David A. Lanegran

1
Geography of the Twin Cities
DevelopmentPart 9 Redevelopment Planning
David A. Lanegran Geography Department Macalester
College
2
A 1964 view of the Metropolitan building,
formerly the Guarantee Loan Building, in downtown
Minneapolis. This building was torn down to make
way for new development. Its destruction was a
significant event in the planning and
redevelopment of Minneapolis. The new plans had
no place for historic preservation. The modern
schools of architecture and planning were
uncontested for three decades between the end of
World War II and the mid-1970s. However, the
destruction of the Metropolitan Building was such
a dramatic event that the preservationists began
to organize to save other monuments.
3
The planning debates of the 1960s centered on
finding a compromise between maintaining the
property values and tax base of the city centers
and the strong pull of suburban development which
was fueled by lifestyle preferences of the
population. The result was this general model
called the Constellation City Model. Some
humorists have called it "Dayton's Plan for the
City" because it called for shopping malls in the
suburbs that were being developed by Dayton's
Property Division. The various centers were to be
linked by transportation corridors. A close
examination of this map shows that the planners
of the 1960s thought the city would grow much
faster than it actually did this miscalculation
can also be found in the 1917 plan for the city.
However, the metro area in 2004 will look similar
to this plan for 1984. A major component of the
plan was the creation of a large regional park at
the edge of the Metro Area. These parks were
developed in the same spirit that produced the
Minneapolis Parks. The open space was secured
well in advance of the population growth.
4
Plan of shops in Southdale Mall. In many
respects, the Constellation City Plan was an
attempt to catch up with what property developers
had already created. The concept for the
enclosed, climate controlled shopping mall came
from commercial designers working for
profit-making corporations rather than planners
working for the common good.
5
The Cedar Riverside Associates, a group of
investors associated with the University of
Minnesota, worked with the City of Minneapolis
HRA to develop a "New Town In Town" adjacent to
the West Bank Campus of the University of
Minnesota. Designed by the head of the U of M
Architecture school, Ralph Rapson, the design was
quintessentially modern, with direct links to the
new towns of Northern Europe. Developed in the
mid 1960s as an effort to transform the area of
the city with the most dilapidated properties and
lowest land values, Cedar Riverside was to be a
multi-cultural, mixed income, vibrant community
that would be an exciting alternative to the
suburbs. However, the project was begun at the
wrong time and in the wrong place. In 1967 the
student protests against central authority began
in Paris and spread throughout Europe and North
America. The West Bank became the counter
culture's home base in Minnesota. The centralized
modern design of Cedar Riverside was unacceptable
to this population, and through a series of court
actions, it brought the corporation into
bankruptcy. The result has been low income
households living in high-rise towers, attracting
crime and violence.
6
The counter culture in the 1970s continued to
claim the fringe of the University Campus, and a
few entrepreneurs moved there to market the
ambiance. Gradually the university expanded and
other developers built smaller housing projects.
But the dream of an exciting mixed community was
never realized.
7
The use of murals to define communities and
express hopes for the future was wide spread in
the 1970s. Public art became a topic of community
interest and eventually city governments passed
requirements for art to be included in all large
construction projects.
8
The river valley was a target for planners in the
1970s. The biggest dream was to transform the
Pig's Eye Lake area and make the marsh and
shallow lake into a major river port and
recreational area. Some development had occurred
along the east bank of the river and the water
treatment facility had been surrounded by a flood
wall. The plan (on next slide) was quite
controversial.
9
This rather unusual plan called for the
development of a heavy industrial area on each
end of Pigs Eye Lake and the creation of a large
recreation area in the middle, very close to the
sewage treatment plant. In the end an
environmental group called the "Pig's Eye
Coalition" argued that the heron rockery on the
lake had to be preserved and the development
should not go forward. Other skeptics wondered
about the viability of a plan that called for
picnic grounds and campsites so close to the
treatment facility. The failure of the plan was
the beginning of a trend toward the re-evaluation
of riverfront property.
