Galtier Plaza
Encyclopedia
Galtier Plaza, located in the Lowertown historic district of St. Paul, Minnesota, provides space for working, living, eating, and recreating in a self-contained project on one square city block.

Features include 365 apartments, 121 luxury condominiums, 16 townhomes, a YMCA
YMCA
The Young Men's Christian Association is a worldwide organization of more than 45 million members from 125 national federations affiliated through the World Alliance of YMCAs...

 facility, 192000 square feet (17,837.4 m²) of retail
Retail
Retail consists of the sale of physical goods or merchandise from a fixed location, such as a department store, boutique or kiosk, or by mail, in small or individual lots for direct consumption by the purchaser. Retailing may include subordinated services, such as delivery. Purchasers may be...

 and restaurant
Restaurant
A restaurant is an establishment which prepares and serves food and drink to customers in return for money. Meals are generally served and eaten on premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services...

 space, 100000 square feet (9,290.3 m²) of office space, and an underground parking garage for 800 cars.

History

At that time the Lowertown Redevelopment Corporation, a non-profit coordinator of development in St. Paul's historic warehouse district, had sought to fill Block 40 for some three years. The site on Mears Park just east of the downtown business district represented the keystone in Lowertown's revitalization, and Lowertown Redevelopment Corporation's executive director Weiming Lu had patiently wooed developers with the concept of a mixed-use development and one eager tenant, the downtown YMCA
YMCA
The Young Men's Christian Association is a worldwide organization of more than 45 million members from 125 national federations affiliated through the World Alliance of YMCAs...

, in hand. "We wanted to carve something out of a concrete jungle to get people to come back to the city," says Lu.

Efforts to put together a project reusing existing properties on the block had fallen through, as had a modest proposal for housing and service retail by the Carley Capital Group of Madison, Wisconsin. The city had already secured an Urban Development Action Grant (UDAG) from the federal government for the Carley development, and called for new developers with a three month deadline looming. Boisclair and Omni Venture, Ltd. the developers of Minneapolis' International Market Square, responded with a proposal of considerably more ambition. With the UDAG in hand, potential for tax-exempt financing, and a loan from Lowertown Redevelopment Corporation, Robert Boisclair took on the development while Riverplace was barely underway.

Miller Hanson Westerbeck Bell's selection as architects for the project was almost a foregone conclusion. Not only had they done massing studies of Block 40 for the Lowertown Coproration to help entice developers, bu they had a history of designing housing for Boisclair which included Lakepoint Tower and the Falls and Pinnacle at Riverplace.

Galtier Plaza is named after Father Lucien Galtier, a Roman Catholic priest who has historical involvement with the founding of the city of St. Paul.

Design

But if securing the assignment was easy, executing it was not. Designing a project of such architectural, legal, and financial complexity on one square city block in a sensitive historic area is one of the toughest challenges an architect ever faces. The conflicting demands of a developer convinced of his understanding of the marketplace and a nonprofit corporation committed to preserving the historic integrity of Lowertown had to be compromised under the pressure of the fast track schedule required by the UDAG. In the meantime, the economic climate was swinging from inflation to recession.

Galtier, in fact, was not designed once, but dozens of times. Construction was begun with minimal architectural plans and minimal budgets. Decisions were made when they had to be made, or sometimes afterwards. Wild swings in the economy changed the project's mix while construction was underway. "Originally we had more office space," says Mike Conlin, project manager with the Boisclair Corporation, "but the office market sagged, so we redesigned to build more rental housing within the same total volume. We also reversed the balance between condos and apartments. All this was happening while they were pouring columns for the parking ramps."

The location and form of the architectural elements was the subject of intense negotiation between the developer, the city and Lowertown Corporation. In addition, the financial partnerships involved in the project had to be expressed architecturally so that ownership of the complex could be physically divided. "There are baroque vertical relationships," says Steve Townsend of St. Paul's planning and economic development department, "that almost defy description."

