Minneapolis to Warehouse District Developers: You Need to Cut Some Floors. Like 18.

As part of Minneapolis' continuing effort to keep the city as small as possible, the city council voted on Friday to reject an appeal to permit high-rise towers as part of the Pacific condos and hotel development.

While efforts to maintain the character of the area have a lot of merit, it should be recognized that preventing developments like the Pacific will ultimately lead to a more homogenized (and boring) urban environment. One only needs to go a few blocks north and study the architectural disaster between 1st and 2nd Streets North to see what kind of development we're setting ourselves up for.

It would be a tragedy to let such inspired blandness creep onto Washington Avenue. Even if the 10-floor limit was to remain in force for the rest of the area, it would make sense to let the block in question grow up. I-394 creates somewhat of a blockade to pedestrians, and a major development like the Pacific (which would be across the street from 394's final ramp) could help create a bridge between downtown and the rest of the Warehouse District.

AMC Rosedale Admits the Weather is a Bit Chilly

WCCO is confirming management at the new AMC Theaters at Rosedale Mall has finally come to the same conclusion just about everyone else in the north metro came to quite some time ago--the outdoor box office was an incredibly stupid idea:

"A spokeswoman for AMC theaters heard the complaints loud and clear, and said the box office will, indeed, be enclosed as soon as management gets the local building permits. As soon as possible, AMC plans on erecting a temporary enclosure. By next winter, the company plans on building a permanent enclosure that according to Melanie Bell 'will complement the current structure' and protect moviegoers from 'all elements: temperature, moisture and wind.'"

Expected highs for the next five days: 13°, 24°, 22°, 18° and 20°.

For what it's worth, Chris Hewitt of the Pioneer Press had an article on this train wreck a couple of weeks ago. While the tone of his article was generally fairly critical, some thought he was being too kind.

The Schmidt Brewery: A Future Town Within a City?

The Pioneer Press reports a Maine developer and his St. Paul son are looking to convert the Schmidt Brewery property into a mixed-use "town within a town" development, possibly in coordination with the West Seventh/Fort Road Federation. The federation has a page on the project, and the StarTribune has coverage as well.

Minneapolis Grain Elevators: Going, Going...

This is about a month overdue, but the Strib has a story on the partial preservation of the Bunge Grain Elevators in Northeast Minneapolis. It sounds like most of the complex will be torn down, but the landmark headhouse--a common sight to those traveling on 35W north of downtown--will be preserved.

It's a modest nod to the past in a city that seems determined to destroy the most visible reminders of its industrial and agricultural history. In addition to the Bunge elevators, we're losing the ConAgra towers by the U of M, and will likely watch part of the Pillsbury complex near St. Anthony main disappear as well. It's too bad we can't seem to find a better way to save more of the grain elevators here. Heck, Akron converted some of theirs into a hotel, why don't we make some of ours into condos or offices? If a city as boring as Akron freakin' Ohio can figure out how to preserve them, you'd think a "creative class" city like Minneapolis would be able to do so as well.

This city needs more imagination and fewer wrecking balls.

The Strib on "Minnesota Moderne"

Linda Mack of the Strib has put together a piece on the new Chambers Hotel, as well as a short overview of some of the other snazzy hotel projects going in Minneapolis. (Like many Strib articles this one will likely disappear soon, so get it while it lasts.)

Saint Paul: No Bridges to the Future

The St. Paul Planning Commission has rejected a request for a zoning change for The Bridges of Saint Paul, the proposed $1.5 billion development on the south shore of the Mississsippi. While this should allow those of us in Minneapolis to remain smug about being the only ones with a downtown, as a friend of the Cities it's disappointing to see the commission shoot down this opportunity. (Not all is lost, however. The developer is appealing to the city council.)

The comparisons to the St. Anthony Main, the tepid Mississippi development across from downtown Minneapolis, seem fairly unfounded. St. Anthony Main has always felt cheap and cobbled together--an urban mall where none was needed--but what is proposed in St. Paul appears to be a relatively well-thought-out mixed-use development. While not being a direct rip-off by any stretch, it's somewhat evocative of Kansas City's Country Club Plaza (more at Wikipedia). While KC overall is somewhat of a train wreck, the Plaza is fantastic, and a city like St. Paul should be able to grow off the Bridges, unlike KC has done with the relatively isolated Plaza.

