Uptown/Lyn Lake : Development News

A vacant space alongside the Black Forest Inn will soon be home to the retro-style Glam Doll Donuts shop.

Arwyn Birch, who co-owns the place with Teresa Fox, says, “It’ll be like stepping through a local time warp,” into the 1940s and 50s, adding, “It’ll have a unique atmosphere.”

An old chemical photo booth, vintage art pieces, and works from a local artist will lend atmosphere to the place. Helping to create that feel will be hand-painted stencil tile and tables, which Birch describes as “glamorous and glitzy.”

Many of the shop’s furnishings have been repurposed, like a stainless steel piece of equipment that’s now a baker’s table, topped by a butcher’s block. Leftover tables and chairs have gotten a makeover as well.

Birch and Fox adapted the concept from “kitschy, focused donut shops” that are open late nights out west. “[These] would often be more than an average bakery-donut experience,” she says.

Birch, who has a fashion background, plans to design and make the workers’ attire herself; it will also be vintage-inspired.

Birch and Fox, both of whom have worked in the restaurant industry over the years, “have always been inspired by music and vintage,” she says, adding, “This is the culmination of our strongest passions,” including food.

The shop will offer a variety of classic donuts, but with the Glam Doll stamp on them.

“We hope to establish the place as a neighborhood landmark. The idea that 'you’ve got to go to Eat Street.' We hope to contribute to that distinctive feel,” she says. “There’s a great variety of culture happening here.”

The owners plan to open the shop by Feb. 15.

Source: Arwyn Birch, co-owner, Glam Doll Donuts
Writer: Anna Pratt

Vagabond, a fitting name for an “occasional boutique,” recently had a “save the store” sale, to make its February rent.

The store features an eclectic mix of “cute and curious” antiques and old and new furniture and decorations. It opened in a first-floor space in a duplex on 25th and Hennepin in Minneapolis’s Uptown neighborhood this past summer. In the past, the duplex housed an antique store.

The duplex is zoned for commercial uses, according to storeowner Angela Kreitlow.  

In setting up shop, Kreitlow added shelves and walls “to make it feel less like walking into a home,” and more like a commercial space.

She also painted the walls with patterns and color schemes that complement the merchandise. “It’s split up into warm and cool areas,” that is, neutral shades and bright pinks and purples, she says. “I’m all about balance and tones.”

At the three-day “save the store” sale last month, her goal was to make at least $2,000, a total she ended up exceeding. “There was a ton of amazing support,” she says. “A lot of people came in those three days.”   

At this point, she’s trying to regroup and figure out what her next step should be. She’s also planning an online version of the store, she says.

In towns like Stillwater and Buffalo, where she grew up, stores like this, which have special hours, are  destinations, according to Kreitlow. “You can drum up excitement and the sales are different every time,” she says, adding that she communicates with customers mainly through the store’s Facebook page.  

Eventually, she hopes to offer classes on reupholstering furniture and other topics to “get people excited about decorating their homes,” she says. “There’s nothing else like this around,” and yet “It belongs here."


Source: Angela Kreitlow, owner, Vagabond
Writer: Anna Pratt

After mulling over a street food restaurant concept, several years ago brothers Saed and Sameh Wadi, owners of the Saffron Restaurant & Lounge in Minneapolis, decided to start out with a World Street Kitchen food truck. 

Local legislation had only just changed to allow for food trucks. “We jumped right on it,” Sameh says. “What better way to test the market for street food than on the street?”

World Street Kitchen, which features a seasonal menu of foods from street carts around the world--with a twist--was one of the city’s first food trucks, he adds.

It wasn’t long before the Wadis returned to the idea of a physical restaurant. They looked for a location that would complement the food truck, not compete with it.

Last week they opened a bricks-and-mortar version of the restaurant in Minneapolis’s Uptown area, in The Greenleaf, a building that includes apartments and first-floor retail.  

Uptown seemed ideal because “It has a neighborhood feel, but it also has a little nightlife,” he says. “That fits really well with the concept.”

Beginning with an empty shell, they buillt the space out over the last year. “We wanted it to have the same vibe as the food truck, and translate it into here.”

One way they accomplished that is by having counter service. That way, “There’s no separation between you and a guest. You don’t wait for a waiter.”

