Midtown Greenway Land Use and Development Plan
Plan Background
The Midtown Greenway Land Use and Development Plan sets policy direction for land use and development in the Midtown Greenway corridor for the next 10-20 years, with implications for private development and investment in the public realm. The study boundary generally includes properties within one block of the greenway from the western border of the city east to Hiawatha Avenue. The Plan evaluates the long-term viability of existing land uses along the corridor. It provides guidance for future land uses along the Midtown Greenway, and proposes development guidelines for development intensity and form.
Future Land Use and Built Form
The Minneapolis 2040 future land use map largely reflects the recommendations made in the Midtown Greenway Land Use and Development Plan, with the exception of areas covered by more recent plans – in particular the areas closest to Hennepin Avenue and Lake Street as well as Lyndale Avenue and Lake Street. Near the future West Lake LRT station commercial future land uses are expanded slightly from what is shown in the development plan, while built form recommendations increase the development intensity allowed on some sites with application of the ‘Transit 10’, ‘Transit 15’, and ‘Transit 30’ categories. As a location with high frequency transit service, other properties receive the ‘Corridor 6’ and ‘Interior 3’ districts.
Properties along the greenway between Knox Avenue and Blaisdell Avenue are addressed in summaries for the more recently adopted Uptown Small Area Plan and Lyn-Lake Small Area Plan.
East of Blaisdell the development plan calls for commercial mixed use land uses in what is called the transit oriented development district. The Minneapolis 2040 maps attempt to match these recommendations with use of the ‘Destination Mixed Use’ category at the intersection of Nicollet Avenue and Lake Street, requiring street level retail in future development. The built form map guides the area to the ‘Transit 15’ built form district.
Similarly, the Minneapolis 2040 maps continue to emulate the recommendations from the development plan east of Interstate 35W. The ‘Public, Office, and Institutional’ category is employed north of the greenway at 4th Avenue and Chicago Avenue. In those same locations the ‘Transit 10’ built form category is applied, consistent with the built form recommendations in the development plan.
Most other areas between Interstate 35W and Hiawatha Avenue are guided for ‘Urban Neighborhood’ future land use. Unless fronting along an intersecting north/south transit corridor, properties in this area are typically guided for the ‘Interior 3’ or ‘Corridor 4’ future built form category. Properties nearer to Lake Street receive the ‘Corridor 6’ category. Recommendations for properties nearest the Lake Street LRT station are addressed in the summary for the Hiawatha/Lake Station Area Master Plan.
