The M on Hennepin is the new name for what was going to be called “Montage,” a nod to how they needed to blend the elements of old and new on the former and future Nye’s site. There was another pre-existing real estate use of that name, in California, so they picked a new name, The M on Hennepin. I toured recently with a group from Northeast Business Association.
Property Manager Shane Bacon swears there are tenants in the new boutique apartment building who really don’t have cars. They bike or walk to work downtown and Uber anywhere else. Anyone who does have a car pays an extra $175 a month to store it, and 20 of those parking spots are stacked on top of another 20 in a smart computer automated system of lifts. Bacon, the building manager saved that tour feature for last, but we found it as memorable as the views from 10 Second St. SE.
The building (it does read like a single building) is amazing, with high-end finishes and of course, rents to match…$1,400-some a month for a studio, up to $7,500 a month for a three-bedroom, four-bath. A total of 67 units.
A bold blue-gray-black-white herringbone tightly-adhered carpet-tile effect in the hallways takes visitors up and down some ramps and steps to accommodate transitions between new construction and the levels of the old Harness Shop and the original Nye’s triangular corner.
There are some stunning exposed-brick units in the Nye’s building, which has been kept low to facilitate views of Our Lady of Lourdes church. And many of the common spaces — a library, yoga room, etc. are stacked in or above the old Harness Shop, taking advantage of the brick walls that have been cleaned up. No more Guns of Navaronne poster, sad to say.
Workers had uncovered that poster which Liz Jensen of the Northeaster captured in a photo spread last year early October. It was probably a year ago they were getting all the muck out of the basement which would become a low-headroom media lounge behind a bike repair station. And now about one-third of the units are rented and people already moved and moving in.
One of the guys in our tour group put it well. “I miss what the neighborhood used to be, but this is impressive.”
Art Force, the art rental business located in Northeast, was retained to program a rotation of the art in the lobby (which also features a grand piano in homage to Nye’s). Art Force also designed other permanent pieces in the common spaces.