, not concretely true or evident. It just seems that way because my family lived there for about 10 years and they saw block after block be developed into condominium housing (like 50+ story monsters) in historic neighborhoods like Lincoln Park.

Renderings released: http://www.southwestjournal.com/news/ne ... wer-design

PDF showing both 11-story "tower" and 6-story option (as requested by the neighborhood): http://cidnalanduse.files.wordpress.com ... rison5.pdf

If the biggest complaints the neighbors have is traffic and blocked views for the adjacent 6-story box (Loop Calhoun Condos), I think this one is in pretty good shape.

I don't know how anyone could look at those two designs and conclude that they'd prefer the 6-story option. Even for the neighbors in the adjacent Loop Calhoun building, 6-stories would block their views all the same and you would lose the open space out back. The 11-story option seems like a win-win, unless of course your inclination is to stop the development altogether.

P.S. What's the story with Loop Calhoun Condos anyways? If their website is current, there seem to be numerous unsold units. The building was completed in 2007, right before the recession hit.