Obelisk Restored

When the W Minneapolis-The Foshay opened in August, it entered a landscape bursting with chic boutique hotels. But, as one of the city’s most historically significant office buildings, the Foshay’s renovation holds an inherent significance unparalleled by the other new, glossy hotel properties in the city.

The innovative architectural and interior design was a collaboration between Minneapolis-based ESG Architects and Toronto-based boutique interior designers Munge Leung.

ESG is no stranger to hotel design. Leading up to the Republican National Convention, “I opened four hotels in three weeks,” says ESG principal and Foshay lead architect Mark Swenson—“the Woodbury Sheraton, the Aloft Minneapolis by the Guthrie, the Westin Edina Galleria, and the Foshay.”

The Foshay’s two-story pedestal was built from 1920 to 1927, and the 32-story obelisk was constructed from 1927 to 1929. At 447 feet, it was the tallest building west of the Mississippi for more than three decades. In 1978, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Originally, the first-floor Art Deco arcade featured lavish Italian marble walls, terrazzo floors, and bronze and wrought iron ornamentation. The total cost of construction was $3,750,000. Three days of opening festivities in 1929 cost more than $100,000, with 25,000 guests invited, and John Philip Sousa and his 75-piece band performing his commissioned “Foshay Tower-Washington Memorial March.”

In 2006, several entities, including real estate developer Ralph Burnet, ESG, and Minneapolis-based developer and contractor Ryan Companies, Inc., purchased the then under-occupied office building and began redesigning it. The shape of the obelisk was a challenge from day one. “We have a building that slopes in at a rate of four and a half inches per floor, totaling 11 feet on all four sides,” Swenson says. “So the challenge was to try to pack as many rooms in as we could, given the constraints of the obelisk.”

The bones of the building shifted every few floors with the obelisk’s tapered design, so laying out floor plans—including not only rooms, but also plumbing, elevators, and stairwells—was a task that went through several iterations.

Because of the building’s historic significance, ESG was required to leave its exterior virtually untouched. “The National Park Service wanted to save the windows, [but] we wanted to replace them because they were wildly energy-inefficient, and we were worried about the integrity of the façade because the windows were leaking so bad,” Swenson says. “We ended up winning that battle, and by installing new windows, we saved $2 million.” That’s how much it would have cost to repair rather than replace the windows.