The massing of the several elements on the block was the most important. The need to have a six-story base along the street front to maintain the cornice
Cornice
Cornice molding is generally any horizontal decorative molding that crowns any building or furniture element: the cornice over a door or window, for instance, or the cornice around the edge of a pedestal. A simple cornice may be formed just with a crown molding.The function of the projecting...

 of the surrounding six-story buildings was dictated by historic and design considerations. The decision to fill out the block to the maximum met economic goals.

From those givens, it was a long and tortuous route to a final design.

The housing, originally proposed as one corner tower cascading to the base, was instead split between two towers. The taller one, the Jackson Tower, falls just under Federal Aviation Administration
Federal Aviation Administration
The Federal Aviation Administration is the national aviation authority of the United States. An agency of the United States Department of Transportation, it has authority to regulate and oversee all aspects of civil aviation in the U.S...

 limits at 452 feet (137.8 m). The lower one, the Sibley Tower, is located 60 feet (18.3 m) back of the Mears Park facade to lessen its impact.

The atrium, which Lowertown saw as a soft form -- perhaps a barrel vault
Barrel vault
A barrel vault, also known as a tunnel vault or a wagon vault, is an architectural element formed by the extrusion of a single curve along a given distance. The curves are typically circular in shape, lending a semi-cylindrical appearance to the total design...

 -- beginning at the building line, became instead a gabled roof extruded beyond the building facade and stepping back to its seven-story peak. The developer wanted it to be 120 feet (36.6 m) wide. It was narrowed to 90.

The skyway
Skyway
In an urban setting, a skyway, catwalk, sky bridge, or skywalk is a type of pedway consisting of an enclosed or covered bridge between two buildings. This protects pedestrians from the weather. These skyways are usually owned by businesses, and are therefore not public spaces...

 linking Galtier Plaza and the Farm Credit Bank toward downtown was proposed as a "festive" design with gabled peaks, lots of glass, and cream and red aluminum trim to match Galtier's. Lowertown's Weiming Lu and the city planning staff stood fast for the standard Vierendeel truss
Truss
In architecture and structural engineering, a truss is a structure comprising one or more triangular units constructed with straight members whose ends are connected at joints referred to as nodes. External forces and reactions to those forces are considered to act only at the nodes and result in...

 and bronze aluminum. After three years and countless discussions, only a meeting in the city council chambers brought a compromise. The skyway has more glass than most, gabled skylights and cream-colored trim, but uses the standard truss.

Some of the decisions still rankle Weiming Lu, who is nationally known for his expertise on blending old and new designs. "All the parts of the project did not achieve the level of excellence we would like. Interior details could be handled better. The tops of the towers are not so good. I am not convinced that the changes in the typical skyway design were worth it.

"But as a whole, I'm very satisfied. It succeeds in relating to the historic district. The massing of the towers was handled as well as could be. And, with another developer, we might not have had the level of amenities we have. There is a real need for this project and it will ultimately be a success."

Galtier Plaza opened in 1986, while yet incomplete. The tile was still drying in the atrium, only a third of the shops were open, the housing towers weren't closed in, and the skyway link to downtown was unfinished. "It's like describing the first year in the life of a premature baby," says project manager Conlin.

Financial difficulties

The project cost at least $140 million to build (not including the YMCA and other portions). Various parts of the project were funded separately: the rental apartments were funded by bonds sold through the Port Authority to private institutional investors; the YMCA was on a separate parcel; and much of the other private funding came from investors as equity and from Chemical Bank as a loan.

The project was a very large undertaking for any developer and was apparently more than its developer could handle. There were problems with construction, cost overruns, inadequate financial resources, high interest rates, delays, and strategic errors made in market analysis and design (for example, the retail areas were targeted toward upscale shops which require a greater critical mass, and the food court was located above the main circulation paths rather than in its current more accessible location).

