New duluth development 2012-2013 (St. Paul, Litchfield: sales, 2015, condos)

[Vegasvice777]

A parking ramp to be built at the base of a proposed $80 million downtown Duluth office tower is among the best projects competing for $47.5 million in state bonding funds, according to the state agency that rated proposals.

Minnesota Public Radio reported Monday that the Department of Employment and Economic Development ranked the top projects from the northern, southern and metro regions of the state. The $10 million Duluth request, a St. Paul Saints ballpark and a Litchfield sewer upgrade were the highest ranked in the three regions.

Thirty-seven applications were scored based on their project readiness, job creation potential and other criteria. The agency eliminated more than half the 90 applications it received, including a proposed renovation of Wade Stadium in West Duluth.

The Duluth grant would help fund a proposed 15-story office tower at the corner of Superior Street and Fifth Avenue West, the site of the former KDLH-TV offices. When the project was announced in June, the city indicated that it depended on $20 million in public funding, including $10 million that the city would request from the state grant program. Three-quarters of the project would be privately financed.

The building already has an anchor tenant and two other tenants that will occupy 75 percent of the office space, according to developer AtWater Group LLC.

“The new project would be a significant addition to our western downtown community with the potential to add millions of dollars of new development to the tax base,” Sen. Roger Reinert said in a news release. “In addition, the building is expected to create 200 new high-paying permanent professional jobs and approximately 300 construction jobs.”

The Republican-controlled Legislature created the grant program to see if it could remove some of the politics from the biennial bonding process. Gov. Mark Dayton has said he intends to make the final decision on which projects get funded. An announcement is expected later this week.

The $27 million Saints ballpark, $2.5 million Litchfield wastewater infrastructure and $10 million Duluth development together would eat up most of the money.

Reinert said the Wade Stadium project likely will not be funded through this program, but he would continue to advocate for it in future bonding years.

[Vegasvice777]

Plans for a new $27.5 million Multimodal Transportation Center for the Duluth Transit Authority will be unveiled and discussed at a public meeting from 3-5 p.m. Tuesday at 214 W. Superior St.

The project will be paid for with the help of a $16 million federal appropriation, $6 million from the state bonding bill and $5.5 million in local and private investments. In addition to the new center, the project will involve work on skywalks, including the reconstruction of the Northwest Passage connection to the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center.

The DTA has said it expects to begin with the demolition of the Wells Fargo parking ramp below Michigan Street later this year. New construction would begin in the spring of 2013 with completion of the new transportation center projected by late 2013 or early 2014.

The downtown Multimodal Transportation Center will handle bus passengers using regional and intercity carriers. The center will include an eight-bay bus boarding platform, along with an indoor passenger waiting area, seating and public restrooms. It also will house a DTA-staffed information desk, similar to what is currently at the Transit Center East, handling pass and ticket sales and transit information. The center will feature a bike storage area, a police substation, and public and private parking that will include spaces for van and car pools.

In addition to the DTA, carriers using the station will include Jefferson Lines and Indian Trails intercity bus lines, along with Arrowhead Transit and LCS Coaches.

The center also is slated to contain commercial space, including a Wells Fargo drive-through bank on the second level.

[Vegasvice777]

The most exciting development near the waterfront lately has been the LaFarge/Pier B development. We haven’t heard much about it for a few months, but today a big step was taken. The developers started accepting construction bids. The cement tower officially will become home to a 116 room hotel and 24 condos. The rest of the development that is set to include retail, recreational, and restaurant space will cover over 116,000 square feet. The best part about this whole bid is that it finally gives a date of when construction is set to start. Officials are hoping to start no later than October 2013 with a projected opening of late 2014 or the Summer of 2015. The releasing for construction bids was made possible by a nearly $1 million dollar clean up grant that was given to the developers a few months ago. That’s good news for everyone in Duluth! Finally one of the most viewable sites in Duluth actually will get the treatment is has long deserved.

And no, Ikea is not opening on the site.

Being in close proximity to the Pier B project, I thought I’d bring up the Georgia Pacific plant closing. This clearly was big news yesterday as they announced that they would close their Duluth plant by August 31st, causing over 100 people to lose their jobs. Of course with my mind, I instantly start thinking about redevelopment of the site and what will become of the building (that truthfully is quite an eyesore) when it’s current occupants have packed up and left. It obviously is zoned industrial and is 100% surrounded by industrial area. That at first had me thinking that it never could be redeveloped into something along the retail and hospitality side of things, but then of course my mind began to wonder and my fingers began typing countless things into Google. What I found is quite interesting.

