Posted: 8:00 am Tue, September 13, 2011
By Burl?Gilyard
Tags: Brian Lubben, development, North Loop, Paul Wischermann, Project M
The vacant building at 620 Olson Memorial Highway in Minneapolis just changed hands and is being considered for a redevelopment called Project M. (Staff photo: Bill Klotz)
Most developers looking at the North Loop area of Minneapolis these days are proposing apartment complexes. An unidentified developer has a different idea for a proposal billed as Project M: a 164-room hotel, a 400-space parking facility and an undefined ?entertainment complex.?
?Part of the attraction is certainly Target Field,? said project architect Brian Lubben of the Minnetonka-based Walker & Associates, referring to the nearby baseball stadium.
Project M Minneapolis LLC, an entity based in the Milwaukee area, recently closed on the purchase of 620 Olson Memorial Highway in Minneapolis. Project M paid $1.329 million for the site, according to a certificate of real estate value (CRV) filed last week with Hennepin County. A vacant building on the site was previously leased to the Velocity Express package delivery service. The property had previously been owned by Irish Twin Cities LLC, based in Oklahoma City.
Project M Minneapolis LLC is listed to a post office box in Delafield, Wis., a Milwaukee suburb. A phone call to the listed number for the LLC was not returned on Monday.
For many, the ?M? in Project M stands for ?mystery,? because many North Loop and real estate sources know little about the proposed project. Lubben declined to identify the developer.
?He just wants to remain anonymous for now,? Lubben said.
No development plans have been submitted to the city of Minneapolis. The cryptic-sounding moniker ?Project M? ? ?M? stands for Minneapolis ? is simply a working name for the proposal.
?That?s not the final name,? Lubben said.
The site is at the intersection of Olson Memorial Highway and Interstate 94. It is close to the so-called Farmers Market property being championed by some North Loop interests as a potential site for a new Minnesota Vikings football stadium.
The now-empty building near Target Field was previously leased by the Velocity Express delivery service. (Staff photo: Bill Klotz)
Lubben said the size and potential use of the entertainment center has not been determined. Previous reports indicated that martial arts fighting would be held at the entertainment center. Lubben said that idea was discussed at one point but is no longer part of the plan.
?The martial arts thing is not a component that we?re looking at or considering,? Lubben said.
He said no decisions have been made about what type of entertainment would be featured: ?We?re really not sure yet ourselves.?
The North Loop area grew during the condo boom as former industrial sites made way for condo conversions and new construction. While downtown Minneapolis has about 6,800 hotel rooms, there is only one hotel in the North Loop area. The closest hotel to the Project M site is Marriott?s TownePlace Suites, an extended stay hotel at 525 Second St. N.
A few years ago, there was a hotel development boomlet in Minneapolis. But today, the only local hotel project under construction is the Radisson Blu, which will adjoin the Mall of America in Bloomington.
One local hotel expert said the climate for hotel development is challenging.
?To build a new hotel today, to get anything done, you better be a known entity and have your financing lined up,? said Paul Wischermann, president of the Minnetonka-based Wischermann Partners, a hospitality development and management consulting company. ?It?s very tough right now to get any new hotels done.?
Finance & Commerce has previously reported on a number of proposed apartment developments for the North Loop area that would add more than 1,000 units of housing to the neighborhood.
The recent deal for 620 Olson Memorial Highway included additional parcels of land at 622, 634 and 638 Seventh Ave. N. But Lubben said the developer hopes to close soon an adjacent property to assemble the full site planned for redevelopment. The proposal would then call for ?vacating? ? or closing ? the street, a one-block section of Seventh Avenue North that runs between the parcels.
Once the next transaction closes, Lubben said, more details about the proposal will begin to emerge.
?There?s another parcel there that?s intended to be part of the project site. We?ll work toward the submittal [to the city] after that,? Lubben said.
tony bennett wiz khalifa ysl ysl grenade chris brown rick ross
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.