St. Paul ‘outsider’ wants to reshape city’s downtown
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Great article in the Dec. 4 Pioneer Press on the mysterious Dean D. Johnson, the St. Paul boy who grew up in the Dayton’s Bluff and Payne-Phalen neighborhoods, graduated from Hamline University and then went to Europe. He made a lot of money and now fashions himself a developer. And get this — he loves talented architects.
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Sooch on developer Dean D. Johnson Continue Reading Condos, condos, condos … empty, uncompleted, scratched|Business reporters in the Twin Cities have written a lot about the sagging condominium and housing markets in recent days. We point you to a small inventory of their work in this post. On October 3, the Twin Cities Business Journal said the “Condo market may become overbuilt,” which isn’t exactly saying it’s overbuilt now, but isn’t a positive sign either. Continue Reading Lineup set for Historic Milwaukee Avenue Home Tour|My neighbors and I are throwing a party. On Sunday, Sept. 23, we’ll be hosting the first-ever Historic Milwaukee Avenue Home Tour. It’s your chance to peek inside 1890s workman’s cottages and other cool, old houses. It’s also a chance for me to answer once and for all the questions I’m frequently asked while lounging on my front porch on Milwaukee Avenue, a street that doesn’t allow cars. Those questions include: How did this happen? How old are these houses? What are they like inside? Do these houses ever go up for sale? Continue Reading Guthrie Theater: Love it or hate it?|Well, it’s been around long enough now for most of us to form an opinion, reconsider that opinion and perhaps, form a new opinion. St. Paul: Pretty vacant|Rising foreclosure rates and the usual urban woes are prompting St. Paul to address the issue of unoccupied homes and businesses. As of Aug. 1, the city lists 1,198 vacant properties, mostly single-family homes and duplexes. The Star Tribune reports that Mayor Chris Coleman wants to spend $25 million to fix up abandoned buildings in Frogtown, Dayton’s Bluff, Lower East Side and the North End. From impound lot to housing?|Like many other reporters in town, I spent a big chunk of the last week covering the collapse of the I-35W bridge (here, here and here). That’s probably why I missed a potentially important development/architecture story. On Aug. 2, the Star Tribune reported that Minneapolis wants to sell 56 acres of land near its impound lot on the edge of downtown. Three developers came forward with plans: Ryan Companies, James Dayton Design and Investment Property Services. Ryan and Dayton propose to build housing on the site; IPS wants to construct an international aquatic center. Continue Reading 3-2-1 blastoff!|Brackett Park, an unpretentious getaway tucked into the Longfellow neighborhood of Minneapolis, had been long been known as “rocket park.” From 1962-2004, a metal rocket was the park’s centerpiece. Children, including my two boys, regularly climbed the rocket’s ladder into an imaginary playland filled with dreams of outer space and exploration.
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