Month: January 2017

Community members weigh in on the future of downtown transportation

A sustainable transportation model is pivotal to the success of the DMC vision. And from practical solutions like dedicated bus lanes to more futuristic ideas like driverless shuttles, the topic brought dozens of community members together for the first of four Public Conversations highlighting transit for Rochester’s downtown.

The informal open house, held on January 24 at the University of Minnesota Rochester, provided the public with a chance to hear from transportation consultants about the four integrated transit studies being conducted and offer their feedback on what they see working best for Rochester’s future.

Engaging the community through prototyping

2016 brought a multitude of new ideas and excitement to downtown Rochester with the temporary installation of 16 prototypes at the first ever PlaceMakers | Rochester Prototyping Festival.

The idea of prototyping is not new, but it is new to Rochester.

Since the September festival, which addressed “Health and the Built Environment,” the community is beginning to see more examples of urban prototyping taking place.

At your service: Chamberlain provides a personal touch

Taxis, Uber, Lyft. Personal transportation is at the forefront of many discussions taking place in Rochester recently. And while DMC, the city, and community leaders and advocates are dedicated to ensuring that transportation solutions support the growth of the city, those solutions will require more than the point-A-to-point-B services provided by the above options.

Enter Chamberlain, Rochester’s own unique but generally undiscovered transportation service that goes the extra mile for its customers.

Chamberlain is dedicated to providing black car transportation but has found that customers are looking for more. “They want a personal touch,” says owner Laura Elwood, so Chamberlain includes concierge and lifestyle management services as options for its guests. And, according to Elwood, serving those guests is the highlight of the Chamberlain story.

Post Bulletin: Design team chosen for Discovery Square

Discovery Square diagram

A new design team was chosen Thursday to map out Mayo Clinic’s largest downtown DMC project, Discovery Square.

RSP Architects and St. Louis, Mo.-based HOK were selected design Discovery Square, which could include up to 2 million square feet of research and education space in the Destination Medical Center’s Discovery Square district. The 20-block subdistrict is between Fourth Street Southwest and Sixth Street Southwest bordered by South Broadway and Fifth Avenue Southwest.

Discovery Square is anticipated to be a major driver of the $6.5 billion DMC initiative’s projected job growth and private spending. M.A. Mortenson Co. of Minneapolis is leading the development of the project for Mayo Clinic.

Read the original article >

Read the original news release >

 

Kicking off 2017: DMC puts you in the middle of it all

The DMC vision is not one that can be accomplished alone – or overnight. But with the advancements that took place on the DMC Development Plan over the past year, Rochester is well on its way to becoming a premier global medical destination.

It doesn’t take an urban planner to recognize the qualities it takes for a city to be successful. DMC is in the middle of it all: growth, investment, culture, community, innovation… the list goes on. And Rochester is hitting the mark on each attribute, ensuring 2017 will be another year of success.

Growth: A map on the DMC website highlights the fourteen projects currently in various stages of development in the DMC district, including the Alatus Development Project in St Marys Place (#14), the Titan-OPUS Project in Discovery Square (#3), and the Lofts at Mayo Park in the downtown Waterfront (#9), just to name a few.

Investment: Private investment gained significant momentum during 2016 that put DMC on course to reach the $200 million threshold that unlocks $585 million in public funds spanning over 20 years.