An open kitchen also lets people see the food being prepped. “It’s an instant connection with the people making the food,” Sameh says.  

The dining room has an industrial feel, with recycled materials, wood and concrete, and metal accents. Many items have been repurposed.  

Besides the big, bold flavors of many street foods, “There’s something about being curbside,” eating, he says.  

He fondly remembers eating street food as a young boy. “Some of the best food I’ve had is from a rinky-dink stand where the person does one thing, and does it really well,” he says.

This kind of food is also a creative challenge to the chef. “While Saffron is a reflection of me as a chef, this is more of a reflection of me as a person,” he says. “This isn’t what I’m trained in, but it’s what I like to eat.”  

Source: Sameh Wadi, World Street Kitchen
Writer: Anna Pratt

ArtsHub, a coworking space at Intermedia Arts that’s geared to creative types, has become a “full and thriving space” since it started last fall.  

Maggie McKenna, who hosts ArtsHub, says that between its brightly-colored mezzanine, gallery meeting spaces, weekly table tennis matches, and a newly furnished ArtsHub West in the adjacent building, “The facility has been inspiring,” resulting in unlikely collaborations.

It has achieved near capacity with a diverse group of artists, community organizers, nonprofit organizations, and businesses that are permanent members.

“Every day I come in and strike up a conversation with someone and it seems like a new project lands on my desk, or I’m helping solve a problem, or I just get to hear about a lot of different things happening,” she says.

The place is filled with “the kind of creative people who are willing to talk to strangers and share ideas.”  
That has led to new developments at ArtsHub, including an urban farm, with vegetables and herbs, on its grounds.  

It serves as a demonstration garden for the Permaculture Research Institute Cold Climate, one of the ArtsHub members. The garden is also accessible to coworkers, she says.

Volunteers helped to “construct a growing space out of nothing,” this spring, along with picnic areas, she says. “We worked this summer to create outdoor spaces as well as indoor spaces.”  

The greenery helps to soften the boxy concrete building. “It’s exciting to watch that grow,” she says.   

Separately, this fall ArtsHub is launching several new programs, including workshops for artists and creative entrepreneurs, free health clinics, and more.

That’s part of the benefit of this type of environment. “There are a lot of ways the community members can learn from each other,” she says, adding, “I can’t imagine being in a traditional office space again.”


Source: Maggie McKenna, ArtsHub at Intermedia Arts
Writer: Anna Pratt

A former grocery store on 25th and Lyndale Avenue in Minneapolis, which was damaged in a fire last year, is being transformed to make way for a new restaurant called the Nightingale.

The Nightingale, which plans to offer a full late-night menu, will be defined by a classic design with a modern twist, according to the Southwest Journal.

Exposed brick walls, hardwood floors, and a mix of half-moon and single booths will characterize the 75-seat dining room and bar, according to the story. Neighborhood residents Carrie McCabe-Johnston and her husband, Jasha Johnston, co-own the place.

The couple is going for something that’s “a bit more upscale than what the corner is currently offering,” McCabe-Johnston told the Southwest Journal, adding, “this is what we wished was in our neighborhood."

Local designer Rachel Kate, who recently competed on HGTV’s “Design Star” show, is leading the overhauling of the space. Kate, who’s long known the couple, says, “We’ve been talking about doing a restaurant for as long as I can remember."

The place has been completely gutted, which revealed the exposed brick walls behind the old drywall, Kate says. While a lot of things had to go, “The exposed brick is staying,” she says. “It was a fantastic find."

The restaurant will be sophisticated yet friendly, she says. Its ambiance should attract nocturnal types. “It’ll have a dark nighttime feel,” she says.

A lot of metals, woods and brick will set the tone for the place, which has an open floor plan for the most part, she says. “The hard materials and the lighting will drive the design.” 

“There are some cool features in there,” she says, adding that it’s rewarding to bring new life to the space.

The trio aims to open the restaurant this fall.

Source: Rachel Kate, designer
Writer: Anna Pratt

Houston-based Greystar Real Estate Partners has a plan to turn around a 5.6-acre portion of the former Bennett Lumber site in Minneapolis’s Uptown area. Right now Greystar is in the early stages of getting city approval for the project.

Greystar is proposing a total of 385 residential units that would be split between two buildings; it includes a mix of apartments of varying sizes and a number of family-oriented townhome units, according to Greystar’s David Reid.

