SHERMAN ASSOCIATES' PLANS FOR 23-STORY TOWER MOVING FORWARD

The latest plans for 240 Portland Avenue were approved unanimously by the Minneapolis Planning Commission earlier this week. The approval sets the stage for construction to begin later this fall.

Sherman Associates is the Developer behind the project that will eat up what today is three sites, two of which are parking lots with the other being home to a fire station.

THE PROJECT

In total, the development consists of three different buildings. The biggest part of the project will be a 23-story mixed-use tower at the corner of Washington Avenue and Portland Avenue that will include 238 market-rate apartments and 5,534 square feet of retail space. At the corner of 3rd Street S and Portland Avenue there will be a seven-story residential building with 90 affordable apartments. Last but not least, at the corner of 3rd St S and 5th Avenue S there will be a two-story, 20,000 square foot fire station.

The three buildings will be connected and wrap around an above ground six-story parking facility that will include 316 parking spaces. In addition, there will be two levels of underground parking that will stretch beneath all three buildings with space for 226 vehicles.

BUILDING DETAILS

The 23-story mixed-use building will feature studio, alcove, one-bedroom, one-bedroom + den, two-bedroom and two-bedroom + den units along with a number of amenities. Located on the ground floor will be a lobby, mail area, package room, work from home suites, a bike repair, a pet spa and an outdoor pet run. On level two there will be a fitness center with a separate break out room and restrooms. Level seven will include an indoor clubroom and entertainment space, restrooms and a large outdoor terrace with a pool, grilling stations, lounge areas and a fire pit. Level 22 will also include amenity space and will feature a large indoor sky room and a sizable outdoor terrace facing Washington Avenue.

The seven-story building will feature studio, one-bedroom and two-bedroom layouts with rent for the units priced at 60% of the area median income. Amenities within the building will all be located on the ground floor and will include a large lobby, mail room, fitness center, and two bike storage rooms.

The third building will be the two-story fire station. The ground floor of the new station will include multiple apparatus bays with space for four vehicles. Also located on the ground floor will be workrooms, restrooms, a day room and a few other spaces. The second floor will be home to the kitchen, dining space, offices, sleep quarters, locker rooms, fitness center, restrooms and an outdoor patio.

CONSTRUCTION

Frana Companies has been selected as the General Contractor for 240 Portland Avenue.

When construction begins this fall the first thing that will need to happen is for work to begin on the new fire station. The reason why is that the existing fire station that sits at the corner of 3rd Street S and Portland Avenue will need to be demolished in order to make way for the seven-story residential building. Construction on the total project is anticipated to last into 2022.

DESIGN

ESG Architecture & Design is responsible for the design of 240 Portland Avenue. The 23-story tower will feature a modern design and include floor-to-ceiling windows and recessed balconies and will be clad in black and white metal paneling. The seven-story building will feature a more traditional design and will include large industrial styled windows and be clad in brick, cast stone along with metal and painted fiber cement paneling. The two-story firehouse will have a modern design and will be clad in brick, copper paneling and red metal paneling.

Damon Farber Landscape Architects is working on the landscape design for the project while Sunde Engineering are the Civil Engineers and Meyer Borgman Johnson the Structural Engineers.

Work on 240 Portland Avenue is anticipated to begin in Fall 2020 and is expected to be complete in 2022.