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        <title>Real Estate Blog</title>
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            <guid>http://www.yoururbanlife.com/blog/new-trend-in-minneapolis-condos-the-urban-cabin.html</guid>
            <link>http://www.yoururbanlife.com/blog/new-trend-in-minneapolis-condos-the-urban-cabin.html</link>
            <author>ben@drgmpls.com (Ben Ganje)</author>
            <title>New Trend In Minneapolis Condos: The Urban Cabin</title>
            <description> <![CDATA[ 
  The evolution of urban living in Minneapolis is taking another interesting turn, here's what we are finding: part of the buyer market is purchasing for part time living purposes and weekend stays versus full time condo living.  These types of buyers are looking for a smaller condo or loft tucked somewhere in an ideal neighborhood within Minneapolis.  They are looking for an urban cabin.


An Urban Cabin?  Say what?


   Over the past 2-3 years the buyer market has changed and become dynamic.  Suddenly the idea of purchasing a condo downtown for full time use doesnt nessesarily make sense for every buyer.  As the baby boomer generation begins the cycle of downsizing from their palacial single family homes in the burbs to high density areas of the city suddenly the idea of living in one property full time while retired doesn't sound so attractive.  Empty nesters are buying multiple properties across the country albiet much smaller in size and scope than in previous years. 


What's an Urban Cabin?


  An urban cabin has broad definition, for some it is a weekend escape from a routine lifestyle.  For others, an urban cabin is a part time residence to stay for 3-6 months at a time before locking the door and going somewhere else.  The beauty of this lifestyle for most is the lack of liability and responsibility an owner ultimately holds.  The generation currently embracing it-mainly empty nesters-have typically been living in a single family house most of their life and this new found freedom being without kids, mixed with turn key living makes for a newly enhanced mobile lifestyle.


Where are Urban Cabins?


  In areas of the North Loop, Mill District and more recently in older buildings of the downtown central district are studio and 1 bedroom Minneapolis condos and lofts ripe for this type of lifestyle.  Depending on your point of reference an urban cabin could be a small studio or a few bedrooms within a unit.  For more details on the market and to find out more details on urban cabins contact Ben Ganje. 
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            <pubDate>Sun, 19 Feb 2012 23:23:38 -0600</pubDate>
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            <guid>http://www.yoururbanlife.com/blog/minneapolis-condos-getting-a-serious-facelift.html</guid>
            <link>http://www.yoururbanlife.com/blog/minneapolis-condos-getting-a-serious-facelift.html</link>
            <author>ben@drgmpls.com (Ben Ganje)</author>
            <title>Minneapolis Condos Getting A Serious Facelift</title>
            <description> <![CDATA[ 
Through the boom of the early 1980s when downtown was a skyline of cranes busy working on multiple Minneapolis Condo developments numerous buildings surfaced such as The Crossings which tied the skyway system together on the north end of the city.  There was also the dramatic Loring Green East and West at the south end of Nicollet Mall which was a massive project consisting of well over 500+ total units.  On the other side of the river a 170 year old Kajima Corporation started work on La Rive in Northeast Minneapolis. 


  These buildings have stood the test of time but with anything starts to become dated as soon as construction is complete. 


  Recently homeowners associations have become keen to updating their common area elements with greater frequency, namely the entry and corridors of the building.  The homeowners in favor of such practices argue that in order to have resale appeal to the buyer market their respective building needs to have some panache, and avoid being thoroughly dated.  An easy case study of this is The Crossings.


  Built in 1981 when Minneapolis lacked adequate office space and condo living this was not just the future of downtown Minneapolis—it represented the pioneering wave of migration back to the urban area.  In addition to the development the building connected a series of skyways together to enhance the overall layout of the Minneapolis skyway system giving condo owners the ability to stay indoors during the cooler parts of the year.    


