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Calhoun Square
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Developer: Solomon Real Estate Group Architect: Judd Brasch, RSP Architects Status: Approved Website: http://www.calhounsquare.com Current Use: Shopping Mall, Parking
Lot, Parking Ramp, Commercial, Multi-Family Residential Current Zoning:
C2, C3A |
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Calhoun Square's second floor represents a sad
moment in urban mixed-use developments. Opened in 1983, Calhoun Square
brought renewed energy to the corner of Hennepin Avenue and Lake Street.
Over the years things settled down and retailers slowly pulled out of the
second floor. A plan in 1998 to renovate Calhoun Square's interior and
exterior provided a new look, one that attempted to bring out Calhoun
Square's uniqueness and make it a focal point. It was within that
renovation that added office space to the second floor, the crown sign on
the roof of the building, new interior furnishings, and brought Chiang Mai
Thai to Girard Avenue. Not all worked though. Calhoun Square suffered from vacancies that made the second floor look quite bare. The east side of the first floor seemed to slowly see long-time tenants disappear and replaced by seasonal shops. More was needed. Calhoun Square was sold to Jay Scott of North American Properties. Scott later left the company and brought Calhoun Square to his newly formed Solomon Real Estate Group. Scott and his team created a redevelopment plan to bring new energy into Calhoun Square. New renderings of the project show a seven-story building along Lake Street between Fremont Avenue and Girard Avenue. The plan calls for two stories of retail with four stories of condos above. A new two story building between Girard Avenue and the current building on the corner of Hennepin and Lake would feature retail. Perhaps the most significant part of the plan occurs closer to 31st Street. A plaza at the northwest corner of 31st Street and Girard Avenue would provide access to the mall near the current south loading dock. A five-story building on the corner of 31st Street and Hennepin Avenue would look over the plaza. The plans show a loading dock sharing the plaza, as trucks would drive on a circular driveway/plaza area and then back into the dock. In the center of the plaza trees and benches would provide some amenity. The five-story building would have a significant set-back at its 3rd story to preserve a two-story "edge" along Hennepin and 31st Street. Parking, a concern raised by numerous neighborhood residents, would be provided underground for the new residents. A level and a half addition to the parking ramp and underground parking would accommodate all but a fraction of the increased demand created by the project. In June, the neighborhood containing Calhoun Square, CARAG, held a meeting to get input from neighbors on the project. The input was condensed and given to Calhoun Square for review. On August 3rd at Joyce Church (31st-Fremont), Jay Scott and others commented about the input given by neighbors. The August meeting allowed a sneak-peak at the revised designs. Some neighborhood concerns were incorporated into the new design, such as the removal of a residential lobby underneath one of the skyways that neighbors thought would create a security and access problem for that plaza entrance. Calhoun Square submitted its plans to the City of Minneapolis in early August and request many variances and Conditional Use Permits (CUP), though many essentially are currently awarded today so that the request could be seen as a "renewal." For example, the project needs a Shopping Center CUP, operation of a parking ramp, 24-hour operation of a parking ramp permit, more than 5-dwellings permit, and an increase in FAR (so that some retailers can have more than 9,600 square feet) are all currently in existence. Other requests will be for an exception in height (in its Planned Unit Commercial Development CUP) so that the building can be 84 feet in places, a rezoning of the Music-Go-Round space, and a vacation of the Girard/Fremont Avenue Alley. In December 2005, Calhoun Square received approval of their proposal by the city's Planning Commission. The CARAG neighborhood appealed the Planning Commission's decision to the City Council, which unanimously denied the appeal at their January 27, 2006 meeting. Upon the ruling, Calhoun Square had full city approval to progress with their project. |
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| Copyright 2006 Thatcher Imboden, OurUptown.com | About | Assist Us | Page Updated: 10/11/06 |
