Downtown skyline, Minneapolis (1938) via Minnesota Historical Society
19th May 2013
Notes: 55
$400 million plan would reshape Minneapolis’ downtown east
A $400 million mixed-use project near the new Vikings stadium would transform the eastern stretch of downtown Minneapolis, a largely barren area that has long struggled to attract substantial development.
The five-block area, now owned by the Star Tribune, would become home to two, 20-story office towers spanning 1.2 million square feet of space, Ryan Cos. said in a proposal released Tuesday. In addition, 300 residential units and retail stores will be part of the development.
The city’s end of the bargain involves borrowing $65 million to fund a parking ramp and an 8.9-acre park extending toward downtown from the stadium site, which would be the largest park in the heart of downtown.
The entire development is expected to be completed by July 2016, in time for the stadium opening.
via StarTribune
Huge, New Downtown Mpls. Hotel May Require Subsidies via KSTP
KSTP apparently used an old MS Paint program to show us what this new convention “hotel” would look like.
Casablanca Cafe & Bar, 408 Hennepin, Minneapolis. (1945) via Minnesota Historical Society
Here’s a post I did in 2009 about getting punched in the face in downtown Minneapolis. http://stuffaboutminneapolis.tumblr.com/post/133517694/hey-did-i-ever-tell-you-guys-the-story-of-theMPLSzine, a submissions-based collaborative digital publication, is looking for submissions (details below) for our 15th issue, the DOWNTOWN issue.
Submissions are due by Sunday, May 5. Join the Facebook event here.
Submit here: submit@mplszine.com.
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We’re looking for interviews, reviews, reported articles, essays, humor pieces, lists, infographics, comics, photos, and illustrations related to DOWNTOWN. For now, we are not accepting fiction or poetry submissions.
We want you to explore overlooked places and subcultures; make new connections and observations; share your heartbreaking, guffaw-worthy, and inspirational personal stories; and champion the people who make Minneapolis what it is. But we can’t do that without creative types sending us their stuff!
Reblogged From mplscollective
First look at Mortenson’s planned 30-story apartment tower
Mortenson Development has shared the first image of a 30-story luxury apartment tower in downtown Minneapolis that it announced last month.
The design, by Minneapolis-based Urbanworks Architecture, shows a seven-story pedestal that incorporates an indoor parking garage. The remainder of the building is glass, with what looks like a white external skeleton. There appears to be a patio on part of the parking garage roof and also a deck near the penthouse.
To get an idea of new tower’s size, the Foshay Tower, home to W Minneapolis-The Foshay hotel, is 32 stories and also takes up about a quarter of a downtown block.
Looking down Third Street South to Hennepin showing old Post Office tower, Minneapolis (1906) by Minnesota Historical Society
Historic downtown Minneapolis office building to be converted to apartments
TruCore Realty plans to spend about $33 million to convert the historic Plymouth Building in Minneapolis from office space to apartments with a new restaurant and bar.
The Plymouth Building is a 12-story, Class B office building at 12 Sixth St. S. It’s across the street from the Cowles Center for Dance and kitty-corner from Block E. The most notable tenant in the building is Lion’s Pub on the first floor, which is expected to stay put.
The 103-year-old building is a good candidate for conversion to apartments because of its C-shaped floor plan, its historic charm, and its location near the center of downtown Minneapolis.
On the first floor of the building there’s a giant empty restaurant that was formerly the home of Tom Pham’s Wondrus Azian Kitchen. TruCore plans to split that space into two different establishments. It’s working with a specialty beer bar for 3,000 square feet facing South Sixth and is negotiating with a restaurant operator for about 6,000 square feet that faces Hennepin.
Downtown Minneapolis’ Hennepin Avenue to get a makeover
Hennepin Avenue in downtown Minneapolis is home to pretty, bustling theaters — and unsightly parking lots and empty storefronts.
If a coalition of arts groups has its way, the entire 2 miles between the Walker Art Center and the Mississippi River will become a pedestrian-friendly cultural destination.Their plan, to be funded by a combination of public, nonprofit and business-community sources, emphasizes building on the avenue’s existing strengths.
Details were released Thursday, and the Minneapolis City Council is expected to approve the plan Friday. It includes making the avenue, as well as some parallel and intersecting streets, more appealing to young families and tourists. A new visitors’ hub would let pedestrians buy theater rush tickets, get directions or simply warm up. Other amenities would be more trees and grass, direct street-to-skyway connections, courtyards and flexible event spaces, small street-level shops and restaurants, and mixed-use residential and work lofts. The plan also identifies several spots in need of the most improvement, such as the neglected Gateway area near the river, space-wasting surface lots and the Interstate 94 overpass.
via StarTribune
Spotted in the Strib internal archives: The original drawings for Block E via Eric Roper