10
Model of Pig's Eye Development
11
The future of the old streetcar commercial
streets was in doubt all throughout the final
decades of the 20th century. They were difficult
to redevelop. Some contained interesting old
buildings that were under-utilized and provided
very low cost housing however, the old buildings
were not earning enough money to pay for major
repairs they needed, and many feared
deterioration would make them un-savable. The
Fort Road/West Seven Federation, a local resident
and business organization, became active and
succeeded in getting a grant from the Federal
Government via the City of St. Paul to redevelop
the communities and businesses in the area.
12
The plans for West Seventh involved a variety of
programs that made the first floor commercial
space oriented toward restaurants and shops, and
the upper floors were converted to market rate
housing or offices.
13
The great development programs of the 1960s and
1970s involved the freeways. This is a view of
I35W as it goes south from the center of
Minneapolis. The freeway designers were careful
to wind the route between the Minneapolis Art
Institute complex and the Honeywell corporation.
In a sense, this freeway is the modern version of
the boulevard called for in the 1917 plan The
freeway encouraged residential development in the
southern suburbs.
14
Sibley Plaza shopping center. This was one of the
first attempts to bring ideas from suburban
communities into the older sections of the city.
The concept is quite simple just develop auto
oriented low-rise shopping centers in older
neighborhoods and ignore the pre-existing
landscape!
15
This map of population and projected population
prepared by the Metro Council was intended to
illustrate the rapid growth of employment in the
beltline. Some of the development did not occur
because 3M moved divisions to Austin Texas rather
than build a new campus on Highway 5 in Oakdale.
16
Tommy Thompson, the city administrator of
Minneapolis, the planning department, and the
downtown business community determined that the
CBD could be greatly strengthened by connecting
the Mall with the Lake District by a new
development along the newly created Greenway.
This bold move was costly and nearly caused the
city to over-extend its borrowing capacity.
However, the development has been very
successful.
17
The IDS Tower was finished in 1970 and served as
the new symbol for Minneapolis. It was
significantly taller than the existing skyline
and was a statement about the future of the city.
This slide shows the City Center building under
construction and the West Bank of the falls
before any redevelopment occurred.
18
Although the 1964 plan for Minneapolis called for
the building of many three-story apartment
buildings in the older neighborhoods, there was
one development at Franklin and Milwaukee Avenue
that went against the trend. The Milwaukee Avenue
Project involved historic preservation and
reconstruction of smaller houses.
19
The houses on Milwaukee Avenue were originally
built for railroad workers, but with the use of
large subsidies, the houses were transformed into
space for middle- and upper middle-income
households who wanted an alternative to suburban
development.
20
The new model neighborhood de-emphasized the
automobile and made the focus on the neighborhood
and the intensively-landscaped pedestrian way.
21
Upper income town-house communities were also
built near Loring Park as another option for
in-town living.
22
The county government became involved in the
redevelopment of downtown in a very direct way.
After a great deal of consideration, the new
county courthouse was built in two blocks
adjacent to the old building. It is interesting
to note that the old building occupied the entire
block while the new building spans a street and
is surrounded by open space. Also visible are the
blocks of surface parking that were created by
the clearance programs. The sharp contrast
between tall buildings and surface parking
indicate an unusual land market at the time.
23
The Hubert H. Humphrey Metro Dome. The city
planners were eager to have professional sports
come into downtown and expected a boom in land
use around the dome.
24
The East Bank of the Falls district was viewed as
a great opportunity for the development of a
festival market and new residential community.
There had been an earlier attempt to redevelop
the area away from the river for middle income
households and for students attending the
University of Minnesota.
25
The plan for the East Bank called for the
restoration and re-use of the oldest buildings
(the limestone structure on the left) and
warehouses (the brick building on the right), as
well as new construction of mid- to high-rise
residential structures and parking ramps. The
mixture of new and old was thought to be a
combination that would attract shoppers, seekers
of entertainment, and people interested in
distinctive neighborhoods.
26
Due to the historic nature of this site, the
developers faced several hurdles one was to
relocate this building which had served as a
livery stable. The building was moved to a nearby
site to make way for high-rise residential units.
