Frequent passersby may know the surface parking lot at 301 Washington Av. S. in downtown Minneapolis by the odd external skyway that skims its southern flank, like a concrete caterpillar creeping, seemingly, to nowhere.
The skyway actually links the central business district and county government buildings to the Gateway parking ramp. The surface lot itself is like so many others downtown — serviceable, yet aesthetically barren and gray. Now, the Minneapolis-based development firm Alatus has begun work on a $70 million-plus mixed-use development there that calls for 320 upscale apartments, plus restaurant and retail space on the ground floor. Completion is slated for the summer of 2015.
Called Latitude 45, the project is noteworthy partly because it's just a few blocks away from the planned $400 million Downtown East mixed-use development near the new Vikings stadium.
Minneapolis-based developer Ryan Cos. will soon break ground on the massive office-apartment-retail project, which also will feature a public park spanning nearly two blocks.
Real estate developers and landowners in the Downtown East area — including the principals at Alatus — have followed Ryan's progress over the past year with interest.
"We have consistently said that Downtown East will serve as a catalyst for continued redevelopment in the neighborhood," said Rick Collins, Ryan's vice president of development. The public park, near the Minneapolis Armory, will help make "the entire area attractive for everyone," he said.
Beyond housing, Alatus confirmed that it has partnered with successful Twin Cities restaurateur Ryan Burnet to develop a new "destination" dining concept for the Latitude 45 project's 5,000-square-foot restaurant space.
Details are still being worked out, but Burnet's record with previous projects Bar La Grassa and Burch, among others, is not only "good for the project, it's good for the neighborhood," said Alatus principal Robert Lux. (There's a decided dearth of restaurants in the Downtown East area.)