Full steam ahead for Minneapolis’ Gateway Tower

Originally published at www.bizjournals.com

Yesterday, in a unanimous decision, the Minneapolis Zoning and Planning Committee overruled numerous conditions placed on the proposed $300-million downtown Gateway Tower development. This result came after executives from its developer, United Properties, informed city planning officials last week that the city’s decision to block key changes to the development put the entire project in jeopardy. The changes were blocked last November as a condition to the development receiving preliminary city approval.

This decision is a big win for both developers and the city. The developers, who have experienced a year of design challenges and delays, can now move forward multi-million dollar project. Meanwhile the city had a large motivation to eliminate many of the conditions in order to put the project back on track, as it owns the surface parking lot where the project will be built. The proposed changes initially rejected include a sign at the top of the 37-story tower for its anchor tenant and a covered hotel vehicle entrance.

The proposed building will be located at the corner of Hennepin and Washington avenues in the home of the former Nicollet Hotel, and is set to include a Four Seasons hotel featuring 280 rooms, over 53,000 square feet of office space anchored by RBC, 22 condo units, and 455 underground parking stalls.

This project highlights the difficulty and delays involved with managing city regulations on new multi-million dollar development projects. However, with the right legal help and proper due diligence, developers can plan accordingly and reduce some of the barriers they may experience in working with city officials.