As the project was delayed, it began to founder, and soon found itself having difficulty attracting new tenants. Eventually, private investors are said to have lost about $42 to $45 million in equity and Chemical Bank is said to have lost about $90 million on their loan. It is unclear how much public money may have been lost. The Port Authority took over the rental apartments after the default on that part of the project -- for which they had loaned $32 million and which would have cost about $36 million.

Excluding the YMCA, rental housing, and the energy plant, the balance of the project (retail, offices, condos, and the parking garage) was sold in 1989 to a Canadian investor for (reportedly) in the range of $10 to $12 million. This transaction took place immediately before the recession and steep decline in property values began.

Henry Zaidan's strategy was to aggressively market the condos, and to "reposition" the retail space from the regional high end target and toward services for the neighborhood and downtown. He also relocated the food court to the ground level.

After struggling to fill the vacant retail and office space during the recession, Zaidan left the Galtier Plaza project in 1992, and in 1996 the holder of the mortgage obtained title through foreclosure, changed the management company and made some nominal improvements before selling Galtier in 2000 to an investor group managed by Wasmer, Schroeder & Company. The Wasmer group invested in an extensive remodeling project, including conversion of much of the vacant retail space into office space. The residential towers at Galtier were sold to Bigos Investments in 2003, and the Wasmer group sold the commercial and parking facilities in 2006 to a group based in California. The commercial portion of Galtier now contains several restaurants, a convenience store, a conference facility, and a credit union. Retail and office space are about 85% occupied.

From the point of view of its impact on the area, the project now appears to be successful. It brings residents, office workers, students and shoppers to Lowertown and contributes substantial property taxes (over $1 million per year) and sales taxes to the city. By most reckonings, however, this would not be a sufficient return to justify the public investment.

In an interesting assessment of the trade-offs between image and economics, an economist was brought in to shed light upon the balance between the projects' likely ability to succeed financially and the perceived benefits of having a large, visible project (with tall towers) from the point of view of the city's decision makers. The economist maintains that the symbolic values appeared to have overcome financial considerations, in the sense that there was not a clear justification for a project of this scale in terms of demonstrated market demand. The city and the developer had to believe, in effect, that the large-scale image would supposedly contribute to creating its own demand and would change the market. The history of the project is too complex to argue that its (temporary) failures prove that this line of reasoning could have been shown at the time to be incorrect and the LRC argues that it did attract other investments that might not otherwise have been made.

Today

Over the years, the building has seen quite erratic success, first as a shopping mall
Shopping mall
A shopping mall, shopping centre, shopping arcade, shopping precinct or simply mall is one or more buildings forming a complex of shops representing merchandisers, with interconnecting walkways enabling visitors to easily walk from unit to unit, along with a parking area — a modern, indoor version...

, then as an entertainment center, and currently is most notably occupied by a private preparatory academy, various technology companies, an event and presentation facility (carved out of the old movie theaters), a restaurant
Restaurant
A restaurant is an establishment which prepares and serves food and drink to customers in return for money. Meals are generally served and eaten on premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services...

, and a food court
Food court
A food court is generally an indoor plaza or common area within a facility that is contiguous with the counters of multiple food vendors and provides a common area for self-serve dining. Food courts may be found in shopping malls and airports, and in various regions may be a standalone development...

. The most prominent member of Galtier Plaza is the new Faces concept restaurant which may be considered an additional upscale food court for the complex, including a bar, wine tasting, café, bakery, deli, and pizza oven.

In the summer of 2009 it was announced that the naming rights to Galtier Plaza had been purchased, and the building would become known as Cray Plaza, as the building's new "anchor" tenant is Cray Inc..

The building arguably set the standard for mixed use concepts with its new design that differed from the national mixed use trend. It also won the award for the first place design award excellence from Development Design Group, First Place from National Mall Monitor Center's of Excellence, and Signs of the Times award for electric sign graphics.

See also


External links


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