rossmor....pedro park (St. Paul, Rice, Lafayette: homeowners association, lofts, neighborhood)

[ttaleg]

hi, im thinking of buying at the Rossmore lofts in st Paul. I have done research and know the shops and such in the building but im looking for more opinions. Does anyone know if this is a good building and neighborhood to live.

Is the hood fun and have alot to do for a 30's guy?
is the building nice, cool, hip? in general, is it a good place to buy?

thanks

[ttaleg]

does anyone know if this park is making progress. I look for info, but seems to have stalled. As far as know they have the building but still havent gotten the parking lots and the housing center is not going to sell. If any other info, could you chime in?

thanks

[Cleverbeetle98]

I live in that area....I love St. Paul, but it's true what they say: St. Paul is a 9-5 city. Downtown is very dead most of the time. Lowertown may have more going on, or the area near Rice Park...but unless there is a concert/game/event DT, it's a ghost town.

[ttaleg]

but isnt lowertown like a 5 minute walk???

[spectre000]

Originally Posted by ttaleg

hi, im thinking of buying at the Rossmore lofts in st Paul. I have done research and know the shops and such in the building but im looking for more opinions. Does anyone know if this is a good building and neighborhood to live.

Is the hood fun and have alot to do for a 30's guy?
is the building nice, cool, hip? in general, is it a good place to buy?

thanks

I've looked at lofts in this building and it's a nice place. A good homeowners association as well. Everything downtown is very close by. The Black Sheep Pizza restaurant located in a corner spot of the building is quite popular.

A nice plus is a Lunds grocery store will be kitty corner from the building. That won't be open till late next year or possibly early '14. But it's coming.

I saw your post re: Pedro Park. Below is a link you may be interested in from the city's website. I'm pretty informed about downtown StP development. AFAIK the park is on track. Whether it'll be a full block park (ie Mears/Rice) though, remains up in the air.

City of St. Paul, MN - Official Website - Pedro Park

[spectre000]

I live in this neighborhood.

It's still very early in the planning phase. Despite being first proposed about 5 years ago, it hasn't gotten it's first bit of funding to begin design work till last year.

Here is a link re: the park from St. Paul's website, City of St. Paul, MN - Official Website - Pedro Park

I'd heard the city's goal was to have the Police building located in the NE corner of the block demolished within a couple years. I've seen pictures of the interior and it's a mess. The SPPD's firing range is located in there, as well as it's undercover/vice HQ. There supposed to relocate to either the Griffin Building (SPPD HQ) about a mile away or in a new adjacent building next to it. Depends on funding of course. But it won't last many more years.

As for the Union Gospel's mission, that's probably the biggest stumbling block to having a full block sized park. I've heard as well the UG main building, the whitish 8 story building between the Pointe and City Walk high rises, that it's in bad shape as well. Whether the mission can stay in the neighborhood or not remains to be seen. It'll cost a lot of money to retain them in the neighborhood or move them.

If downtown StP does get a new park on this block, it's probably another 5 years away at least.

[Ben Around]

Originally Posted by ttaleg

but isnt lowertown like a 5 minute walk???

Yes. DT St Paul is pretty compact.

[Ben Around]

Originally Posted by spectre000

I live in this neighborhood.

It's still very early in the planning phase. Despite being first proposed about 5 years ago, it hasn't gotten it's first bit of funding to begin design work till last year.

Here is a link re: the park from St. Paul's website, City of St. Paul, MN - Official Website - Pedro Park

I'd heard the city's goal was to have the Police building located in the NE corner of the block demolished within a couple years. I've seen pictures of the interior and it's a mess. The SPPD's firing range is located in there, as well as it's undercover/vice HQ. There supposed to relocate to either the Griffin Building (SPPD HQ) about a mile away or in a new adjacent building next to it. Depends on funding of course. But it won't last many more years.

As for the Union Gospel's mission, that's probably the biggest stumbling block to having a full block sized park. I've heard as well the UG main building, the whitish 8 story building between the Pointe and City Walk high rises, that it's in bad shape as well. Whether the mission can stay in the neighborhood or not remains to be seen. It'll cost a lot of money to retain them in the neighborhood or move them.

If downtown StP does get a new park on this block, it's probably another 5 years away at least.

I thought UG Mission was located at Lafayette & University?

[spectre000]

Originally Posted by Ben Around

I thought UG Mission was located at Lafayette & University?

They have multiple locations.

[ttaleg]

thanks spectre, it good to know that the rossmor is nice....the lofts are cool.... at least the pics are.

yes iv seen the link that you gave, i hope they post their 2nd meeting soon. Imo, the park will not be "right" with that union gopel on it. Also, the ugly white highrise and ramp should go but thats maybe hard. Just imagine what the area would be like with a full park, a modern light rail, and a parks loop connecting the area to lowertown.. i think if that happens, shops, bars, resurants will flood in and change the energy big time....new urbanism