  As the years wore on well into the 1990s the common elements began to look dated.  By the end of the first decade in the 2000s from the entry of the building to all of the hallways the building clearly looked tired.  During this time the homeowners association board was saving for future capital improvements one of them being to update not just the lobby of the building but the hallways, elevator cabs and exterior entry to be consistent across the board.  The updates took roughly 16 months to complete but are now done and are classy—truly a facelift to the building.  If you ever drive along Washington Ave N look to the south after you pass Marquette to notice the updated entry of The Crossings!
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            <pubDate>Sat, 21 Jan 2012 01:09:09 -0600</pubDate>
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            <guid>http://www.yoururbanlife.com/blog/trader-joes-coming-soon-to-uptown-minneapolis.html</guid>
            <link>http://www.yoururbanlife.com/blog/trader-joes-coming-soon-to-uptown-minneapolis.html</link>
            <author>ben@drgmpls.com (Ben Ganje)</author>
            <title>Trader Joe's coming soon to Uptown, Minneapolis </title>
            <description> <![CDATA[ 
  Plans are under way for a future Trader Joe's to unfold in the Uptown area along Lyndale and 27th St in the coming months.  The only thing stopping the Minneapolis real estate development taking place are city and neighborhood approvals.





The ProposalA new 14,000 square foot Trader Joe’s grocery and liquor store on the corner of 27th Street and Lyndale Avenue in the Wedge area of Minneapolis. This is just outside of Lyn-Lake and the core of Uptown. Currently the site is home to four buildings with two separate owners.One owner has been in the neighborhood since the mid 60s, the Geurts family.  They own the Sunnyside Up Cafe/Coin Laundry building, the building that’s home to a tee-shirt shop and the building that’s home to Planet Soccer.  They feel strongly about creating a legacy for their kids and want to retain ownership of the land.The other owner is Art Materials, which is planning on moving to a nearby site so they have more parking. They have been looking for some time at moving out of their current space.The four buildings will all be demolished. None were believed to be historic, though a city review is in process.The parking lot would have 52 parking stalls, two points of ingress and egress, and large drive aisles in part because large delivery trucks must navigate through the parking lot per city code. TOLD development believes that the parking will work better than how St. Louis Park did at first because in St. Louis Park, the demand for the store was far greater than what it could handle because it was such a destination. Trader Joe’s wants to be a neighborhood store and so it’s believed that by continuing to expand into Bloomington and Uptown/Lyn-Lake/Wedge, that they will better serve all of their customers by better distributing their customer base.The 14,000 square foot store is comparable in size to others in the Twin Cities, where stores range from 13,000 square feet in St. Louis Park to 16,000 square feet in Hopkins, to 14,000 square feet in St. Paul.The liquor and grocery store components would be accessed off of a shared vestibule on the southeast corner of the building, adjacent the parking lot. Windows facing the parking lot and along Lyndale would provide some transparency between the building and the outside. Exterior materials include brick, glass, an ornamental metals. It was said that the side facing 27th Street would have a similar look to the Lake Street elevation.Why this site


TOLD developers confirmed that this site was selected because of (archaic) liquor store licensing restrictions that require a 2,000′ buffer between liquor stores, a 300′ buffer between churches and liquor stores, and being adjacent 5 acres of commercial property that’s zoned C2 commercial space. Earlier attempts, to locate the Trader Joe’s down the block from Hum’s Liquor between 22nd Street and 24th Street, failed after there seemed to be little support to get the State to essentially override the City’s distance requirements. Other sites that were considered ultimately were not going to meet these requirements.This site would have to be rezoned to allow a liquor store, a request that will be critically analyzed by Council Member Meg Tuthill and others. Tuthill’s staff said that she wouldn’t comment on quasi-judicial issues (variances, conditional use permits, site plan approvals, etc) but would comment on legislative issues (rezonings) by saying that the property is not currently zoned C2 and that a rezoning study was recently conducted for this area and didn’t suggest rezoning the property. Therefore any consideration of a rezoning should address what has changed between then and now that would reach a different conclusion.


