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The Foshay Resurrection

Foshay Resurrection tower detail
Photo courtesy of The Minneapolis Public Library

Ralph Burnets reinvention of Minneapoliss historic icon should prove to be a lucrative labor of love.

August 2008

By Adam Platt

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Earlier in the spring, Burnet had run into Alan Ackerberg, who handles real estate for Parasole Restaurant Holdings. They chatted about a building near Parasole’s Edina Salut, which Burnet wanted to sell. He mentioned his difficulties nailing down a restaurant deal for the W, and Ackerberg, says Burnet, suggested he contact Parasole cofounder Phil Roberts—the company might have a solution to Burnet’s problems.

Two weeks later, it was announced that Parasole’s iconic Manny’s Steakhouse would leave its longtime home in the Hyatt Regency to move into a space designed for another restaurant. “The greatest restaurant in the Twin Cities is moving to the greatest building in the Twin Cities,” Burnet crowed. The hurried move, happening as Manny’s navigates a problem-plagued expansion in Miami, has delayed the hotel’s intended opening from July 28 to August 13.

Burnet expects Manny’s presence and the W’s expansive drinking scene to secure the hotel’s place as a locals’ hangout and return the Foshay to the status of contemporary icon of the Minneapolis skyline. In May, he told us, “I’ve had over 200 e-mail requests for the opening party—this is going to be big.”

 

Hotel Minneapolis: Hiding Amid History

The 1906 Midland Bank Building on 2nd Avenue South at 4th Street is one of the less visible historic structures in downtown Minneapolis. It was built to house the Security National Bank and functioned as the Midland National Bank for much of its life. The Richardson Romanesque structure was designed by Franklin and Louis Long, architects who birthed the Minneapolis Lumber Exchange (redeveloped by Jeff Laux’s dad), the Flour Exchange, and Minneapolis City Hall.

The building devolved into obscurity over the years, but its massive lobby with eighteen-foot Carrera marble columns, ornate staircases, and period bank ephemera remained intact, and during the condo boom, developer Jon Hempel purchased the building to convert it into a condo hotel. The condos were dropped as the market soured, and the building was renovated to be a local outlet of Hilton’s midmarket Doubletree brand.

Called Hotel Minneapolis, it will embody an upgraded design ethos for middling Doubletree and have a moderate price point relative to the W and Ivy. Guest rooms will still contain flat-screen televisions, stylish design flourishes, and all the latest in wireless Internet and MP3 players; the hotel will offer a fitness center and full room service and Restaurant Max, from Morrissey Hospitality, the hotel’s operator, which also manages The Saint Paul Hotel and the St. Paul Grill.

The Midland did not qualify for federal historic preservation credits because, in contrast with the heavily altered Foshay Tower interiors, the Midland Building’s wealth of historic detail on its upper floors was sadly not retained in the hotel conversion, according to U.S. government preservation architect Audrey Tepper.

The restored lobby will nonetheless boast a spectacular historic feel, perhaps even eclipsing the W in sheer monumentalism. Hotel Minneapolis will open August 1.

Just Asking... Tom Davis

Tom davis

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