A commercial office building, occupied with people 8-5 weekdays, is
perhaps the poorest choice of neighbors for the Guthrie one could think
of. With the Guthrie as centerpiece for that little corner of
Minneapolis, the most ideal neighbors would be those who would complement
the Guthrie. Perhaps, an art gallery or better yet an orchestral
amphitheater. With imagination and vision that corner of Minneapolis
could become quality, sophistication and style. A place where the men
would wear top hats and the women pearls. Is the required thoughful
vision beyond our city leaders and MCDA powers.
>This deal is worse than what the article alluded to. First of all we are
>selling this land for $8 a square foot. I've had plenty of developers tell
>me they would have bought it had they known that was the going rate. But as
>usual, do we put it out for an RFP, so anyone can bid on it. No, we give it
>to Ryan.
>
>Secondly this goes against our surface parking lot ordinance. Since 50 per
>cent of downtown is surface lots we are trying to encourage greater density
>on our shrinking land base downtown and prevent suburban style development.
>The ordinance allows up to 20 accessory spaces. I'm convinced if we give
>Ryan/Padilla Spear 286 spaces we might as well throw the ordinance out,
>since everyone will want the same exemption. This is another case where
>development comes before planning and the result is a development that isn't
>urban in nature. I have come to believe that at the agency it is about
>"doing the deal" and planning and zoning aren't important.
>
>Next we are building 1000 public parking spaces right next door for the
>Guthrie and future housing. The Ryan/Padilla Spear spaces will be totally
>free. Duh! Does it make sense for us to do this. We should insist these
>folks use the space we're providing so we get a return for our
>infrastructure investment.
>
>Basically this building sits in a sea of parking. It doesn't even front the
>street, a basic urban requirement, and one required in the Mill District
>Plan. This site currently allows a density or FAR of 4. This building is
>only an FAR of .59. Our own version of sprawl.
>
>It's hard for me to believe that the Guthrie, who is spending $3 million for
>an architect, is going to want their building next to the Ryan/Padilla Spear
>building, which I will tell you looks suburban. The MCDA can't argue that
>this is about keeping jobs since they weren't too concerned about PDI
>leaving.
>
>I got a real kick out of the comment in the article that City doesn't
>landbank. What do you call the Milwaukee Depot, the Grain Belt, and the 800
>some vacant lots they City owns.
>
>This is the last space available on the middle river and we are making a ton
>of investment in this area (the Mill Ruins park, the Brighton housing and
>office development, new streets, parking ramps and future affordable
>housing). Because of this we should wait until we have a better development
>for this parcel and we can sell it for more money.
>
>I would encourage folks to let the Mayor know what you think of this
>proposal.
>
>
>Lisa McDonald
>Tenth Ward Council Member
Jack Ferman
Minneapolis, MN
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