Midtown Minneapolis Land Use and Development Plan
Plan Background
This report documents a year-long planning and urban design process conducted to prepare a land use and development plan for Midtown Minneapolis. This plan will inform future revisions of The Minneapolis Plan and will be used, like the comprehensive plan, to guide development activities in the project area. The Midtown Minneapolis Land Use and Development Plan study considered the area bordered by Blaisdell and 11th Avenues and the Midtown Greenway and 31st Street in south Minneapolis, and was initiated by the City of Minneapolis Department of Community Planning and Economic Development (CPED) Planning Division and three council members representing the 6th, 8th, and 10th Wards. Major public infrastructure improvements are planned for this area; because of the magnitude of the infrastructure improvements and their potential to influence development activities, it was determined that proactive land use planning and urban design analysis was warranted to ensure that future development would meet community-defined goals and objectives.
Future Land Use and Built Form
The Midtown Minneapolis Land Use and Development Plan calls for mixed use development fronting Lake Street from Blaisdell Avenue to 11th Avenue South. The Minneapolis 2040 future land use map retains these recommendations while adding some specificity to the nature of that mixed use. Of particular note is the application of the ‘Destination Mixed Use’ category at Lake Street and Nicollet Avenue and at Lake Street and Chicago Avenue, which will require future development to incorporate retail into the first floor of multi-story buildings. Most remaining property not fronting on Lake Street is guided for ‘Urban Neighborhood’ in the Minneapolis 2040 future land use map.
While the Midtown plan does not have a parcel specific built form map, recommendations about development intensity made in the future land use map are reflected on the Minneapolis 2040 built form map. The greatest development intensity in the plan area occurs at Nicollet and Chicago Avenues, with the application of the ‘Transit 15’ and ‘Transit 10’ categories in those areas respectively. The ‘Corridor 6’ category is applied along Lake Street, as is done with other high frequency transit corridors throughout the city. Built form districts then taper off in intensity farther away from Lake Street with the use of the ‘Interior 3’ and ‘Interior 2’ built form categories.
