Last update: April 22, 2006 - 12:29 PM
Condo-hotel project near Guthrie is another step closer to approval
The Downtown Minneapolis Neighborhood Association recently approved Minneapolis-based Sherman Associates' plans for a new condo-hotel combination to be built within a block of the new Guthrie Theater along the Mississippi River, which is scheduled to open this summer. Sherman Associates is seeking final approval with the City Council and hopes to break ground in September.
Aimee Blanchette, Star Tribune
The Downtown Minneapolis Neighborhood Association recently approved Minneapolis-based Sherman Associates' plans for a new condo-hotel combination to be built within a block of the new Guthrie Theater along the Mississippi River, which is scheduled to open this summer. Sherman Associates is seeking final approval with the City Council and hopes to break ground in September.
"The Guthrie has really put some cachet in the neighborhood," said Brian Gorecki, project manager with Sherman Associates. "It's probably one of the best sites in the city with park views and unobstructed views of the river. We're excited about doing something different that will also fit within the Mill District."
The project, named Zenith, is part of a nationwide trend toward pairing hotels with condos, so that condo residents can have access to the same benefits as hotel guests, such as a concierge service, health club and pool, housekeeping, meeting rooms and linen service.
Zenith will consist of three buildings: a five-story, 156-room hotel and two nine-story condo buildings with 67 units. Sherman Associates is scheduled to close this week on the first parcel of land, currently home to Precision Powerhouse recording studio at 911 S. 2nd St.. The firm hopes to close by June on the second parcel, a Washington Avenue surface parking lot owned by the Hennepin County Rail Authority.
Sherman Associates is confident that the hotel-condo combination will do well, judging from the initial success it has seen with 311 Superior, a Sheraton hotel and luxury condo project under construction in Duluth. Sheraton is a brand of New York-based Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc., which also is responsible for Ivy Hotel + Residences, a high-rise residential tower and a mid-rise hotel tower, under construction in downtown Minneapolis.
The Zenith condos will range from 782 to 2,000 square feet and from $250,000 to $800,000; however, more than half the units are priced at less than $400,000 and 30 percent are less than $300,000. "Feedback told us it had become too expensive to live in this area. We wanted to make it accessible to the younger market, too, so we were really committed to having more lower-priced units," Gorecki said.
The plans also call for about 4,000 square feet of retail space at the corner of 10th Av. S. and Washington Av. There will be office space or restaurant space on the ground floor of the first condo building, which Sherman Associates hopes to start building in September and complete by late 2007. The second condo building will be completed shortly after.
Aimee Blanchette • 612-673-1712
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