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Real estate: A trio of hotels hitting Twin Cities
Hotels keep sprouting up throughout the metro area. The latest are near the I-494 strip and in Minneapolis' historic Mill District.
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Work began last week on the latest entry to downtown Minneapolis' hotel scene.
The 155-room Aloft hotel on Washington Avenue across the street from the Guthrie Theater is part of a mixed-use development by Sherman Associates that includes the 65-unit Zenith condominiums.
Aloft is a new brand for New York-based Starwood Hotels & Resorts, whose other names include Sheraton, Westin and W. The hotel will feature loft-style rooms with 9-foot ceilings, large bathrooms with walk-in showers and amenities such as wireless Internet access and flat-screen high-definition TVs.
The hotel, expected to open next year, also will have a fitness center, pool and bar.
Meanwhile, one hotel recently opened and another one is soon to follow in Bloomington, near the Mall of America and Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.
Minneapolis-based Stahl Construction built the Hampton Inn & Suites that opened last month as well as a Cambria Suites scheduled to open in November.
The hotels are only 200 yards apart and share a six-acre site. The relatively tight space forced contractors and designers to improvise on the brands' prototypes while preserving the brand standards.
Both hotels were built taller than usual, in order to house the desired number of rooms and the size of the suites. The hotels have underground as well as ground-level parking.
In an effort to block sound from the airport, Stahl installed specially designed windows and sound channels in walls for insulation. And because jet fuel exhaust tends to discolor and deteriorate metal, Stahl minimized its use, using stucco instead of metal wall panels.
Carlson expanding in Minnetonka
Carlson Real Estate Co. recently began grading and excavation work on a nine-acre site immediately west of the Carlson Companies headquarters, at Interstates 394 and 494 in Minnetonka.
Development of the site has been a part of Carlson Real Estate's long-range plans. The company is considering multiple design options and hopes to have detailed plans ready by next spring. It envisions 300,000 square feet of office space to be added to the area where the current Carlson offices were built in the 1980s.
Tenants sought for Harmon Glass building
The Twin Cities office of Colliers Turley Martin Tucker has been hired by TRC Glass Minneapolis as the exclusive listing team for the Harmon Glass building at 1101 Hennepin Av. S. in downtown Minneapolis.
The building, the site of a former auto body shop, is across from the new CVS Pharmacy store in Laurel Village. The property has about 4,230 square feet of vacant space, and a rooftop that would be suitable for outdoor dining, according to Andrea Chistenson, a Colliers vice president who specializes in the retail market.
"This is a perfect site for a restaurant, because of the proximity to the Orpheum and State theaters," she said.
"Hennepin Avenue provides excellent visibility and traffic, while the site is close to large residential complexes and provides ample parking for patrons."
Susan Feyder • 612-673-1723
Susan Feyder • sfeyder@startribune.com
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