Lack of old classy condos in northern St. Paul and Minneapolis (Marshall: hardwood floors, for sale)

[pannierpacker]

Is it just me or is there really a lack of quality old world condominiums in the northern parts of St. Paul and Minneapolis? I'm talking about the brick building and hardwood floors style. It seems like within downtown, snug along the river, or south of 94 there are many options. On the northern half of town, things are pretty scarce.

Starting from the west:
1) North Minneapolis -
Pretty much no condos, just a massive plethora of houses that are vacant.
2) NE and all along University Ave -
There is tons of rental housing over by the U. In some cases near major thoroughfares (like University/4th) you'll even see some old classy rental buildings, but even much of the high density housing here seems like it was built in the 70s. Over on the St. Paul side, there are a few old classy buildings near the Midway but again none of its for sale.
3) East of 35e -
You may find some newer townhome housing near Phalen boulevard but everything else in this area is houses.

Yet when you look in the southern parts of the city it's very different:

From east to west:
1) Downtown St. Paul -
Tons of options.
2) Marshall/Grand Ave from Minneapolis to downtown STP -
Again, tons of old classy buildings, many of which have units for sale.
3) Downtown Minneapolis -
There are options.
4) South Minneapolis -
Tons of old classy buildings in Uptown, Stevens Square, Midtown, and other areas.


Why is it that the classy old architecture is hard to find in the northern parts of the cities and why isn't it for sale? For the lack of those types of buildings in general, I'm assuming that this all has to do with the way the Twin Cities developed? For those such buildings like this that are in existence today: are landlords doing such a a good job renting this real estate that they just don't want to give it up?

[Ursicinus]

Others more familiar with each neighborhood's history can say more, but generally speaking, you're more likely to see the old brownstone type buildings in the original core area of each city, because higher-density construction in these areas first happened in an era where "new construction" meant employing teams of artisans who built to last, unlike today when "new construction" tends to mean building more or less disposable buildings cheaply and quickly so they can be filled with people ASAP, and built just nice enough so that the holding firm or whatever can charge as much rent as possible. Not to say nobody builds nice buildings anymore, only that it's not a primary motivating factor.

[Atalanta]

Not sure, but my guess would be that in some of these areas there was a housing boom after World War II. And they were not built like you described.
These were built before in the downtown areas.
Outskirts of downtown was were these new homes were built after World War II

[Grizzly Addams]

Because south of 94 is the nice part of both cities, the north side is the ghetto. Take it or leave it, but that should answer your question.

[Stanton1433]

Originally Posted by Grizzly Addams

Because south of 94 is the nice part of both cities, the north side is the ghetto. Take it or leave it, but that should answer your question.

Another way to put it is that the Southern side of both cities are trendier and builders tend to focus their resources on those neighborhoods, Uptown, Lowery Hill, Summit Hill to name a few. The northern side is either more blue collar or in the rougher parts of town. I now live in Milwaukee and the areas like the southern spots of the twin cities are the upper east side and Whitefish Bay and Shorewood. The areas that tend to get the least amount of attention are Cudahy, South Milwaukee or West Allis.

[maibeejohe]

There are plenty of turn of the century Pullman style condos on Cathedral Hill in St Paul. Some are priced very reasonably.

[Grizzly Addams]

Originally Posted by maibeejohe

There are plenty of turn of the century Pullman style condos on Cathedral Hill in St Paul. Some are priced very reasonably.

But that is still the south side of St. Paul.

[MassVt]

I thought Summit Avenue in St. Paul was loaded with them...?

[Justabitoff]

Originally Posted by MassVt

I thought Summit Avenue in St. Paul was loaded with them...?

That's also the south side of St. Paul. The north side of St. Paul (north of I-94) is mostly single and multi-family houses or newer apartment complexes.

[tijlover]

No Fire concerns living in these brick/wooden buildings? That's my biggest concern, over how quaint/beautiful the place may be. You can always put wood floors in a high rise condo!

Me? I'd buy a unit in the Towers near the Post Office downtown. They'll never build condo towers like that again! Ever! Like poured concrete walls between the units, and the thickness of the floors!