Apparently the site already has multiple developers looking at it, and they are NOT all industrial developers. The current occupants feel as if the area should stay industrial because of its easy access to the waterfront and after all, Duluth is famous for it’s ease and location of waterfront industrial zoned land. The interesting thing though is if you were to think about it as an commercially zoned site, it could be quite the site. Not only is it an extremely large and perfectly shaped site, but it also has some of the best frontage and visibility of any site in Duluth. It directly abuts 35 and would provide excellent visibility, while it also directly abuts the waterfront on the other side. Imagine the possibilities if a hotel were to be constructed on that part of the site. You’d be able to look out your window and see the huge grain towers next door (which I think would actually be a very attractive industrial view), while seeing huge boats slip in and out of the water slip, while also having a wonderful view of the Ariel Lift Bridge. It’s a win win. So with that being said, and with commercial developers already eyeing this site (cough, a Bass Pro Shop would fit wonderfully, cough), let’s keep our fingers crossed and our eyes open to see what unfolds in the next couple of months!

That’s all for now! Sorry for the delay in posts lately.

[Vegasvice777]

Kestrel Aircraft Corp. will receive $30 million in tax credits to build a manufacturing plant and headquarters in Superior that will have roughly 600 jobs.

The Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority and Wisconsin Community Development Legacy Fund administered the New Markets Tax Credits allocation for Kestrel. The company is consolidating operations currently based in Duluth, Minn., and Brunswick, Maine, at the new Superior plant.

The $30 million tax credit allocation follows other state and local incentives for the project. The Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. is providing an additional $18 million in tax credits and a $2 million loan. The city of Superior provided a $2.4 million loan, $1.125 million in tax incremental financing and the land for the project. Douglas County provided $800,000 in loans.

[Vegasvice777]

[Vegasvice777]

[nateduluthnative]

A few new views on Krech Ojard's website. Hopefully they'll do some fudging with it-bring it out of 1987 and into the 2010's. But maybe 80's postmodernism is back in style!

[Vegasvice777]

Yea I don't mind the new tower design but hopefully the design makes some more modern progression.

[Vegasvice777]

[Vegasvice777]

No Longer Modern Look for Multimodal Transport. Center, Plus High Speed Train Update Story Updated: Sep 11, 2012

DULUTH, MN (Northland's NewsCenter) - In the next few years transportation modes in Duluth will be taking big leaps forward.Tuesday, the Duluth Transit Authority unveiled their latest plans for its multi million dollar, multi-modal facility.

Whether by foot, by bike, electric car, carpooling or high-speed rail, once current plans are a reality, downtown Duluth should be bustling with multiple ways to get around.

"From a DTA perspective this is going to help our operations be more timely, so to speak, more consistent," said Jim Heilig, the DTA's director of administration and planning.

The new facility would be more than a hub for loading busses. Plans show bike storage, extra parking, a police substation, carpooling spaces and spots to plug in electric cars, and there's also the reconstruction of the walkway crossing I-35 to the DECC.

"The Northwest Passage is by far the biggest advantage to folks in Duluth," said Heilig.

The latest plans of the multimodal facility show changes that would blend it in to Duluth's historic downtown.

"The first design, we were looking at a real modern type design with large windows and a lot of metal types of things," said Heilig.

That modern plan has now changed to one that looks more like the brick and colors of the historic downtown district.

We've brought in a more brick looking façade. We've brought down the size of the windows to a more human scale," said Heilig.

With the environmental assessment handed in and under review, construction of the $28.9 million facility could start next Spring and be completed by mid 2014, but there's also the proposed high speed train, which organizers are finishing the environmental assessment for.

"We're right on time to get that done at the end of December and once that's done, we'll do what we call PE which is preliminary engineering," said Ken Buehler of the Duluth Depot.

While that part is funded, the Northern Lights Express passenger train, still needs a major federal transportation bill to be fully funded.

"If there is a transportation bill in 2013, we got everything done to that we're on a path to about a two year build up," said Buehler.

Buehler says the goal would be to have the train running in 2015 and to link it to the new multimodal facility.

Buehler says there are a few ways the train could connect to the multimodal facility, including extending the track from the Depot area to the facility or putting in a walkway.