United Village hotel, parking lot underway

Construction of a 160-room hotel and 300-space parking ramp at the United Village development is well underway, thanks to March 11 St. Paul City Council approval of needed variances for its front facade. The council unanimously upheld an appeal by Snelling Midway Redevelopment LLC of variances for window and door openings, overturning denial by the city’s Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA).

The hotel is sited along University Avenue between Simpson and Asbury streets. A two-building restaurant pavilion and office building are also under construction. The restaurants, the Midway Diner serving breakfasts and lunches, and an Italian pizzeria, are to open this summer. The United Village project’s restaurant advisor is Vincent Francoual, a well-known French chef who has worked with numerous restaurants and was the driving force behind Chloe by Vincent and, before that, Vincent A Restaurant.

Work on footings and the foundation had already started at the time of the appeal as that wasn’t affected by the variances. Since then the building has started to rise out of the ground.

The two variances requested came from first floor hotel and parking ramp spaces detailed design. The north facade spaces are adjacent to what are called “back of the house” spaces in the buildings including restrooms.

The zoning code calls for at least 50 percent of the hotel’s ground floor facade to have windows. The design calls for windows on 43.1 percent of the hotel facade, for a variance of 6.9 percent.
The second variance is for the parking ramp building. The code calls for the ground floor facade to have windows on at least 30 percent of the area. The design calls for windows on 23.3 percent, for a variance of 6.7 percent.

BZA staff recommended approval as did Union Park District Council and Midway Chamber of Commerce.

Mike Hahm, an advisor to the United Village project, and Mark Morrow, co-chair of the Union Park land use committee, spoke for the variances. Hahm said that the developers placed the hotel along University to meet community desires to bring “excitement and vibrancy” to complement activity on University. But that added complexity to the project.

He also defended hotel and parking ramp design. “We think it is a very handsome building that respects the community and intersects greatly with what is going on on University Avenue,” Hahm said.

Morrow said interior building design justifies the variances. Windows allow for the community to see in and for people inside a building to see out. However, he said, if more windows are added, “What you’re doing for the folks on the inside is giving them a great view of folks unloading and loading luggage.”

The BZA in February denied the variances on a technicality, voting 3-1 for denial. Variances need to meet six findings. A majority of board members said the requests failed to meet a finding of “practical difficulty.” A minimum of four votes are needed to approve or deny a variance. Under state statute the motion failed.

Council Member Anika Bowie, whose First Ward includes United Village, and Council Member Mollie Coleman, whose Fourth Ward borders United Village, called for approval. They and other council members agreed that site development is crucial.

Bowie called the appeal vote “very telling,” saying it indicates where the council is “pro-development or not . . . In Midway I want development to move forward.”

One point of contention between the developer, the BZA and the Planning Commission has been the number of variances needed for United Village developments. Bowie questioned if the site needs a zoning change. But it is already zoned for traditional neighborhoods four use, which is the most intensive mixed-use zoning district outside of downtown.

The United Village project has a history of several variance requests, which Zoning Administrator Yaya Diatta reviewed. The latest variances approved are the ninth and 10th for the hotel-parking ramp and restaurant pavilion projects.