We're reading the headlines so you don't have to.

From how the upcoming solar eclipse on April 8th might interrupt solar power generation to a proposed 48-unit apartment in Burnsville to tree ordinances in Edina, here's what was buzzing in the building world the week of March 11 - 15, 2024:
 

FLASH FROM THE PAST

A Glassy Office Tower Project is Being Marketed for Downtown Minneapolis
The site of the former Wells Fargo operations center in downtown Minneapolis could look like this, if Sherman Associates has its way. Sherman and JLL have begun marketing the project, called Washington Yards, to prospective tenants so they can eventually break ground on what would be a full city block redevelopment. The project would include two residential towers to complement the office building, which would stand 16-stories and have 400,000-square-feet. (2-5-2024 | Axios Twin Cities)
 

MARCH 11

April's eclipse could interrupt solar power generation, strain electrical grids
During the most recent total eclipse visible in the U.S., on August 21, 2017, the skies darkened as the Moon crossed in front of the sun. It blocked out all sunlight --- except for that from a golden ring visible around the Moon's shape, called the corona. Not surprisingly, solar power generation across North America plummets for several hours, from the first moment the Moon began to obscure the sun to when the sun's disk was clear again. On April 8, 2024, another total eclipse will track across the U.S., causing perhaps an even greater loss of solar power generation. Although this will be the second total solar eclipse visible in the U.S. in under seven years, these events are a rare occurrence. Nevertheless, they present a unique challenge to power grid operations. (Finance & Commerce)
 

Playwrights' Center will spend $18M on move to St Paul
Playwrights' Center has been in the Deward neighborhood of Minneapolis for about 45 years serving storytellers and audiences. It's soon set to move to St. Paul to usher in a new era for the building at 710 Raymond Avenue, a property with a history of family and horses. The site was most recently home to Viking Industrial Center, a retailer for contractors. It's not a likely match --- and the move is going to cost Playwrights' Center (PWC) about $18-million in public and private funds. (Minneapolis / St Paul Business Journal)
 

Power co-ops receive $87M in USDA loans
The United States Department of Agriculture announced an $87.6-million investment in Greater Minnesota electricity cooperatives, which will go toward line repairs, grid technology updating and connecting further consumers to reliable electricity, according to a press release. The funds are part of the Electric Infrastructure Loan and Guarantee Program, which announced $2.2-billion worth of investment throughout the country. The loan will cover the costs of construction for about four or five years, Runestone Electric Association CEO Al Haman said. Runestone, based in Alexandria, regularly applies for and receives these loans, Haman said, and this year was awarded $25-million. (Finance & Commerce)
 

MARCH 12

Buried Risks: Protecting Underground Utilities During Construction
A potential disaster is lurking under American streets and soil, and it only takes one misstep for lives to be on the line. Every few minutes, an underground utility line is damaged by excavation activity, putting public safety at risk, disconnecting communities and businesses from vital services, and impacting the economy to the tune of $30-billion annually. (For Construction Pros)
 

More Construction Projects are Being Delayed or Abandoned Entirely
The number of U.S. construction projects that are being abandoned, paused or seeing a delayed bid date was up 1.7% over the last month for the week ending March 2, according to ConstructConnect. Fourteen percent more public projects, which includes infrastructure work, are on hold compared to the same week in 2023, ConstructConnect reports. On the private side, 9% more projects are on hold. Perhaps most alarmingly, the number of abandoned public projects jumped 70% compared to the same week in 2023. (BisNow National)
 

REPORT: Inefficient permitting delays clean energy projects
Slow and inefficient permitting is creating headwinds for the development of new wind, solar and transmission projects in Minnesota and making it harder to achieve clean energy goals. So says a new report from North Star Policy Action, which describes itself as an independent research and communications institute. The report finds that Minnesota has fallen behind Iowa and the Dakotas in clean energy production --- even though those neighboring states don't share Minnesota's aggressive goals for carbon-free energy. (Finance & Commerce)
 

