Downtown Minneapolis hotel is getting a sister
Susan Feyder, Star Tribune

Mozaic, proposed developement

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The owner of the Graves 601 Hotel in downtown Minneapolis is expanding into Uptown with a new upscale hotel that will be part of a residential and retail complex to be built on the site of the Lagoon Theater.

Graves Hotels Resorts said Thursday that it will co-own and manage the 140-room, seven-story Graves Uptown Hotel that will be part of Mozaic, which is being developed by the Ackerberg Group and CAG Development. All three businesses are based in Minneapolis.

Work on the project, which also will include a new Lagoon Theater, is to begin in January with completion expected about December 2008.

The development consists of two buildings tucked into the block bounded by Lagoon, Hennepin and Fremont Avenues and the Midtown Greenway. The only building to be razed will be the theater, which will be replaced by a new one on the hotel's ground floor.

A half-acre plaza will connect that building to a 10-story condominium tower. The hotel accounts for about one-third of the project's $150 million cost.

Developer Stuart Ackerberg said the developers were approached by other hotel companies, but chose Graves because they liked its edgy, design-oriented approach to hotel luxury. Ackerberg said the developers also felt that Graves, whose principals live in Minneapolis, best understood the local market.

The new hotel marks the first step by Graves Hotels to expand its brand beyond its flagship on First Avenue at Sixth Street. That hotel opened in 2003 as a franchisee of the Le Meridien chain but was renamed the Graves 601 last year. CEO Jim Graves has said he wants to eventually have about 20 hotels operating under the Graves name.

Two others are in the works, according to Graves' son Ben, who is president of Graves Hotels Resorts. Construction is to begin early next year on a 220-room Graves hotel and condominium complex on Chicago's Near North Side, while another hotel with at least 240 rooms is being planned for New York's Soho neighborhood. Graves also is scouting sites in San Diego and Scottsdale, Ariz.

Rooms at the Uptown hotel will have marble floors and bathrooms furnished with large soaking tubs. About half of them will have outdoor terraces. The hotel also will have a 5,800-square-foot ballroom that will open to a garden area with a pool and lounge, a 6,000-square-foot spa and a 150-seat fine-dining restaurant. Ackerberg said Mozaic also will have other restaurants on the ground level of the condo building.


Susan Feyder • 612-673-1723 • sfeyder@startribune.com

DT Journal

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Central Library might be joined by new park

By Michelle Bruch

Negotiations are underway to create a public park in the parking lot across from the Central Library.

The size of the green space has yet to be determined. The city owns the 72,000-square-foot Nicollet Hotel block between Nicollet and Hennepin avenues, and Opus Corp. owns other land adjacent to the library.

Opus executives originally hoped to swap the city’s Nicollet Hotel block for the 50,000-square-foot Powers block it owns between 4th and 5th streets, Nicollet Mall and Marquette Avenue. Opus Vice President Dave Menke said last month the swap is still an option, but more discussions need to take place.

“I can say there is growing interest, leadership and commitment to the concept for a park,” said Susan Schmidt, director of the Trust for Public Land. “It isn’t a plan; it’s a growing vision.”

Architects Hammel, Green and Abrahamson Inc. (HGA) worked pro bono to produce a concept rendering of the park. HGA designer Nick Potts used New York’s Bryant Park as inspiration for the design, which could include a caf/ or “open canvas” lawn for seasonal events. A series of layered spaces would buffer park-goers from the street.

A park near the library would likely intersect with the mayor’s vision for a pedestrian-friendly Washington Boulevard, as well as developer Ray Harris’ plans to develop new walkways Downtown.

“A lot of people are really interested in making the public realm and public spaces better,” Harris said.

Harris introduced Daniel Biederman, head of the nonprofit organization responsible for the dramatic revitalization of Bryant Park, to local officials last week.

