University Ave W (Minneapolis, St. Paul, Zimmerman: apartments, lofts, condo)

[iNviNciBL3]

Anyone know of any construction projects going on with the new light rail coming in? I'd imagine plenty of lofts will be built on University. Also what does the future hold for University Ave with the new light rail coming in?

Please post links of any projects you know about in the area, would be highly appreciated

Thanks,

[audadvnc]

There are already several condo projects up, and more on the way.

[jaxontwinz]

^^^^ Could you please be more specific?


In downtown St. Paul they renovated the Minnesota Building to I believe 130 units of residential apartments. They are also building, currently, the University Flats, another 130 units, by Stadium Village.

I really hope many of the parking lots near the Midway Marketplace get turned into apartments or lofts. Someone told me that the University will really be adding many dorms along University Ave.

The Central Corridor will be the best thing to happen to the actual Cities in a long time. It will boost St. Paul's population maybe over 300,000 in a decade. And downtown St. Paul will see a ton of new residents and business and liveliness. So there will be two topnotch downtown's in the area. I can't wait for it to open!

BTW, the Met Council thinks 42,000 people will ride it each day by 2030. Does that seem really low to anyone else? I think when it opens the line could see even more than that. And with all the new residential buildings being constructed or going to be constructed, ridership will grow even more even before 2017! They miscalculated the Hiawatha Line pretty badly. I'm hoping the same for Central Corridor, which could see at least 50,000 by 2030. If Central Corridor gets 40,000 a day, then the whole rail system here would be about 75,000. The seventh busiest light rail system in the country!

[knke0204]

Can anyone explain how they think this waste of money between the two downtowns is going to be beneficial?

[Mark_22]

Originally Posted by knke0204

Can anyone explain how they think this waste of money between the two downtowns is going to be beneficial?

It gets us closer to RT Rybek's and Chris Coleman's goal of having a coffee shop or wine bar on every corner of Minneapolis and St. Paul proper, but nowhere to pick up a pair of windshield wipers.

For the record, I am not anti public transportation, and I take the bus quite a bit. But yeah, the opportunity cost of this project seems very, very high.

[knke0204]

Originally Posted by Mark_22

It gets us closer to RT Rybek's and Chris Coleman's goal of having a coffee shop or wine bar on every corner of Minneapolis and St. Paul proper, but nowhere to pick up a pair of windshield wipers.

For the record, I am not anti public transportation, and I take the bus quite a bit. But yeah, the opportunity cost of this project seems very, very high.

I agre with you. I am for Public Transportation, but if and only if the opporuntiy cost is low, and ridership is justifiable for the subsidization.

I just really don't understand the DT-DT rail line. Hopefully it does well and spurs a whole new type of development along University.

[spectre000]

Originally Posted by BobMarley_1LOVE

Anyone know of any construction projects going on with the new light rail coming in? I'd imagine plenty of lofts will be built on University. Also what does the future hold for University Ave with the new light rail coming in?

Please post links of any projects you know about in the area, would be highly appreciated

Thanks,

In downtown St. Paul there is a renovation of the long vacant Pioneer and Endicott Buildings into apartments. A condemned parking ramp next door just completed its remodel and is now open.

The Penfield/Lunds development (253 apartments and a grocery store) about a block away from the 10th St station should start in June.

The Midway Chev dealership across the street from the Super Target at Univ and Hamline is rumored to be purchased soon by Project for Pride Living. A 4 story 120 unit building is proposed.

A new Culvers restaurant is under construction at the former Spin Cycle laundromat. I forget the cross street but its between Hamline and Snelling.

Episcopal Homes is planning a 50 unit apartment building at the former site of Porky's Restuarant. That's scheduled to start early next year.

Habitat for Humanity is planning on building a new 2 story HQ at the site of the Zimmerman Building, at Univ and Prior.

A developer is currently renovating the Chittenham and Eastman Building near 280 into apartments.

Closer to the Uof M and in downtown Minneapolis there are too many projects to list... Opus has a 33 story apartment tower set to start early this year on Nicollet Mall just feet away from an LRT station.

If you want links to these projects just ask Google. Or visit Minnescraper.com's development forum.

[west336]

Originally Posted by knke0204

Can anyone explain how they think this waste of money between the two downtowns is going to be beneficial?

If it spurs $billions of development as a result, isn't THAT reason enough? If not, it DOES take cars off the road, reducing traffic and CO2 emissions. It also makes it easier to live or visit here without a car and makes tourism or business travel easier as well. Finally, in my opinion, any city/metro that doesn't have passenger rail infrastructure in the future will be obsolete and VERY behind the curve. As cities continue to become more urban and as oil supply continues to dwindle (and it will, no doubt about it), people will seek alternatives exponentially more in the future (as I see it, anyways).

[1stpontiac]

Originally Posted by knke0204

Can anyone explain how they think this waste of money between the two downtowns is going to be beneficial?

It will be very interesting to see what effect the Central Corridor has on this map (which I posted on a different thread, but I like reusing things!). The new line will connect 3 or 4 of the highest job-density areas in the metro. I'm not a big fan of all of the rail lines that are being proposed, but this one seems like a logical one to me.

Now, execution can be another issue...I haven't followed funding issues and I don't know whether its anywhere near budget or not. I also think the current lightrail is hampered by having too many stops in downtown Minneapolis and generally running slow. If the new line could do downtown-to-downtown in 20 or 25 minutes instead of the 36 minutes planned now, that would be much better.

If done well, I could see that in 30 years, no one could imagine how we got by without it.

[jaxontwinz]

Originally Posted by spectre000

In downtown St. Paul there is a renovation of the long vacant Pioneer and Endicott Buildings into apartments. A condemned parking ramp next door just completed its remodel and is now open.

The Penfield/Lunds development (253 apartments and a grocery store) about a block away from the 10th St station should start in June.

The Midway Chev dealership across the street from the Super Target at Univ and Hamline is rumored to be purchased soon by Project for Pride Living. A 4 story 120 unit building is proposed.

A new Culvers restaurant is under construction at the former Spin Cycle laundromat. I forget the cross street but its between Hamline and Snelling.

Episcopal Homes is planning a 50 unit apartment building at the former site of Porky's Restuarant. That's scheduled to start early next year.

Habitat for Humanity is planning on building a new 2 story HQ at the site of the Zimmerman Building, at Univ and Prior.

A developer is currently renovating the Chittenham and Eastman Building near 280 into apartments.

Closer to the Uof M and in downtown Minneapolis there are too many projects to list... Opus has a 33 story apartment tower set to start early this year on Nicollet Mall just feet away from an LRT station.

If you want links to these projects just ask Google. Or visit Minnescraper.com's development forum.

Wow, very informative post! Thank you! I researched the Opus 33 story building and is set to break ground this spring. And there is also a 36-story apartment building approved for construction near Loring Park on La Salle. These all will add well over 4,000 new units to the urban core. Probably about 7-8,000 new residents! And these will all spur more development.

By the way, did anyone see the 2025 Downtown Minneapolis Vision?