Stay tuned for more details on this exciting development in Uptown!  Search Minneapolis condos at Downtown Resource Group.
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            <pubDate>Thu, 29 Dec 2011 22:41:37 -0600</pubDate>
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            <guid>http://www.yoururbanlife.com/blog/multiple-offers-the-new-norm-on-minneapolis-condos.html</guid>
            <link>http://www.yoururbanlife.com/blog/multiple-offers-the-new-norm-on-minneapolis-condos.html</link>
            <author>ben@drgmpls.com (Ben Ganje)</author>
            <title>Multiple Offers are the New Norm on Minneapolis Condos</title>
            <description> <![CDATA[ 
  Yesterday I wrote an offer for a buyer client on a Minneapolis Condo that we knew the seller already had multiple offers.  Multiple offers in this real estate market you ask?  Yes and the trend will begin to ripple across the market as we see new listings drop (-16.1%), pending sales increase (11%) and closed sales increase (8%) year over year.


  The North Loop condo was priced right--arguably under market value, in a financially healthy building with good resale trends.  There were already 3 offers on the condo and our strategy was to offer 5% above list price with zero closing costs and non-refundable earnest money to combat the fact that the buyer was financing some of the purchase price as opposed to a cash offer to sweeten the deal.


  So believe it or not, we were in a multiple offer situation and...lost to another buyer.  When we went submitted an offer we knew there would likely be stiff competition and there was a possibility that we could lose it.  Why would anyone in their right mind offer higher than list price you ask?  Well inventory has decreased almost 23.6% in the twin cities market--and the good inventory is getting hard to come by.    


  When the condo came on the market I knew it wouldnt stay long.  It was priced competitively; there is a limited selection of this particular type of condo; and it's priced under $250,000 (from what I'm dealing with, a fair amount of buyers in the market are looking at this price range). What surprised me was that the condo had been on the market for 3 days and there was already a pile of offers on the table with more coming around.


  Apparently I'm not the only one seeing this.  During the last 30 days, a few other Downtown Realtors mentioned that they were in similar situations, either getting multiple offers for their listings or in a multiple offers situations when representing the buyers.  Are we seeing a glimpse of a buyer come back?  With rents rising 11% on average year over year and the bottleneck of buyers that have come off the sidelines the logic is starting to make more sense.  It may not necessary mean that it will have a significant impact on prices right now but if this kind of thing continues and happens broadly, we know prices are more likely to stay stable for a while.


Back to 2007?  Hardly. But we may be starting to see some more balance of power between buyers and sellers, at least for the best deals in the Minneapolis condo market.


 
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            <pubDate>Fri, 16 Dec 2011 11:22:17 -0600</pubDate>
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            <guid>http://www.yoururbanlife.com/blog/minneapolis-city-planners-envision-city-to-reach-70k-residents-in-2025.html</guid>
            <link>http://www.yoururbanlife.com/blog/minneapolis-city-planners-envision-city-to-reach-70k-residents-in-2025.html</link>
            <author>ben@drgmpls.com (Ben Ganje)</author>
            <title>Minneapolis City Planners Envision City to reach 70k residents in 2025</title>
            <description> <![CDATA[ 
  The future of downtown Minneapolis looks busy-really busy when you factor the amount of residents the city is predicting will begin calling downtown their home over the next 15 years. 


  In a bold move today the Downtown City Council released a plan of action that charts the progress for development in the urban core of the city. 