27
The Gateway renewal area was eventually
redeveloped but with high rise residential
structures. Both apartment blocks and condominium
towers were built. This development resulted from
new ideas about the future of city centers.
Commercial land use was not expected to
continually expand out from the most accessible
location. Instead the old commercial areas were
redefined as residential areas. These new
neighborhoods grew very rapidly.
28
View of residential tower in gateway
redevelopment area. The new structures offered
spectacular views of the downtown and riverfront
and created a new neighborhood for young
professionals and empty-nesters.
29
This scene shows the building know as City Center
under construction. The building was the last
modern style building in downtown. Produced by
Oxford Development Corporation from Toronto, the
building proved to be very efficient, but its
design failed to spark much enthusiasm.
30
On of the great innovations of the Minneapolis
plan was the redevelopment of the warehouse
district. The great Butler Building became the
showpiece of the early efforts to revitalize this
area as an entertainment district for the entire
metro area. Thus, while the old red light and
cheap bar entertainment districts were left
alone, Hennepin was the victim of urban renewal a
new up-scale entertainment district was developed
on First Avenue.
31
The Butler Brothers Wholesale Hardware Company
built this building to solidify their hold on the
businesses of the upper Midwest. The redevelopers
gutted the building and exposed the fantastic
timber frame. The space was opened and offices
created in the upper floors restaurants and
shops occupied the lower levels. Butler Square
was to be the anchor for the redevelopment of the
entertainment district.
32
The new spaces made possible some creative
designs such as these interior window boxes.
33
This air view of downtown St. Paul indicates both
the strengths and weaknesses of the location. The
freeway had successfully cut the downtown off
from inner neighborhoods and the capital campus.
In addition, the old street pattern had been
preserved however, the picturesque views of the
river had not been maximized. This low-rise core
attracted a great deal of investment and renewal
programs during the three decades from the
mid-1960s to the end of the century.
34
This view shows us the "opportunity" of downtown
St. Paul. The St. Paul Companies would eventual
build new office headquarters on the surface
parking on the other side of Landmark Center. In
the process, a new exterior would be applied to
the old headquarters and the wondrous 1960s blue
would be lost. This area still has not been
developed to its potential.
35
Galtier Plaza under construction. This effort to
develop a new commercial and residential
community in Lower Town was made possible by
visions of city centers based on the experience
of Minneapolis and cities further east. However,
the building plan was too large for this
particular site, and the mall that was built did
not attract shoppers to this old warehouse
district. The building eventually changed hands
for ten cents on the dollar. The retail space has
been replaced with offices, though the
residential portion has always been popular.
36
Smith Park was renamed Meers Park, and it was the
initial booster of Lower Town. A hard edge urban
surface was installed in the park that was
thought to be a great match for the new high rise
structures. The park has since been rebuilt.
37
In some cases, the building of office blocks in
the suburbs seems to defy the logic of land
markets. These buildings are really not designed
to maximize income on small blocks of land, but
rather to be symbols surrounded by parking lots.
38
The freeway strips, or edge cities, are
developing a multiplicity of services and closely
resemble the historic downtown. In addition to
shopping and office facilities, hotels and
entertainment complexes have been built in edge
cities.
39
In an effort to revitalize downtown St. Paul, the
administration of Mayor George Latimer worked
with the State Government, then lead by Governor
Rudy Perpich, to establish a World Trade Center
in Downtown St. Paul. The site selected was a lot
that had been cleared for urban development but
remained vacant for a decade. The general plan
was to use this World Trade Corporation to
promote new trade connections between Minnesota
businesses and organizations around the world.
The building was expected to house a variety of
corporations engaged in trade and other services.
This is an excellent example of how local
governments worked to stimulate economic
development in downtowns by finding new
functions.
40
This is the base of the World Trade Center under
construction. The sign indicates the change in
land value. Land that was used for a surface
parking lot was converted to a first-class office
high rise.
