Several downtown housing projects are inching closer to groundbreaking.
On Monday night, the Downtown Minneapolis Neighborhood Association land use committee committed to issuing letters of support for several projects. They include:
• Thrivent Financial corporate headquarters project. It would have a pocket park, coffee shop, chapel and art gallery within a new headquarters building on a parking lot at S. 6th Street and 5th Avenue S. The building would be in the northern portion of the lot, which is across 5th Avenue from the company's current headquarters.
• Sherman Associates requested a PUD amendment that allows for an increase in the maximum height for signage at the East End Apartments at the corner of Washington and Chicago avenues. Sherman is nearing groundbreaking on 205 Park Avenue, a mixed-use development with apartments, condos, a coffee shop and a full-service restaurant.
• 228 S. 12th Street, a 31-story tower with about 360 rental units and a skyway connection with commercial uses that's being developed by Minneapolis-based Alatus.
• Eleven on the River, a 39-story, 101-unit condo tower that was recently pitched by Ryan Cos. for a riverfront site in the Mill District.
Joe Tamburino, president of the neighborhood association, said the well-attended meeting also included discussions about density and access in the Mill District, where much of that development is concentrated.
At issue is access to the area for cars and pedestrians. Tamburino is an advocate of adding a crosswalk across South 2nd Street and making 12th Street more accessible to and from Washington Avenue.
