NEW RENDERINGS RELEASED FOR UNITED PROPERTIES GATEWAY PROJECT

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The time has finally come for United Properties’ Gateway mixed-use tower to rise and with that comes new renderings.

Site prep has officially begun at the site located at the corner of Third Street and Nicollet (or Washington Avenue S and Hennepin Avenue depending on how you look at it). What once was a full city block of surface parking will soon give way to a new 36 story mixed-use tower complete with office and retail space along with the Four Seasons Hotel & Private Residences.

YEARS IN THE MAKING

If you’ve been following this project with us then you already know it has been in the works for years.

With the project going through a number of design changes throughout the years, and especially this past year, it had become somewhat unclear as to what the the final design might actually look like.

Well, good news. With the recent confirmation that the Four Seasons Hotel & Private Residences will open within the building we do know that the project will truly be mixed-use.

With those details having now been solidified United Properties has posted updated renderings of the project on their website and we’ve got them right here for you to feast your eyes on.

EXTERIOR DESIGN CHANGES

While much fo the building’s mass has stayed the same since its most recent proposals we do see a change in some of the exterior materials being used in the newest renderings. It now looks like that the tower podium (base) will be clad in what appears to be metal rather than what appeared to be stone in the previous renderings. The new renderings also show a slight increase in the use of glass within the podium area.

Overall the color tones have also been changed from what originally looked to be a warmer pallet to a much cooler palette of grays and chromes.

In the rendering below we also see the recently agreed upon porte cochere located off of Hennepin Avenue. This area will serve as the main entrance to the building.

FLOOR BY FLOOR BREAKOUT

Now let’s take a moment to see how the space within the building shook out.

The ground floor, as mentioned above, will feature the porte cochere that will provide access to the lobbies for the Four Seasons Hotel & Residences, the office space and anchor tenant RBC Wealth Management, along with the retail space.

Three spaces have been designated as retail on the ground floor of the building. RBC will open a bank branch within a 2,150 square foot retail space facing S Washington Avenue. There is also a 5,428 square foot restaurant space and a 1,523 square foot retail space located off of Nicollet.

The second floor of the building will house back of house space for the hotel along with two skyway connections. One would lead to the Minneapolis Central Library and the other to Marquette Plaza.

Floor three of the building will be home to a 6,900 square foot ballroom, a junior ballroom, four meeting rooms, a board room, admin space, restrooms and pre-function space.

Floor four of the project will be home to the hotel amenities which will include an indoor/outdoor pool. a fitness center, large spa and large outdoor terrace complete with bar.

Floors five through 21 will be home to 532,340 square feet of office space. RBC Wealth Management will occupy 370,000 square feet of that office space, which makes them the anchor of the project. With such a commitment the company will also receive space for their logo at the top of the building facing the downtown skyline.

Floor 22 will be strictly mechanical space.

Floors 23-32 will be home to the Four Seasons Hotel and its 280 rooms.

Floors 33-36 will be home to the Four Seasons Private Residences which will feature 22 condo units. The smallest condo unit is planned to be around 1,700 square feet with the largest unit coming in at around 6,635 square feet. Every unit within the building will have access to one of two private outdoor balcony spaces. The largest unit mentioned above will also have a stunning 1,055 square foot terrace that has pristine views of the Mississippi River.

LAST BUT NOT LEAST, THE GREEN SPACE

We’ve talked a lot about what is inside the Gateway project, but now let’s talk about whats on the outside.

The corner of S Washington Avenue and Nicollet will feature a large outdoor plaza with multiple seating areas, green spaces and art pieces. The space also will be adjacent to a large outdoor dining area for the restaurant space.

The plaza area was required to be left somewhat vacant so that if in the future the city of Minneapolis decides to construct the Nicollet Central Modern Streetcar system it can run through the site connecting Nicollet Mall and Hennepin Avenue.

McGough is the GC for the Gateway project while United Properties is the developer. Completion of the Gateway project will begin to occur in late 2021 when RBC is expected to move into their new office space.