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I hate to say it, but it looks like I actually agree with Joe Soucheray on this one.

Uptown's Mozaic to Include Graves Hotel

Uptown's Mozaic development is going to include a new hotel from Graves, the same group that brought us the highly-regarded Graves 601 hotel in Block E. I'm not sure if a hotel was always planned as part of Mozaic, but if not, I guess it's a good way to deal with the condo bubble.

Minneapolis Condo Hotel Boom

The Downtown Journal has two hotel-related articles worthy of note this week, one on the pending opening of the Chambers Hotel and another on the possible conversion of the Foshay Tower to a W hotel.

Ralph Rapson and the old Guthrie

With the opening of the new Guthrie Theater this weekend, Minnesota Public Radio has a short article on the building that's being left behind, its pending demolition, and its architect.

New Wing Opens at the MIA

It was opening weekend for the Minneapolis Institute of Art's Target wing this weekend, so the significant-other and I trekked over there to check it out. Overall, my feelings about the expansion are somewhat mixed. I love the MIA, and am proud to be a member, but am disappointed in the new wing of the building. I really whish I could write glowingly about it, but I can't.

According to the grand opening pamphlet handed out to visitors, "the building, designed by celebrated American architect Michael Graves, is itself a work of art--forming an aesthetic bridge between the neoclassical elegance of the original 1915 McKim, Mead and White-designed Building and the Stark minimalism of the 1974 Kenzo Tange-designed addition."

Unfortunately, it doesn't really do anything of the sort. The design clashes Tange addition--and not in a way that's good or interesting--and at best is a disrespectful parody of the McKim, Mead building. While a lot of people probably find the Tange addition ugly, it at least went to great lengths to be respectful and even deferential to the original building. (In many ways, the Tange addition acted as near-literal bookends to the first building.)

In fairness, the space in which the new addition was placed didn't allow it to take an elegant of an approach as was available with the first addition. But still, the new addition looks more like a rogue appendage than a meaningful part of the museum. Even the stone covering the new addition clashes with everything else; instead of coming off as a new part of the MIA, it says, hey, look, I'm a new Michael Graves building! While he's still a trendy architect, I suspect most of his stuff is going to look ridiculous in just a decade or so.

Which brings us to the interior. The focal point of the new addition, the atrium, is uninspiring and cheap-looking. At best, it looks like the interior of some college library somewhere, at worst, the court of an upscale shopping mall. The ceiling "sky" appears to have been sponged on, something up to this point I thought was mostly reserved for the bedrooms of college or high-school art students. At least we won't have to worry about it beginning to look dated, as it looks dated now.

Thankfully, there is a bright side in the fantastic amount of new gallery space. (Mercifully, the new galleries are practically indistinguishable from most of those in the old building.) According to the MIA, exhibition space has increased by 40%, and as a result what Minneapolis now has is not just a fantastic, diverse art museum, but one that is now unequivocally world-class. After spending a few hours there this afternoon, Lisa and I decided that we'd have to come back some weekend when the crowds have receded somewhat and we can spend five or six hours wandering its halls. For all practical purposes its a new museum, and it deserves to be treated as such.

I just wish the new addition was better.

Downtown Journal Feature on Developer Jim Stanton

The Downtown Journal has an interesting, albiet somewhat sparse, feature on downtown development pioneer Jim Stanton.

MegaMall X 2

The Mall of America has filed development plans with the city of Bloomington for its long-awaited Phase II. The plan includes a waterpark, a Bass Pro Shops store, a number of hotels, office space, and a performing arts center, which could end up being a new home to the Chanhassen Dinner Theatre.

Crosstown Reconstruction: It Begins With Condemnation

And so it begins. The StarTribune has a story today on businesses and homeowners who have to make way for an expanded Crosstown Commons. Maps of the affected areas are available on MnDOT's website.

New Development and Urban Parks

The PiPress has a story today on how the 'burbs frequently require developers to set aside green space with new developments, but Minneapolis and St. Paul usually do not. Both cities seem to be looking to require more green space with future developments, however.

University Ave. Streetcar Rails Can't Carry LRT

The Strib is reporting that the long-buried streetcar rails on University Avenue can't be reused for light rail. That's unfortunate, but you have to give transit officials credit for at least looking into it.

