Finance & Commerce 2023 Top Projects Event
Monday, July 22nd, 2024
Last Thursday, we celebrated with our clients, teams and colleagues at Finance & Commerce’s Top Projects of 2023 event at Quincy Hall in NE Minneapolis.
F&C’s Top Projects is the premier recognition program for Minnesota’s built environment, and Pope Design Group was honored to be involved in three recognized projects this year. We are also excited to announce our selection as the Top Interior Designer of the Year for the second year in a row.
Congratulations to our clients, partners and colleagues!
This year’s celebrated projects included: Bhatti GI Clinic & Surgery Center, MSP Commercial and Twelve22 Apartments. Here is a recap of our projects:
Bhatti GI Clinic & Surgery Center
Bhatti GI Consultants, P.A. is lead by Dr. Ahsan Bhatti who specializes in gastroenterology and the treatment of digestive diseases. To expand services to patients, Bhatti GI teamed with MSP Commercial to help them redevelop the site of an existing 1970s office building with a new 3-story ambulatory surgery center.
The building provides below grade parking for staff and ground-level parking for patients. The second floor operates as a full-service gastrointestinal specialty clinic, and the third floor is an ambulatory surgery center, complete with five operating rooms, labs and post-op/pre-op recovery rooms.
A large footprint on a small site, the design of the new clinic and ASC maximizes its square footage with innovative features including a hydronic snow melt system, future vertical expansion accommodations, and structural enhancements.
MSP Commercial
Steady growth in MSP Commercial’s healthcare real estate portfolio and staff prompted a relocation. In order to better serve clients and enhance their workplace environment, they purchased an existing 1950s retail/warehouse building on Penn Avenue in Richfield as an adaptive reuse project.
The design embraces the history and style of the original building, incorporating exposed elements like concrete block and open ceilings with a mid-century modern aesthetic. MSP Commercial’s office integrates employee-driven amenities like a large turf area for recreational and social activities, a full kitchen, wellness/fitness room, and collaboration spaces and is also a dog-friendly environment.
MSP’s new office environment maximizes collaboration and enhances the company’s fun culture. Built for growth and collaboration, the open office areas feature workstation pod systems with centered “collaboration” tables, as well as multiple conference rooms, equipped with advanced virtual meeting and presentation technology. The space also features many informal touch-down areas, like shared private office space, lounge areas featuring couches and chairs, and semi-private booths.
Fixtures and finishes also incorporate and embrace the building’s past. In addition to exterior asymmetrical glazing, the interior boasts exposed elements like the existing CMU block, cement flooring and open ceilings.
Twleve22 Apartments
The St. Paul Casket Company located at 1222 University Ave in St. Paul, was the most significant casket manufacturer in Minnesota for almost 30 years. Its home, built in 1922-23, was designed with Modern Gothic details by architect Allen H. Stem. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in April 2021. It has open floor areas, terrazzo floors, a spiral staircase with ornate railings, mushroom cap columns, and the prominent 104-foot tall central tower that houses a water tank and clockface along University Ave.
The 4-story building was purchased in 2019 by local developer JB Vang with the goal of renovating the property for affordable housing. The team preserved the historic integrity of the building while remediating contamination challenges to create a new 55-unit multifamily apartment development utilizing Low Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC) and Historic Tax Credits (HTC).
You can see all of the projects on F&C’s digital magazine linked here.