Are the Twin Cities (gasp!) booming again?

[Avian001]

OK, so maybe not like the heydays of the early 2000's. It's all relative. But given that:

A) The two core cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul are in the midst of adding almost 11,000 new apartments, and, lo and behold, actual condominiums .

B) Two large apartment towers (27 & 36 stories) are on the brink of breaking ground in downtown Minneapolis.

C) A major grocer has just opened up downtown and another (Whole Foods) is under construction with over 330 apartments attached.

D) The replacement of the Metrodome with a new NFL stadium is a go.

E) A proposed office complex next to the Minnesota Twins ballpark.

F) A new Excel Energy Headquarters office building at 4th & Nicollet Mall is a done deal apparently (though construction won't start this year).

G) Hundreds of new apartments in several buildings are about to open in the University's Stadium Village and Dinkytown neighborhoods.

H) More TOD proposals are on the drawing board for the Central Corridor LRT which is past the mid-point of construction.

I) Planning for the 3rd LRT line is drawing to a close, with construction a couple of years away.

J) The rebuilding/expansion of the Minnesota Orchestra's hall lobby is under construction along with the re-vamping of the adjacent Peavey Plaza.

K) The expansion of Frank Gehry's Weisman Art Museum is finished.

L) The conversion of a major downtown Mpls. parking lot into a new "Library Park" is gaining steam.

Pics or additions, anyone?

[desertpunk]

What a delightful thread!

[ScraperDude]

OK... So I can never say this enough. I LOVE LOVE LOVE the Twin Cities! I'd move there if I could. It's actually my first choise if I ever got to relocate again. I'm not a local so I can't give a firm comment on a boom BUT as someone who likes to visit often I always see something new being built up there.

I think the new rail line between the cities is going to open up a dense corridor.
HOPEFULLY some decent sized residential towers, that would be a nice way to link the skylines (a huge gap I know) but imagine the all too well known STP skyline pic from Indian Mounds that catches Minneapolis in the background with a few decent sized towers along university in the mix. Pretty F'ing dreamy if you ask me.

[Jennifat]

I'm not sure if what we're seeing could be called "booming", but at the very least we're progressing as a healthy metropolis should.

In any case, we desperately need to pick up the pace with the build-out of our light rail, streetcar, and commuter rail systems. Dozens of other American cities are leaving us in the dust. At the rate we build rail transit in the Twin Cities, we'll be dead before we have a system in place we can take pride in.

[musiccity]

Originally Posted by Jennifat

I'm not sure if what we're seeing could be called "booming", but at the very least we're progressing as a healthy metropolis should.

In any case, we desperately need to pick up the pace with the build-out of our light rail, streetcar, and commuter rail systems. Dozens of other American cities are leaving us in the dust. At the rate we build rail transit in the Twin Cities, we'll be dead before we have a system in place we can take pride in.

You should see the light rail/commuter raid networks in cities down here, they are non-existent. So the urban rail network up in the Twin Cities could definitely be worse!

[spectre000]

I would say the TC are back to 2005/2006 levels. I know a lot is made of the fact we have some high rise proposals and thousands of residential units U/C or proposed today. But many of the projects breaking ground now were proposed years ago. The Penfield, redevelopment of the Jaguar site, Pillsbury Mill, etc. Even Magellan's tower was originally proposed during the condo boom. So a lot of the units were building now, are just holdovers from years ago. It's good to see them finally getting underway, but there not "new" projects.

If we ever start building multiple new office towers, then I'll say the TC are booming like the early 2000's or 1990's.

Having said that, with the Green Line, new Vikings stadium, the Stadium Village developments, the Ford plant in St. Paul, there's definitely a lot of activity underway in the TC. It's great to see.

[atrain5371]

Was flying the other day and Delta's Sky magazine had a great series of articles about the twin cities.

[Somnifor]

From today's Star Tribune:

August was a hot month for builders
Article by: JIM BUCHTA , Star Tribune
Updated: August 31, 2012 - 8:16 PM

Building permits rose as Twin Cities builders got a boost from two new Minneapolis apartment projects last month.

Record-low mortgage rates and falling home inventory continued to bolster house and apartment construction in August, with the number of building permits up 50 percent from a year ago.

Last month, 385 permits were issued to build 901 units, including hundreds of apartments in Minneapolis, according to the Builders Association of the Twin Cities (BATC).

While builders are still operating at a fraction of the pace they once were, it was the best August in at least five years for area contractors and trades people, and the best year by a long shot since the downtown apartment boom began. So far this year, builders have been issued 2,665 permits to build 4,903 units.

"We're seeing economic indicators all pointing in the right direction," said BATC's president, Curt Christensen of Lee Lynn Construction.

http://www.startribune.com/local/min...168224996.html

[Avian001]

Here's a map of the projects in downtown Minneapolis only. (Also posted in the development thread) Quite a few more projects are U/C in Uptown, the University and St. Paul.



Uploaded with ImageShack.us

[cmj2k2]

Don't forget this beauty approved near Loring Park

[achybo]

image hosted on flickr

Apartment Boom by MSPdude, on Flickr

[Mplsuptown]

Look at all those cranes. Not complaining but wish the buildings were a bit more larger, at least some of them. They all will have a pretty uniform height.

[Avian001]

A new supertall for Minneapolis:

[Mplsuptown]

Amazing and it looks so much like one you posted somewhere else about 6 months ago

[Jennifat]

It's free to dream.

[cmj2k2]

april fools har har har har

[Avian001]

Oh, you folks are way too smart

[MilwaukeeMax]

I do hear that the Twin Cities sure seem to be booming with snow right now! What is going on up there and why is it so much drastically colder there than down here??

[Jennifat]

Looks like we've got another spammer on our hands. Shut 'im down.

[MilwaukeeMax]

Who's the spammer, Jennifat? mysky seems legit, no?

And, yikes! More snow for the twin cities?! It was 84 degrees here in Milwaukee yesterday--considerably cooler today but everything is still in bloom. What a difference 5 hours by car makes...