MARCH 13

DEED seeks applications for broadband grants
The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development is accepting applications for $50-million in broadband development grants. DEED Commissioner Mark Varilek said in a statement that the grants will benefit "thousands of Minnesotans" who don't have broadband service. DEED announced funding for 24 broadband projects in early March. (Finance & Commerce)
 

Minnesota gets $7M from Feds for infrastructure
The funding, announced by the White House, includes $3.6-million for a Hennepin County-led Highway 55 project, $1.8-million for Interstate 35 in Duluth, and $1.6-million for the Sixth Avenue North corridor in Minneapolis. The money is "aimed at reconnecting communities that were cut off by transportation infrastructure decades ago, leaving entire neighborhoods without direct access to opportunity, like schools, jobs, medical offices, and places of worship," according to a White House press release. (Finance & Commerce)
 

Infrastructure Bids Exceed Estimate at The Heights
Nearly $30-million worth of infrastructure work for The Heights --- an ambitious redevelopment of the former Hillcrest Golf Course in St. Paul --- has a higher-than-expected price, as construction bids are about $4-million above the engineer's estimates. The Saint Paul Authority recently opened four contractor bids for the work, including East Bethel-based Designing Earth Contracting's apparent low of $28.85-million. The estimate range was $22-million to $24.5-million, according to Port Authority documents. Also bidding was Forest Lake Contracting ($33.1-million), Meyer Contracting ($33.38-million), and RL Larson Excavation ($35.67-million). (Finance & Commerce)
 

MWF plans 48-unit apartment in Burnsville
The project will be developed by MWF Properties and is located at 180 Pillsbury Avenue South. It will be four stories tall and have a mix of one-, two-, and three-bedroom units. The building, dubbed Pillsbury Ridge Apartments, will also include a "tot lot" or a surface play area for children. The property will include an underground garage with 48 stalls and 20 surface lot stalls. (Finance & Commerce)
 

New Construction Technology Releases: March 2024
As spring construction season begins, staying on top of new tech trends is important to builders looking to maximize output and slash costs. Here are five recent announcements from software makers and other tech providers about new offerings or updates to existing products that are designed to smooth out construction for contractors. These five announcements include Leica Geosystems, digital twin creator Matterport, Cintoo and its new "teleport camera," IDS GeoRadar, and autonomous heavy equipment retrofitter SafeAI. (Construction Dive)
 

Redevelopment of riot-stricken Wells Fargo site in Minneapolis to begin this spring
The project, led by a partnership between Minneapolis-based Project for Pride in Living Inc. and San Francisco's Wells Fargo & Co., is poised to build 110 affordable housing units with 14,400-square-feet of ground-floor commercial space, including a new Wells Fargo bank branch and space for businesses owned by people of color. The site is located at 3030 Nicollet Avenue, just off of West Lake Street. A $61-million plan, the now-leveled Wells Fargo branch was damaged during a riot after the murder of George Floyd and construction is expected to begin this spring. (Minneapolis - St Paul Business Journal)
 

REPORT: Office-to-apartment projects are key to St. Paul downtown revival
A group of St. Paul business leaders say the city must refocus downtown on pedestrian life and step up redevelopment projects --- especially office-to-apartment conversions --- if it wants to revitalize Minnesota's capital city. The recommendations from the St. Paul Downtown Alliance came as part of a 126-page report, titled "Downtown Investment Strategy." (Minneapolis - St Paul Business Journal)
 

Upgrades coming to Hennepin and First Avenues
With help from mild weather, crews will begin pre-construction activities this month, according to the county. Workers will "remove some trees along the sidewalks, and install temporary signal poles to prepare for upgraded pedestrian crossings," the county said. Scheduled for completion this fall, the project will improve Hennepin and First avenues from Main Street to Eighth Street in northeast Minneapolis. The improvements will benefit people who "walk, bike, roll, use transit, ride, and drive," the county said. (Finance & Commerce)
 

