Sherman Associates wants to build large residential, small-retail project near Crooked Pint Ale House

A large mixed-use development could soon take the place of another parking lot in downtown Minneapolis.

Sherman Associates intends to redevelop the parking lot that takes up most of the block near the Crooked Pint Ale House on Washington Avenue between 5th and Portland avenues.

The firm wants to build a 22-story apartment tower that would have approximately 250 units and two levels of underground parking on the northeast part of the site and a six-story building containing about 90 units for low-income housing wrapped around a 312-stall parking ramp on the south side of site, said Shane LaFave, director of multifamily development at Sherman.

Also, there would be about 6,000 square feet of space on the first level of the apartment building on the corner of Washington and Portland that could be used by a restaurant or other retailers.

The buildings on the corner of Washington and 5th avenues, which contain several retailers including Crooked Pint, Caribou Coffee and others, won't be touched. But Fire Station 1, which serves a large swath of downtown Minneapolis, could be replaced by an expanded station as part of the project.

"We are in discussions with the city about the fire station component of the development and are hopeful that we will agree on terms soon," said Valerie Doleman, a Sherman spokeswoman. "It is an excellent site, and we are excited about the vision of the entire development."

According to Hennepin County property records, the lot is owned by Allied Parking.

Sherman Associates, whose office is only a block from the site, is busy with several developments in the area. On the corner of Chicago and Washington avenues, Sherman recently built its East End project, which has 180 luxury apartments and several retailers including a Trader Joe's grocery store slated to open this month. On the same block, Sherman is converting the Thresher Square complex into a hotel.

Sherman also wants to build a hotel and apartment development further south on part of a parking lot on the same block where Thrivent Financial plans to build its new headquarters.

Surface parking lots in downtown, especially in the East Town district, have been repeatedly torn up and redeveloped in the past five years.

Sherman representatives plan to discuss the Washington and Portland avenues project as well as the redevelopment near Thrivent at the July 10 meeting of the Downtown Minneapolis Neighborhood Association.

Nicole Norfleet • 612-673-4495 Twitter: @nicolenorfleet