  For decades, suburbs have captured growing shares of the job and retail markets. But the next successful economy, when it arrives, may turn the tables by placing higher value on the efficiency and proximity that traditional big-city downtowns can offer.  Downtowns come with ready-made templates for compact living, working and shopping -- all without the need for long, costly car trips. And they provide the critical mass to generate the human interaction and creativity considered essential for a recovering economy.  That's the aim of the Downtown 2025 Plan, an initiative of business owners, community leaders, and urban residents.  Over the past 18 months this diverse group of 80 people put together goals and objectives to galvanize the quality of life in Downtown Minneapolis.  Among its major goals:• To double the downtown residential population to 70,000. Adding residents is the generator that will drive most of the other goals. Having more people living downtown would produce a livelier street life and a revived retail scene, the need for even more trasit solutions.With more than 100 potential building sites (most of them surface parking lots), there's plenty of room for housing growth, especially in the Mill District and the North Loop. The aim is to enhance downtown's appeal to families, students and senior citizens, as well as to young professionals who continue moving into the current inventory of condos and apartments.• To reenergize Nicollet Mall. Transforming Nicollet into one of the nation's signature urban attractions is another ambitious goal.The reconfigured and fully greened Nicollet corridor would stretch from the riverfront to the Walker Art Center, offering beauty, vitality, public art, revived shopping and programmed events in all seasons.A key component would be Gateway Park, a new green space connecting the downtown core to the riverfront and offering adjacent development opportunities.• To establish a sports district in downtown's west end that includes a new Vikings stadium and a regional transit hub. The themed district, including Target Field, Target Center, the Warehouse District entertainment scene and a new central transit station, would strengthen the Twin Cities as a competitor for national sporting events.• To increase transit frequencies in central Minneapolis to the point that people living and working near downtown would seldom need a car. As part of the plan, Nicollet and other downtown streets would be served every few minutes by a circulator, employing either streetcars or zero-emission buses.• To establish a tree canopy throughout downtown while bringing the arts to sidewalks and storefronts. Making downtown as green as the rest of the city would deliver enormous aesthetic, economic and environmental value.Making the arts more visible and accessible would raise the city's cultural profile. A new summertime festival of ideas is part of the plan.• To forge deeper connections to the University of Minnesota. A more active synergy between the state's leading economic generator and its largest employment center would benefit both neighbors.Among the proposals: a university-themed neighborhood to replace the Metrodome and its surroundings.• To end homelessness and provide meaningful daytime activity for the 300 to 500 people who sleep outdoors or have inadequate shelter. Making an already safe downtown look and feel safe is vital to downtown's future.The plan, while celebrating downtown's potential, also points out its flaws, including failure to provide a consistent outdoor walking experience. Minneapolis has impressive architecture and strong cultural destinations.But it lacks the fabric to tie these assets together at street level. Greener, more active sidewalks, nicer storefronts and an infilling of surface parking lots with new residential and mixed-use buildings would go a long way toward fixing the problem.The plan's goals are ambitious. Doubling the residential population will depend on the housing market returning in full force.The plan offers no overall cost estimates for those and other initiatives. They are intended as broad visions to help guide public/private policy in the decades ahead.Unlike previous plans offered by the business community, the 2025 version did not seek official City Hall participation. Still, Mayor R.T. Rybak and top city and county officials were consulted throughout the planning process that bega in 2010.In another departure, the plan sought advice from neighborhood groups in recognition that downtown is no longer a tight core of office towers and retail shops but "a broader ecology in which all activities intermingle and depend on one another."Indeed, the plan redefines downtown as everything within boundaries that run roughly from St. Anthony/Main to Seven Corners, from Elliot Park to the Walker Art Center, and from the Farmers Market to Boom Island.The plan represents a kind of generational turn at the Downtown Council. New business leaders see the plan as an ongoing project that they, working with public and private partners, intend to implement over the next decade and a half.One of the people who spearheaded the plan, John Griffith, vice president for property development at Target Corp. has this to say:"I travel the country and the world on behalf of Target, and I've seen every significant city in the U.S. and Canada multiple times," he said. "Minneapolis has extraordinary 'bones,' great people and a thriving community on a variety of measures. I'm convinced that our best days are ahead."
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            <pubDate>Wed, 14 Dec 2011 12:09:35 -0600</pubDate>
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            <guid>http://www.yoururbanlife.com/blog/multi-million-dollar-sale-for-minneapolis-condo.html</guid>
            <link>http://www.yoururbanlife.com/blog/multi-million-dollar-sale-for-minneapolis-condo.html</link>
            <author>ben@drgmpls.com (Ben Ganje)</author>
            <title>Multi Million Dollar Sales for Minneapolis Condos</title>
            <description> <![CDATA[ 
  Last week was quite busy in the Minneapolis Condo market-two very large purchases were made.  One in multiple offers at the Washburn Lofts in the MIll District and the other at Phoenix on the River.    