MARCH 14

Developer plans affordable rentals, grocery west of downtown Minneapolis
Real estate investor James Archer of Matrix Development is planning to build an 86-unit affordable apartment building in Northwest Minneapolis, possibly with a grocery store. In a released memo, Minneapolis public documents identified Matrix Development as the "emerging" developer that was given exclusive rights to develop the city-owned vacant property at 2113 Glenwood Avenue. The project is still in the early phases, but the plan is to build 86-units at or below 50% of the area's median income. There will be 14 one-bedroom, 39 two-bedroom, 18 three-bedroom, and 10 four-bedroom units. (Minneapolis - St Paul Business Journal)
 

Edina Planning Commission pushes back on France Avenue Redevelopment Plan
Southdale Office Partners, which owns the 22-acre site at 6600 to 6800 France Avenue South, wants the city to rezone the property from Planned Unit Development to Planned Commercial District to allow for the 107,000-square-foot medical building, along with an 8,000-square-foot restaurant and a parking deck. By a 6-2 vote, Edina's Planning Commission recommended denial of the request amid concerns about bicycle and pedestrian access and tree removal to make way for a parking structure on the site. (Finance & Commerce)
 

Johnson Bros. Pulls Out of Plan for Eagan's Blue Cross Blue Shield Site
The city of Eagan received a notice from the St. Paul-based wine and spirits distributor (Johnson Bros. Liquor Co.) that it was withdrawing its application for redevelopment and a comprehensive guide amendment for the site, which would have been the firm's new corporate headquarters. The company determined the site isn't the best fit for its expected future needs, Johnson Bros. said in a statement provided to the Pioneer Press. It's now exploring other options in the metro, including St. Paul. (Minneapolis-St Paul Business Journal)
 

Legislative Auditor Report Calls for More Coordination to Prevent Worker Misclassification
A new report from the Minnesota Office of the Legislative Auditor finds that the state lacks a "coordinated approach" to preventing employers from misclassifying workers as independent contractors. Worker misclassification, which is prohibited by state law, allows employers to reduce labor costs and gain an unfair competitive advantage in the marketplace, according to the OLA report. Misclassification rates in Minnesota are unknown, the report says. (Finance & Commerce)
 

Mortenson to Build $800M Meta Data Center in Rosemount
Golden Valley-based Mortenson has been tapped to build the 715,000-square-foot project on a 280-acre site at UMore Park in Rosemount, a former WWII gunpowder production site that was later owned by the University of Minnesota. Governor Walz and other state leaders confirmed the mega project, and the announcement comes after months of media reports and speculation about a mystery company's plans to build a large data center at UMore Park. (Finance & Commerce)
 

Storm Washes Away $600K of Sand Meant to Protect Nearby Infrastructure
A Massachusetts beach community is scrambling after a weekend storm washed away $600,000 in sand that was trucked in to protect homes, roads and other infrastructure. The project, which brought 14,000-tons of sand into Salisbury over several weeks, was completed just three days before Sunday's storm clobbered southern New England with strong winds, heavy rainfall and coastal flooding. (Finance & Commerce)
 

MARCH 15

Michael Foods Buys Gaylord Apartments
When Hopkins-based Michael Foods Inc. had trouble finding and keeping workers at its plant in Gaylord, the problem was that some of those workers couldn't find affordable housing. So Michael paid $2-million to buy the 48-unit Gaylord Villas at 10 Eighth Street. Depot 1881 LLC, an entity of Michael Foods, bought the property from Gaylord Villa LLC, an entity of Babinski Properties in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. (Finance & Commerce)
 

Tree Ordinances in Edina, Minnetonka Raising Ire of Developers, Homebuilders
When homebuilder Rebecca Remick was recently finalizing plans to construct a new house in Edina, she and her client were slapped with an unexpected fee from the city: a $19,000 deposit for permission to tear down a 35-foot tree in the way of the project. Remick, owner of Edina-based City Homes, was "stunned" by that dollar amount, she told the Edina City Council at a meeting last month. The homeowner had just become financially secure enough to make living in Edina a reality, but the newly discovered requirement made the dream of a perfect home more difficult to achieve. (Minneapolis - St Paul Business Journal)