STrib Op-Ed: Save Dinkytown

[ilovethebarn]

Companies like Opus, CPM, etc. are just cashing in on the student housing bug. They build these flashy apartments and students gush over them even though the prices are through the roof. Rent for a studio alone in these units start at $1,000. For those of you that say the students with well off families will be the ones moving in - I would disagree. The more likely scenario is a student is taking out larger student loans to pay for housing and leaving them with way more debt when they graduate than anticipated.

It used to be an apartment near campus would cost less than living in the dorms. Now that is most likely not the case. These "luxury" apartments are increasing taxes of older buildings, which drives up rent. Furthermore these buildings typically aren't "built right" as you assume. Contractors will cut corners to design average, or sub par buildings to lower construction costs, all while charging students more in rent. These buildings also charge higher rates to rent out commercial space at street level, so impacted businesses can't afford to move back in. The result is you will end up with a Dinkytown and a Stadium village that feel incredibly generic. There will be a huge lack of character for the area. Not to mention, most of these apartment buildings are not operating at full occupancy during the year.

+1 million

 

[tikited]

let's just leave Annie's alone and we'll all be cool.

Mmmmmmm! Chocolate and banana malt.

 

[RailBaronYarr]

No one wrote anything close to the bolded part. I wrote that there are plenty of vacancies all over the place. Which complex do you want to live in? I bet you can.

I'm sure this project will be a smashing success. I hope it stops (which it won't) before it spreads and all we have is condos/dorms with little store fronts on the bottom. I personally don't care for them, but oh well.

Lastly, it is far from just the Gateway district that has found itself in front of the wrecking ball. You seem to have some past history knowledge, so I'm betting you already know that.

I love that when someone is passionate about something the immediate reaction of people with opposing viewpoints is to assume that they have a dog in the fight somehow. Why else would they be so supportive!? (note, we're on a message board for Gopher Football where most members have no tie to the sport other than we are casual fans, possibly alumni of the U, yet people are very passionate about the ins and outs of collegiate sports)

Yes, there are plenty of vacancies! Just like at the supermarket you can walk in and grab a loaf of bread right off the shelf. Neither of which means apartments in walkable, urban areas close to amenities or loafs of bread aren't in high demand. Only that smart business owners don't run out of the product they're selling. Likewise, a city would do well to price all of its on-street parking such that at any given time there is 1 spot open per block.

DLguy's point is that in the past, we forgot our history in favor of massive freeways, exit ramps, parking lots, and crappy strip mall developments, even in our most valuable areas like downtown or near the chain of lakes. This particular development does the exact opposite - replacing mostly a surface parking lot with housing and commercial space that maximizes the utility of the land value (at this point in time - in 50 years perhaps Dinkytown will be so desirable to live in that 4 Chateaus would be financially possible). And my point of architectural opinions is not to point out exactly what floats your boat, but to say that calling these new apartment/condos "ugly" is not a valid reason to oppose them. Fighting the urban form of a building (does it leave a giant blank wall facing the street, etc) is a valid conversation to have.

 

[16FeetUnder]

I would like to know what Gopherdrummer meant by these buildings not being "built right". Understand that contractors typically don't design anything, OPUS being a big exception since they employ their own design teams. I am in the industry and have personally been to numerous construction sites of projects just like the proposed project in the dinkytown area. I typically see contractors being more and more concerned about "building it right" the first time to save money in the long term. These buildings all come with warranties for a couple of years, so the contractor needs to go back and fix things if it wasn't done well the first time. In addition, local building officials are getting more knowledgable and will force them to change something if not done properly, not to mention the design team's oversight.

 

[MaxyJR1]

I'd say that there are more non-chain restaurants than chains. This notion that students need more housing is a joke.

It is not about a need for housing, it is about the University wanting the student body closer to or on campus. It means money, community and maybe more students at football games. Get'r done. Recruits/students don't care about Williams arena or Al's, they like TCF stadium and Chipotle.

Now if they expand to Sporty's they have crossed the line.

 

[tikited]

It is not about a need for housing, it is about the University wanting the student body closer to or on campus. It means money, community and maybe more students at football games. Get'r done. Recruits/students don't care about Williams arena or Al's, they like TCF stadium and Chipotle.

Now if they expand to Sporty's they have crossed the line.

I think it has been shown that the students don't care about TCF stadium.