  Washburn Lofts was part of the Washburn-Crosby Mills from long ago that was turned to lofts in the early 2000s before the Minneapolis Condo boom took hold of the area--the Mill District was still coming together as a neighborhood from a previous life as a heavy industrial area.  The extremely well appointed, multi million dollar unit under contract in the building is on the top floor which includes an outdoor terrrace that measures roughly 3200 square feet.  The lot has fantastic downtown and riverviews of the city making it a rarity in the upper bracket market.   An interesting phenomena occured on the listing that happens more often than not in the market: multiple offers after the listing had been in the market for well over a year.  It is commonly thought by buyers that the longer the listing is on the market, offer activity begins to diminish at an exponential rate.  Ironically a few offers emerged after this listing had been on the market for well over 450+ days. 


  Local entreprenuer Horst Rechelbacher was one of the buyers who lost in multiple offers to Washburn.  Horst was a pioneer puting Aveda together and later selling it and is now working on the accent of Inteligent Nutrients to the world stage.  Horst knows Minneapolis well as the Aveda flagship school+store in Northeast is merely blocks from the Phoenix on the River.  The Phoenix is a smaller, more intimate high rise consisting of 80 units on 18 floors-till last week when Horst purchased all 4 top floor units combining them for a total of just under $7 million and totaling well over 18,000 feet.  At first glance this looks like an attractive deal price per square foot as the units are vanilla shell spaces waiting to be built out by the new owner.  With build out costs factored into the equation the total cost for the largest, most expensive condo in Minneapolis will run somewhere between $10M to $15M.  The Star Tribune broke the news this morning.  Some of the most expensive units in the Minneapolis Condo market are not for sale anymore.  As inventory continues to diminish year over year in the market 2012 will see less Sellers and more Buyers coming to the table.  
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            <pubDate>Wed, 16 Nov 2011 12:14:12 -0600</pubDate>
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            <guid>http://www.yoururbanlife.com/blog/izzys-ice-cream-in-the-mill-district.html</guid>
            <link>http://www.yoururbanlife.com/blog/izzys-ice-cream-in-the-mill-district.html</link>
            <author>ben@drgmpls.com (Ben Ganje)</author>
            <title>Izzys Ice Cream in the Mill District?</title>
            <description> <![CDATA[ 
  The sign of our times: another highly successful local company is in the works to develop a vacant city lot in the Mill District.  Some of the most amazing ice cream in the twin cities through the years has consistently come from Izzy's Ice Cream.  An icon to St Paul residents the owners of Izzy's have putin an offer to purchase a vacant lot at 1100 2nd Street South in the Mill District of downtown Minneapolis. 


  The plan is to build a headquarters beginning in 2012.  Owners Jeff Sommers and Lara Hammel have been working with David Salmela, local architect extraordinaire, on the plans which calls for a 1.5 story building.  The lot is located to the east of Gold Medal Park next to the Guthrie and Bridgewater Lofts.


  The city recently took offers for the site which they had valued at $437,850--Izzy’s owners came in as the highest bidder for the site over multiple developers and business owners.  Minneapolis economic development staff planned to hold a Tuesday evening meeting at the downtown Minneapolis Central Library to tell downtown residents more about Izzy’s plans and seek their input about the project.


  Currently Izzy's operates out of a St Paul location on 2034 Marshall Ave.


  Started in 2000, Izzy’s Ice Cream has been a favorite of both St Paul and Minneapolis residents for years.  Celebrity chef Bobby Flay faced off with Sommers in an ice cream making competition on his Food Network show, “Throwdown! with Bobby Flay.”  


