Request for Proposals - due Friday, January 11, 2013

Sheridan Neighborhood Small Area Plan

Introduction

The Sheridan Neighborhood is located in the Arts District of Northeast Minneapolis, with waterfront land along the Mississippi River and a lively small-scale commercial district along 13th Ave. NE. The Sheridan Neighborhood Organization is the neighborhood’s all-volunteer run citizen participation organization.

The Sheridan Neighborhood includes several parcels of land that are ripe for development in the future. The Neighborhood organization would like to ensure that development of all land within the neighborhood be done wisely and in such a way as to strengthen the community.

The Sheridan Neighborhood Organization (SNO) seeks a consultant partner to develop a Small Area Plan for 13th Avenue NE, Marshall Street NE, and the adjoining areas. The Sheridan Neighborhood Organization would like this plan to be adopted by the City of Minneapolis to guide future development in this area.

Areas to address in the plan

Some of the areas that the Sheridan Neighborhood Organization would like to see addressed in this plan include:

  • The commercial and public spaces along those corridors and adjoining areas. This could include recommendations for changes in the zoning code.
  • Streetscape recommendations to help bridge the natural areas along the riverfront with the commercial and residential aspects of the adjoining areas.
  • Transportation recommendations to create a multi-modal neighborhood, with recommendations on improving biking, transit and walkability and recommendations for calming traffic on some of the neighborhood’s main traffic corridors. This should also include parking recommendations based on growth of the 13th Avenue business corridor.
  • Sheridan’s role in the arts district and reinforcing the importance of the arts in the neighborhood through recommendations concerning public art and growth of facilities for arts creation and exhibition.
  • Guidelines and vision to steer future development in this area. These guidelines could include issues such as sustainability, sightlines, historic preservation, housing density, life-cycle housing, community design and other areas.
  • Looking at parallel streets such as University Ave, 2nd Street, and Broadway, to clarify their role in respect to Marshall and 13th.

Planning Process

The Sheridan Neighborhood Organization envisions a planning process in three stages.

  • Stage One – research into the history and background of the neighborhood, including other plans affecting the area, as well as research in examples of exceptional urban and arts planning elsewhere. This stage could conclude in a Town Meeting that kicks off the public input portion of the process and includes a presentation of the history and background information researched by the consultant.
  • Stage Two – Public input through focus groups, surveys, and further research to shape a Small Area Plan. This stage would conclude with a second Town Meeting to report on the work so far,presenting the findings of the outreachand receive feedback.
  • Stage Three – this stage would present a draft plan for review to the neighborhood at a third town meeting. Then the consultant would create a final version of the plan which would include suggestions on how the community could accomplish the goals of the plan. After refinement, the plan would be adopted by the Sheridan Neighborhood Organization and Minneapolis City Council.

The Sheridan Neighborhood Organization envisions that the planning process occur during 2013. We would like adoption late in 2013.

SNO will provide a steering committee to work with the consultant partner through the entire process of developing the Small Area Plan. This would include monthly or other regular meetings between the steering committee and the consultant partner.

Deliverables

The final plan should be a document that include maps, graphics, photographs and illustrations necessary to clearly communicate the recommendations of the plan.

Budget

The Sheridan Neighborhood Organization will provide $10,000 for each stage of planning, for a total of $30,000 for the entire plan.

Proposal

Proposals are due on Friday, January 11th at 5 pm. Please include information about qualifications of the team that will work on this project, similar projects you have done, and the approach you will take to this project. Please send a pdf or word document to . Please call or send an email to John Akre at 612-382-4873, , if you have any questions. We prefer electronic submissions, but hard copy submissions may be sent to Sheridan Neighborhood Organization, 1304 University Avenue NE, Minneapolis, MN 55413, Attn: CD Committee.