Ryan Companies is adding a new hotel to its five-block Downtown East development project near the new Viking stadium in Minneapolis.

The developer has submitted a proposal to the City of Minneapolis for a five-story, 164-room Radisson Red hotel on one of the two liner parcels behind the new Wells Fargo towers that Ryan is currently building.

ESG Architects didn’t have much room to work with on the block, but has designed a black-clad building that leaves a driveway between the Wells Fargo tower and the hotel, offering 11 parking spaces and a loading dock. The firm is also proposing a tunnel from the driveway that connects to 19 additional underground parking stalls for hotel guests.

Plans include a street-level restaurant, Oui Restaurant and Bar, as well as additional commercial space that will not be associated with the hotel. Design renderings suggest an additional restaurant with an outdoor patio could occupy the leasable space that fronts the Park Avenue.

The site, which faces 3rd Street between Portland and Park avenues, will connect to the Wells Fargo tower through an underground tunnel. This puts pedestrians on the skyway system. Of the two developable liner parcels behind the office buildings, the hotel will be on the block closer to the stadium.

The City Planning Commission Committee of the Whole will discuss the hotel proposal on May 14.

The hotel would adjacent be to the highly debated 1,500-stall parking ramp that Ryan is building but that is owned by the Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority.

Ryan originally proposed a Radisson Red hotel on a liner parcel that abuts that ramp. And while Ryan still has development rights on that land, the company has to tell the city and MSFA by May 15 if it wants to build an additional level of parking atop the ramp. This additional level would service residents or visitors for Ryan’s project, but the direction of that project is still unclear.

“There are obviously a lot of moving pieces and there is still work being done between the Authority, the city and Ryan on how to operate these structures together,” said Tony Barranco, in an interview last month. “We are currently working through a document that would govern how that would work…We are incredibly excited about this site and this opportunity; it has some inherent challenges, but we are willing to work through them because we believe in this site.”

Source: http://www.startribune.com/ryan-companies-propose-radisson-red-hotel-near-vikings-stadium/303005641/