Posts about Architecture
165 luxury apartments coming to Golden Valley
Posted by: Jim Buchta Updated: May 13, 2013 - 10:06 AM
The Arcata will be 165 luxury apartments adjacent to the Colonnade Office Tower and south of Golden Hills Office Center on Golden Hills Drive.
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Dallas-based Trammell Crow Co. said this morning that it plans to begin construction this fall on 165 luxury apartments in Golden Valley. The Arcata will built on a 2-acre site near The Shops at West End. It'll be adjacent to the Colonnade Office Tower and south of Golden Hills Office Center on Golden Hills Drive.
The 260,000 square-foot, six-story project will compete in an increasingly tight rental market by offering resort-style amenities, including a sprawling outdoor swimming pool, club room and fitness center. It's a significant announcement for Golden Valley, which has largely been overlooked in recent years by apartment developers, and it joins thousands of apartment units across the metro area - most of them in and around downtown Minneapolis. Several hundred units are already under construction in nearby St. Louis Park, where developers are busy on a new phase of Hoigaard Village, and the Flats at West End. Hoiga.ard Village
"Arcata provides an opportunity for residents to live in a centrally located, accessible, amenity driven and employment rich suburb," said Grady Hamilton, head of TCC's midwest business unit.
Sold! Buyers go ga-ga for this extreme green home
Posted by: Jim Buchta Updated: May 9, 2013 - 4:19 PM
Just Sold! Even in the very best of the markets, houses built with unusual construction techniques can be a tough sell. This earth-sheltered concrete house with a grass roof in Maplewood is a major exception. It sold within six days of hitting the market, and there were three offers above the $525,000 list price, though the sale price won't be disclosed until after the closing in mid June, according to listing agent, Richard Berger of Coldwell Banker Burnet. The house is on 2.6 acres, has a sweeping solarium and state-of-the-art energy efficient features, including on-demand tankless water heater and a passive solar design.
New apartments barely putting a dent in Twin Cities vacancy rates, and rents are on the rise
Posted by: Jim Buchta Updated: May 1, 2013 - 12:55 PMHundreds of new apartments have been built in the Twin Cities, but that hasn't put a dent in the average vacancy rate in the region. Just-released first-quarter data shows that the average vacancy rate in the metro was 2.8 percent compared with 2.9 percent during the previous quarter, according to Marquette Advisors.
That was the 8th-consecutive quarter in which the vacancy rate has remained below 3.0 percent, and in 48 out of 54 Twin Cities submarkets, the vacancy rate was below 3.5 percent.
Deep demand allowed landlords to raise rents slightly. The average monthly rent for the quarter was $966, up from $957 during the fourth quarter and $935 a year ago
As the rental boom rolls on, absorption continues to outpace new construction, especially in Minneapolis where about 760 new units were brought to market in both downtown and the southwest neighborhoods over the past 15 months. Still, the vacancy rate in those submarkets posted 2.2 and 2.1 percent respectively. Stay tuned, I'm working on a complete story for the Thursday paper, complete with a full summary of how many new units will come online in the Twin Citeis.
Urban design competition held for Downtown East land
Posted by: Janet Moore Updated: April 23, 2013 - 10:05 AM
The rendering of the winning entry.
Few cities of our size likely have a wide swath of undeveloped land smack dab in its center core.
But we do, and it’s on the eastern side of downtown Minneapolis by the Metrodome. (Several blocks are owned by the Star Tribune.) For architects and urban planners, this is akin to a blank canvas for creative development ideas.
Recently, the Urban Land Institute chose “Downtown East” as the subject of its annual Gerald D. Hines Student Urban Design Competition. Open to multidisciplinary teams of graduate students, the idea is to craft a long-term development plan that “creates value for property owners, city residents and the greater Twin Cities region.”
The competition was based on a hypothetical scenario in which two property owners evaluate the benefits and financial possibilities of enjoining their two parcels. The city provides an incentive to redevelop the site with public parking, affordable housing and a connection between with Elliot Park and the Mill District. In the middle of it all, of course, is a billion-dollar Vikings stadium.
The winner was a joint team of graduate students from Kansas State University, the University of Missouri-Kansas City and the University of Kansas. Called “The Armory,” the plan works off the historic site on Fifth Street, integrating it with the skyway system, an underground parking ramp and a “distinct retail experience.
The three other finalists were from Ball University/Purdue University; Harvard University and Yale University.The grand prize was $50,000.
Janet Moore covers commercial real estate for the Star Tribune.
The latest details on 4Marq, downtown's newest apartment tower
Posted by: Jim Buchta Updated: April 19, 2013 - 12:08 PM
Earlier this week, JustListed gave you a glimpse of of 4Marq, the 30-story luxury apartment tower that was designed by Minneapolis-based UrbanWorks Architecture and will be built by Mortenson Construction at 400 Marquette Avenue S. in downtown Minneapolis.JustListed now has several other hot little details from Bob Solfelt, vice president of Mortenson Development, including:
- Materials: Pre-cast concrete with glass and anodized aluminum.
- Retail: about 2,000 square feet of retail on the first floor and parking above.
- What's next: The Downtown Minneapolis Neighborhood Association already gave the building its approval, but the project still needs approval from the City Council on April 26, and from the city Planning Commission in early June.
- Estimated completion date: Late 2014.
The Twin Cities top-25 home builders
Posted by: Jim Buchta Updated: April 12, 2013 - 10:48 AM
For the seventh year in a row, Lennar Corp. was the biggest homebuilder in the metro area last year, according to a new survey of the region's top 25 companies compiled by the Builders Association of the Twin Cities. Florida-based Lennar had gross revenue of $160 million with a total of 441 closed housings during 2012.
The list was notable because it wasn't long ago that the Twin Cities was dominated by a handful of locally based companies. All of the top five companies in Minnesota had headquarters elsewhere. That includes the Pulte Group, which built 284 houses worth $120.5 million; Ryland Homes with $88.5 million revenue and 271 units; D.R. Horton-Minnesota, which built 205 houses and had revenue of nearly $72 million and Mattamy Homes at $70.3 million and 243 units. At No. 6, Minneapolis-based Gonyea Homes was the largest local company. It built 65 houses worth $41 million.
To see the list of the top 25, go to www.batconline.org.
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recent posts
- Renting better than buying in the Twin Cites?
- Real estate agent incomes more than double house price gains
- Neiman Marcus building sold to United Properties
- 165 luxury apartments coming to Golden Valley
- CRE organization recognizes women leaders
- With house prices on the rise, sellers are stepping back into the market
- Original Soo Line Building sold
- Sold! Buyers go ga-ga for this extreme green home
- United Properties statement on Stensby's death
- Land deal makes way for Eagan outlet mall
- New IDS owner names management team
- No longer lots of lots in the Twin Cities
- U.S. Bank involved in big mall refinancing
- Groundbreakings galore
- New apartments barely putting a dent in Twin Cities vacancy rates, and rents are on the rise
- Spending declines on public works projects
- Home prices up 12 percent in Twin Cities, exceeding national average
- A shortage of house listings is keeping Twin Cities builders busy
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