North Loop Small Area Plan
Plan Background
The North Loop Small Area Plan is a policy document produced by the City of Minneapolis to guide land use and development in the North Loop neighborhood for the next 20 years. It is officially an update to the Downtown East/North Loop Master Plan, adopted by the City in 2003, and builds upon the policy direction of The Minneapolis Plan for Sustainable Growth, the City’s comprehensive plan. It is meant to articulate a vision for the neighborhood based on existing City policy and input from community stakeholders – both public and private - throughout the planning process. The City, public partners, and community organizations will use the plan to guide their own decision-making processes with incremental changes to realize the full vision. The document, with amendments, received full approval from the Minneapolis City Council on April 16, 2010.
North Loop Small Area Plan (2010)
Future Land Use and Built Form
Future land use recommendations from the North Loop Small Area Plan are largely consistent with the future land use map in Minneapolis 2040, with some minor changes and clarifications. The majority of the study area is guided for ‘Public, Office, and Institutional’ to reflect the eclectic nature of existing and planned land uses in the neighborhood. For most of the neighborhood, this is a consistent reflection of the guidance in the small area plan. One area where this designation is a change from the small area plan is near the planned Royalston LRT station, previously guided for transitional industrial. With more certainty surrounding the future of this location, the new category was applied. The small area plan designated Washington Avenue and Glenwood Avenue as commercial corridors. Minneapolis 2040 acknowledges this with the application of the ‘Goods and Services Corridor’ designation on each corridor, and with application of commercial mixed use categories on properties fronting these streets.
Built form recommendations are also largely reflective of the small area plan. Areas closest to the river are guided for ‘Corridor 6’, areas within the Warehouse Historic District are generally guided for ‘Transit 10’, while much of the remainder of the study area is guided for ‘Transit 30’.
