What's big and tall and green all over?
Apparently, the proposed 17-story Block One office tower that Ryan Cos. hopes to build near U.S. Bank Stadium.
At a Thursday night committee of the whole planning commission meeting, Ryan designers presented its latest plans for its 460,000 square-foot office building that if completed, would be built above the existing parking ramp on the corner of Park Avenue and 4th Street.
One of the most notable features of the tower is a living wall system of plants that is planned to climb the southern and western sides of the building and cover approximately 6,700 square feet of the tower's façade with lush, green foliage. It's an ambitious feat for the developer, which hasn't attempted a vegetative installation of this height.
"We really wanted to bring the outside in," said Tony Barranco, Ryan's vice president of development, at the meeting. He added, the developer wanted to continue the aesthetic of the nearby Commons park with the living walls.
Other features planners highlighted included a 7-foot-wide pedestrian walkway along 4th Street, space for a possible police substation or bike parking and retail area that could exist on the ground floor (2,000 square feet) and on the second level (4,180 square feet). On the top level, Ryan representatives suggested there would be 6,000 square feet of space for a potential restaurant.
Two 300 square-foot signs are being proposed near the top of the building on the south and east sides. There aren't plans to place signs on the roof of the building, which has been a source of contention at the nearby Wells Fargo office towers that Ryan built. Barranco stressed that when it came to design, the new building would be different from the 17-story twin towers across the street.
"We didn't want it to be a third Wells tower," Barranco said.
