Public asked to review 1010 Park condo project
By Jeremy Stratton
The city is inviting public comment on the 1010 Park development, two sets of condo towers that would rise up to 40 stories - or 459 feet - above the Elliot Park neighborhood.
Your views on the 1010 Park Environmental Assessment Worksheet (EAW) are due by 4:30 p.m. Nov. 23. (See sidebar for details).
The city prepares an EAW for developments of more than 375 units; Heritage Development hopes to build 420 units and 38,000 square feet of commercial space on the 2.26-acre block bounded by South 10th Street, Park Avenue, Grant Street and Portland Avenue. Two sets of “linked” towers - built in two overlapping phases between June 2006 and February 2008 - will rise 11 & 22 stories (east tower) and 25 & 40 stories (west tower) across the street from the Grant Park and Skyscape developments; both 27 stories tall. (Skycape is under construction.)
The project will rise above the block's existing Baker and Enger buildings, RS Eden and Balmoral apartments, the Learning Center and the historic Hinkle-Murphy mansion. The Enger building will be incorporated into the lobby of the east tower, according to the EAW; early plans were to move the building to a different location on the block. Current Enger tenant Outsiders and Others Gallery will occupy the Hinkle-Murphy mansion.
Susan Braun, Elliot Park Neighborhood, Inc. (EPNI) executive director, said that Heritage Development has been “very responsive” about retaining current businesses, such as Gallery Atitlan and E.P. Atelier café - both in the Baker Building on 10th Street. “That was part of the deal with the neighborhood,” Braun said.
In a letter to City Planner Hilary Watson, EPNI Community Development Coordinator David Fields called the project “an exciting, perhaps pioneering experiment in Š truly mixed-use development that integrates the existing fabric of historic Elliot Park with Š present-day needs.”
Heritage will seek to rezone the area to a C3A “community activity center district.” In its current design, the project would greatly exceed C3A limits for height (four stories or 56 feet), mass and number of units. Heritage will need city approval for the zoning, height, mass and density changes.
The EAW states that the project's underground water treatment facilities will improve the quality of storm runoff.
The project will include 577 off-street parking spaces. The EAW cites a traffic study indicating that traffic movement through surrounding intersections will operate acceptably after construction.
Although 1010 Park will create “new visual features” to the Elliot Park and Downtown skylines, the EAW states that the project ”will continue the trend of taller buildings” Downtown and in the neighborhood in particular. The towers will not shade any significant public spaces, the EAW states.
The City Council will review the completed EAW and - if it is sufficient - the project will go on to the city approvals process, likely early next year. A more exhaustive Environmental Impact Worksheet could be required, as well.
EAW:
http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/plan..._EAW_Final.pdf