New Proposal for 600 Main Street fails to win staff, Planning Commission support

For the second time in three months, on June 8th, the Minneapolis Planning Commission rejected a proposal to turn 600 Main Street SE into housing.

The revised proposal, also known as Stone Arch II, would build a six story, 79 unit residential building on a site at the northern end of the historic Stone Arch Bridge.

Complicating the bid is that fact that the parcel was designated as a future park space in the pending update to the Minneapolis Comprehensive Plan. That update will have the force of law as soon as it is approved by the Metropolitan Council. Once the Comprehensive Plan update is in effect, securing zoning allowances for new development on the site will be much more difficult.

While the City staff recommended support for the previous project, they are opposed to the current proposal. The central concern for staff is the appropriateness of the projects density and intensity of use on the site. The staff report summarized their approach to the project:

Absent a specific plan to purchase private property for a park, staff has to consider existing property rights and how the policies relate to a development that is allowed under existing zoning. Based on those facts a multi-family development on this parcel is in conformance with the adopted comprehensive plan, but the density is not in conformance with the comprehensive plan.

Density, and more generally the intensity of use on the site, is also a core concern for Friends of the Mississippi River. FMR believes the sites location between the parkway and river, at the end of the Stone Arch Bridge, outside a higher-intensity community activity center all argue for limits on development intensity and density.

Instead, the developers are seeking exemptions from the existing zoning for their site: a conditional use permit to increase the allowable units from 56 to 79 units on the site, a conditional use permit to increase the height from 4 to 6 stories, and a variance to reduce the minimum lot area per unit by 30 percent.

If they deny the conditional use permit, they can be guaranteed to be in litigation with us, Steve Minn of Lupe development told Finance and Commerce."