Le Parisien Flats & Marketplace Underway in
Wedge Neighborhood of South Minneapolis
MINNEAPOLIS, Jan. 16, 2006 — Vive Le Parisien! European-inspired and eco-friendly, this innovative mixed-use development with 13 condominium flats plus retail is under construction at 23rd and Lyndale Avenue South in the Wedge neighborhood of Minneapolis.
Owned by Le Parisien, LLC, Minneapolis, the four-story, 28,380-square-foot building will include a second-story green-garden courtyard and 3,774 square feet of retail. The commercial space will be occupied by Patisserie Margo, a French bakery; an organic wine loft that opens onto the second-story courtyard; and a dry cleaning (drop-off only) and tailoring shop.
“We’re building homes for people who love European lifestyle but want to live in the Twin Cities,” says developer Mark Dziuk, a principal both of Le Parisien, LLC, and of Velocity Investments, Inc., Minneapolis, the general contractor. Dziuk is also the principal designer. Architect for the project is Miller Hanson Partners, Minneapolis.
Before plans were drawn up, Dziuk spent time in France studying neighborhoods and meeting with vendors, including the manufacturer of the herringbone parquet (French white oak) floors in all 13 flats. Dziuk became the manufacturer’s first customer in the United States for this type of flooring, commonly used in Paris apartments between about 1870 and 1930. (Also known as Hungarian herringbone, it’s the parquet design in the Louvre on the approach to the Mona Lisa.) At Le Parisien there will be in-floor radiant heating.
Other innovative features of the housing component are “hallwayless” design that will give residents the semi-privacy of town homes.
Committed to ecology and a healthy lifestyle, Dziuk has incorporated into Le Parisien “building biology” principles for a healthy living environment and green-building practices and products. Fourth-floor units will have expansive, 28-foot-high vaulted ceilings, made possible by the unusually steep pitch of Le Parisien’s roof, a design feature that also gives the building a distinctively European look. Originally used for thatched roofs, the 15/12 pitch effectively sheds rain and snow.
The building will have heated enclosed parking — one space per unit — and is near neighborhood shopping, public transportation and car-share service. One consideration in site selection, according to Dziuk, was the proximity to the Wedge Co-op.
All floor plans at Le Parisien were analyzed by a feng shui consultant before they were finalized. Dziuk considers the value twofold: “Many improvements were made to plans based on common-sense insights offered by feng shui,” he says, “and the analysis also helped identify specific qualities of each unit.”
The 13 condos at Le Parisien are two-bedroom flats, ranging from 917 to 1326 square feet, and are priced between $295,300 and $477,700.
Le Parisien is scheduled to open in Fall 2006. For background on the project and design details, please see the complete online press kit at www.leparisienflats.com
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