Biederman drew tax dollars from a business improvement district to renovate a park in midtown Manhattan that was becoming a haven for drug dealers. He ensured the park had clear sightlines for a safe atmosphere; created bathrooms so glamorous they compete with luxury hotels; installed security officers to police the smallest of crimes; provided movable chairs; implemented wireless Internet access; and enlisted caf/s, a piano player and food stands to surround the park. Biederman said Bryant Park was the site of 500 serious crimes in 1979, and the park is now an attraction that draws up to 20,000 people on a single sunny day.

When asked about Minneapolis’ public spaces, Biederman said he thinks Nicollet Mall is nice but overrated. He said the Loring Park area needs to be better lit and said he loves the city’s industrial space that was converted into a park.

A group of private-sector developers are working with Ray and his daughter Sarah Harris on public space improvements Downtown. Harris has repeatedly declined so far to divulge specific plans but said they are trying to emulate Biederman’s work.

Looks like the East Bank Mills project is getting underway. (see previous page for details). The article outlining the specifics is here (http://downtownjournal.com/articles/2006/10/16/hot_dish/hd02.txt)

The project will include the old Pillsbury 'A' Mill, which is the limestone building in the center of the photo below, the Red Tile mill to its right and four new towers to the right of that. The project should tie in nicely with the St. Anthony Main entertainment complex to the left.

Wedged in between the Pillsbury project and St. Anthony Main is the new 17-story Phoenix condominiums, currently under construction. (Top price for Phoenix BTW is a whopping $3.8 million for a 5,840 sq. ft. 4-bedroom penthouse.) Go to their website here if you have some extra pocket change...http://www.phoenixontheriver.com/ :)

http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/9956/pillsburyamillmr2.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Hotels Minnesota
Last update: October 20, 2006
http://www.startribune.com/1375/story/754163.html

The tony Chambers is but the tip of a hotel iceberg approaching Minneapolis. Three historic buildings -- the Foshay Tower, the Ivy Tower and F&M Bank -- are being transformed into top-of-the-line venues.

The Twin Cities area finally is catching up with demand for high-end hotel rooms, said Colin Barr of Ryan Companies, which is developing the Foshay and F&M projects.

Here's a short guide to what's coming:

1929 Foshay Tower becomes a W

Minneapolis wasn't one of the 78 sites scoped out by W, which seeks an iconic cachet, but the historic Foshay Tower sold them on the city, said lead investor Ralph Burnet. The lobby will be on the main floor, which will keep its art deco character. Approximately 229 rooms will be fitted out in the landmark tower, which was modeled on the Washington Monument.

Opening: spring 2008.

1931 Ivy Tower becomes a Luxury Collection by Starwood

Once threatened with demolition, the little Ivy Tower will be embedded in a complex containing an 18-story hotel and a 25-story condo tower. The restaurant will be on its main floor and hotel amenities on the second and third floors. The other six floors will hold some of the 136 hotel rooms, including the two-story "belfry-tower suite."

Opening: fall 2007.

1942 F&M Bank and its 1960s addition becomes a Westin

A restaurant will occupy the elegant deco banking lobby, with bankers' offices becoming private dining rooms and the open kitchen behind the former tellers' desk. The bank vault will become part of the lower-level meeting rooms, and the 11th-floor boardroom will become the presidential suite. Even the 1960s aqua-blue panels are being restored. The hotel will have 214 rooms.

Opening: spring 2007.

^Again mentioning that Ryan Companies, which owns the entire block where the Foshay Tower sits, is also re-developing the corner nearest the IDS Tower. Nasa35, a forumer on Minnescraper, says he has pretty good info that it will be a 1000+ footer. Ryan seems to be a bit coy about the plans, officially only saying that it will be taller than the TCF tower which, as cmj2k2 noted above, isn't very tall.

I have said in the recent past that I have also heard - independently of nasa35 - that a supertall is in the works. I am in the architecture biz where everyone knows everyone else, so I wouldn't be surprised if a major announcement occurs in the next few months. Very happy, yes, but not surprised.

If it turns out to be in the range of 40 or 50 stories, that's good too. The architect (http://www.pickardchilton.com/proj_fourseasons_01.html)they've chosen is pretty capable of doing mighty fine work at whatever height they go for.