41
This view down Fifth Street shows two other
public-private efforts intended to save the
downtown and find new functions as the
traditional downtown functions moved to suburban
malls. The Ordway Music Theater on the right was
developed primarily by private funds. It reflects
the trend toward making downtowns entertainment
and cultural centers instead of retailing and
business centers. In the background, the building
known as Landmark Towers can be seen. This
structure was built by the St. Paul Port
Authority to lease to American Hoist and Derrick
or Am Hoist. Am Hoist wanted a corporate
headquarters but could not afford to build a
signature building. After leasing space for a
while, the company moved to Denver. This building
has continued to provide space to both corporate
tenants and residential units on the highest
floors.
42
Ordway music theater
43
The St Paul Union Depot has attracted a variety
of developers. The massive façade and interior
impress visitors but provide somewhat inflexible
spaces. Presently, restaurants occupy the main
hall. The concourses, or waiting areas, have been
used from time to time to house special
exhibitions but have no permanent tenant.
44
Commercial redevelopment and gentrification
displaced many low income workers from affordable
housing in downtown. This building was remodeled
to provide a type of apartment known as "single
room occupancy."
45
The restoration of Landmark Center was the spark
needed to begin the revitalization of the Rice
Park District. However, the commercial power in
this part of the city is the St. Paul Companies
(The St. Paul) world headquarters. This
corporation, together with the Minnesota Mutual
Insurance Company and Lawson Software, dominate
both the skyline and the business culture.
46
In order to maintain the accessibility of
downtown, the city government worked with the
Minnesota Highway Department to create a new exit
from east-bound I-94 that allows for a an easy
entry into the western side of downtown. This is
an example of people changing the relative
location of a place to make it competitive in a
new transportation or technologic era.
47
The Falls of St. Anthony. The old industrial
functions of the river banks at the falls have
diminished and the site is being redeveloped as
an entertainment and residential district. The
history and spectacular landscape attracts
visitors from far and wide. The old Stone Arch
Bridge has been converted to a pedestrian route
and provides extraordinary views of the Falls and
the old milling district.
48
The view of the Minneapolis Central Business
District (CBD) from the east bank of the river
gives an impression of a "work in progress." The
Minneapolis City Government and the downtown
business community have worked hard to create a
critical mass of buildings and supportive
institutions to attract and maintain corporate
headquarters in the historic core.
49
Another view of the redevelopment of downtown
Minneapolis
50
The downtown plan for Minneapolis called for
several key features. It was to become a
"high-rise downtown" with distinctive buildings.
A large convention center and hotel complex would
be built. Freeways would bring workers and
visitors into a series of large parking ramps on
the fringe of the CBD. Skyways would be used to
create a pedestrian district within the downtown.
51
The Loring Greenway provided a spine for the
development of new condominiums and apartments
near the fringe of downtown. This was done in
response to the idea of creating a new
neighborhood in the city center. In many ways,
this was a rejection of the older models of urban
change which called for only low income
households close to the city core. Some argued
that high income households would not move into
these buildings because of the Minnesotan taste
for lakes and suburbs. The nay-sayers were proven
wrong this area provides enormous vitality to
the city.
52
The creation of a new neighborhood in the city
core did not slow down the rate of urban
expansion. A variety of communities were built on
the fringe. In addition to large single-family
houses on large lots, small homes were built as
well as apartments, quad homes and other higher
density buildings. These quad homes are in West
Bloomington
53
This building, named Edinburgh, represents
another style of development. In response to the
dictates of winter-city design, this building was
constructed to combine residential buildings, an
office tower, and a park, thereby limiting the
needs to move outside the structure during
inclement weather.
54
The increased accessibility of the freeway
created new phenomenon sometimes referred to as
"edge cities." The office functions that were
concentrated in the city center during the
streetcar and early automobile eras moved to
freeway intersections. Here the corporations
could attract workers from the growing suburbs
and build signature buildings that could be seen
by thousands of highway commuters each day.
55
This is the development of Anderson Lakes, the
last open land along the south belt way (near
Southdale). The area was used as a gravel pit to
building the many structures of the southwest
sector of the metro area. Finally it became too
valuable to leave undeveloped.
56
Another view of the suburban development process
near Southdale