  Stay tuned for more exciting news to come on this project as it unfolds!
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            <pubDate>Sat, 12 Nov 2011 15:38:46 -0600</pubDate>
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            <guid>http://www.yoururbanlife.com/blog/a-brief-history-of-the-ids-center-in-downtown-minneapolis.html</guid>
            <link>http://www.yoururbanlife.com/blog/a-brief-history-of-the-ids-center-in-downtown-minneapolis.html</link>
            <author>ben@drgmpls.com (Ben Ganje)</author>
            <title>A brief history of the IDS Center in Downtown Minneapolis </title>
            <description> <![CDATA[ The landmark building of downtown Minneapolis is the IDS Center which opened its doors in 1973.  If you include a 16 foot garage which houses the window washing equipment, at 792 feet it is truly the tallest building in the city.  If you include the communications spires on the top of the roof the structure rises to a total of 909 feet.  Originally developed for Investors Diversified Services which is now Aperiprise it now houses a collection of legal firms and family offices.  The 57-story IDS became the tallest skyscraper in Minneapolis when it surpassed the height of the 30-story Foshay Tower in 1972 while under construction, ending that building's 43-year reign over the city skyline. Construction of the building was followed with great interest, and the topping-off ceremony was a major civic event in the city. Today, many high-risebuildings in Minneapolis echo design features of the IDS Center, particularly its sleek, modernistic glass facing.

 
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            <pubDate>Tue, 08 Nov 2011 14:15:46 -0600</pubDate>
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            <guid>http://www.yoururbanlife.com/blog/future-target-tower-instead-of-minneapolis-condos.html</guid>
            <link>http://www.yoururbanlife.com/blog/future-target-tower-instead-of-minneapolis-condos.html</link>
            <author>ben@drgmpls.com (Ben Ganje)</author>
            <title>Future Target Tower instead of Minneapolis Condos?</title>
            <description> <![CDATA[ 
  Local real estate broker United Properties announced the sale of three parcels at 10th Street and Nicollet Mall to retail giant Target not too long ago.  Prior to this the site had enjoyed years of speculation, rumors and setbacks that prohibited anything from moving forward on the site.


  During the heyday of the condo boom this site was to be the future home of a massive condo project called The Nicollet that was to reach 56 stories into the sky.  Plans called for some office space but mainly condominiums.  The attraction at the time was location of being right downtown, having a skyway connected building and the views from the height of the tower.    


  Currently Target does not have definitive plan for the site but rumors are starting to emerge that the retailer simply needs more space for its employees, but also those of it's vendors and partnerships.  Last year Target closed on the purchase of 1013 Nicollet Mall. At the time, the company wasn’t saying much about its plans for the small building, the former home of the Church of Scientology of Minnesota.



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            <pubDate>Mon, 10 Oct 2011 21:39:34 -0500</pubDate>
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            <guid>http://www.yoururbanlife.com/blog/solar-panels-going-on-a-minneapolis-condo.html</guid>
            <link>http://www.yoururbanlife.com/blog/solar-panels-going-on-a-minneapolis-condo.html</link>
            <author>ben@drgmpls.com (Ben Ganje)</author>
            <title>Solar Panels Going On A Minneapolis Condo</title>
            <description> <![CDATA[ 
  The subject heading reads list an update on Facebook or Google+, its not every day that you hear about a condo building in Minneapolis getting solar panels.  But thats exactly what is going on over at the Lofts on Arts Avenue right off 3rd Ave downtown in the Stevens neighborhood.  The condo owners of the building decided to spring for solar panels which will cover most of the roof of the building.  Doing an improvement of this size is not cheap.  The homeowners association saved quite some time for a major capital improvement like this--and they needed a majority to approve the spending measure.  Tough the panels have not been installed as of yet, (9.20.11), here is the plan:


  The homeowners want to be able to create a system that will generate enough electricity to power the buildings common areas as well as all the units with additional left over to sell back to Ecel Energy.  This would make Lofts on Arts Avenue the first condo building in Minneapolis to do such a project.  We at Downtown Resource Group are looking forward to hearing the progress on this as it unfolds!


 


  
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            <pubDate>Tue, 20 Sep 2011 23:58:47 -0500</pubDate>
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