Downtown Dwellers Angry About — Wait For It — Lights From Nearby Buildings

From the World's Tiniest Violin Department, the Strib has a story on downtown St. Paulites annoyed by nearby building lights and signs. One quote from interviewee Heather Cole pretty much sums up the complaints:

"Lawson put up a sign and it's just escalated from that," Cole said. "People say: 'Isn't that just part of urban living?' I put up with a lot for urban living, but I shouldn't have to put up with this."

Right.

Incidentally, the story has a picture of her standing next to a huge, undraped wall of windows on the side of her loft. Uh, Ms. Cole? You know, you could obviously afford to buy one of those huge fancy schmancy lofts in downtown St. Paul. Don't you think you could shell out a few bucks for, you know, curtains?

Living Large — And Paying Big

The StarTribune has a somewhat sad, somewhat funny piece on the family-level costs of living in supersized homes out in the sprawl. A few excerpts:

"[The houses are] all getting bigger by the day," Odette said. "I guess one has to impress the other. I don't know how they do it. They don't dare get sick, and the wife better not get pregnant, because the home costs are atrocious. I'd be scared."

Sarah Susanka, author of The Not So Big House, chimed in as well:

A hundred years ago... Americans were focused on meeting their survival needs, from food to shelter. "Once they're met, we don't have another model, so we keep doing the same thing," said Susanka. For many, that means continuing to make more money to buy more. From restaurant servings that are far too much to eat to taller ceilings, Americans have overridden the natural mechanism that tells us when we're satiated[.]

But, of course, any story like this has to end with a ray of hope. Regarding the example family featured in the story:

Husband Mark still drives his Ford F-150 pickup truck each day 60 miles to and from his job in Chanhassen, where he buys and sells used cash register equipment. But when gas was nearing $3 a gallon, he was reconsidering his habit of driving to Caribou for a $3 cup of coffee.

Sorry Caribou.

Downtown Renewal in New Mexico

It has nothing to do with the Twin Cities, but The New York Times has an interesting article on the pending downtown redevelopment of Las Cruces, New Mexico, that's worth passing along.

Grand Avenue Development Moratorium

In a pleasantly surprising move, the St. Paul City Council has passed a measure that will prevent new development on a stretch of Grand Avenue for a year, allowing neighborhood groups and residents to identify how they want their wonderful little neighborhood to be shaped. Three artciles on the subject worthy of note:

StarTribune: Debating what's good for St. Paul's Grand
StarTribune: Some St. Paul residents back ban on Grand Avenue chains
PioneerPress: St. Paul plan bans big projects

Let's hope the outcome of this moratorium is a zoning and development plan that preserves the area's character without being regressive and obstructionary. While a neighbhood's residents should have a primary say about how their community is shaped, that doesn't always mean they'll be right. (Look at Nicolet Mall in downtown Minneapolis: While many downtown supported the new Target and other developments on the mall, the end result has been a stretch that once housed a large number of local shops and businesses now lacks character and feels like a regular, boring business-district street, only without traffic.)

Uptown: Vitality only allowed during evening hours

In an incredibly disappointing move, the Minneapolis City Council Zoning and Planning Committee, when given a choice between a huge surface parking lot or an unsubsidized, high-density, mixed-use development, decided to go with the parking lot. Two quotes from the StarTribune article on the decision attempted to explain the committee's logic behind the rejection. The first came from Council Member Gary Schiff, who said he liked most of the proposal, but:

"We're willing to change the character to support taller buildings, but not this tall. We were willing to do 10 stories."

And the second:

"Uptown is not downtown," [Minneapolis Mayor] Rybak said. "Right now the expectation is Uptown is not a high-rise district."

Right. Because God forbid we allow the site--right next to the Uptown Transit Station, the Midtown Greenway, the proposed crosstown light rail line and numerous shops and business that are underutilized during the day--turn into anything other than the nightime entertainment district it serves as today.

On the bright side, if there is one, a few words of wisdom came from outgoing council member Dan Niziolek. "Jobs do belong in our neighborhoods so people can walk to work," he said, in response to Schiff's position that the placement of hundreds of jobs in Uptown would bring more cars, congestion and air pollution.

So now, as it stands, the huge parking lot remains. I'm sure The Ackerberg Group and the folks at Financial Freedom realty are gong to come back with a new proposal, but when they do, it's probably going to be wider and decidedly less sexy.

Or maybe they'll just lop off three stories and ask for public subsidies.