One building would go from 6 to 4 stories while the other steps down from 6 to 2.5 stories, Reid says. He adds that the buildings will have “extremely high-quality condo finishes,” along with tuck-under parking. Each unit will have a dedicated parking garage as well.  

The company also plans to pursue “silver” LEED certification for the entire development.

The promenade along the nearby Midtown Greenway’s walkway will be extended. “We’re proposing having a high quality access point to the Midtown Greenway for public and private use,” Reid says.  

Although he couldn’t disclose the project’s cost, he says, “It’s obviously a very expensive project, between the public benefits and energy-efficiency standards."

Reid says that the buildings will improve the undeveloped site. “It’ll be a high-quality product that will be an amenity for the community,” he says.

Aesthetically, “Our goal is to create buildings that strive to have a more timeless appeal,” as opposed to those that are only popular for a development cycle. This means the judicious use of high-quality materials across the development. It will have amenities such as a pool, fitness center, and a high degree of landscaping, Reid adds.

Source: David Reid, Greystar Real Estate Partners
Writer: Anna Pratt

A $4.3 million apartment complex that has plenty of green features is in the works for 35th and Grand Avenue South in Minneapolis.

Minneapolis-based CPM Property Management has a proposal for a 30-unit building that incorporates various organic wood products, cork floors, low-flow water fixtures, rain gardens, permeable pavers, and more, according to CPM’s Daniel Oberpriller.

Inside the building, CPM plans to work with a local cabinetmaker, he adds.

The Lyndale Neighborhood Association (LNA) is supportive of the project, which will soon go before the Minneapolis Planning Commission.   

CPM decided to make the building, which has yet to be named, as green as possible, because “It was important to people in the community,” he says.

It also works well for a building of this scale. “We’re excited about it,” he says.

Among its other amenities, the building will have 28 underground parking spots, along with a couple of above-ground spaces.

The complex will be one of the newest in an area where there’s not room for a lot of development, he points out.

Lyndale is characterized mainly by older construction from the 1940s through the 1970s, he says. For this project, CPM tried to match the brick façade to others in the neighborhood. “We wanted to be consistent with the fabric of the neighborhood,” he says.

Although the design is still coming together, he says that “It should fit in nicely.”

Further, 20 percent of the apartments will also be officially ‘affordable,’ according to a recent Southwest Journal story.

CPM hopes to break ground on the development in September.

All in all, “We think it’s a positive impact,” Oberpriller says.  


Source: Daniel Oberpriller, CPM
Writer: Anna Pratt

Soon, a portion of the commercial corridor in Minneapolis’s Whittier neighborhood will become a temporary outdoor gallery space.

Original artwork from local artists will dress up a number of vacant storefront windows on Eat Street (Nicollet Avenue) in April, and will stay up for about six weeks.

It’s a creative way to showcase art and to advertise spaces that need to be leased, according to Joan Vorderbruggen, who is coordinating the project through the Whittier Business Association.

Vorderbruggen, who is a Whittier resident, says that local photographer Wing Young Huie, whose community-minded work has graced various storefronts in Minneapolis and St. Paul, inspired her.

After doing some digging, Vorderbruggen, who designs window displays for businesses professionally, stumbled upon similar programs in other cities across the country that had been successful. “The spaces have been leased a lot faster when they’ve participated in this,” she says.  

Seeing that, she approached the Whittier Business Association, which was supportive.

Right now, the Business Association is applying for grant money to help offset the pilot program's costs, but it'll mainly be a do-it-yourself-kind of thing, she says.

Separately, the Longfellow neighborhood has a similar project underway, which The Line covered here.

This week, the group is putting out a call for artists; artists who live, work, or go to school in the neighborhood can apply to submit work to the project. It can include paintings, sculpture, fashion, yarn bombing, and murals, or just about anything else that’s doable as a window display, she says.  

The neighborhood group will also be lining up a number of business and property owners who are willing to participate, with a goal of getting at least 6 to 10 storefronts in the mix.  

Besides giving artists a venue to show their work, it’s about revitalizing and beautifying the corridor. “It’s kind of a free staging service to property owners,” she says. “It brings foot traffic to the space.”   

When the exhibit opens up in April, the group will host walking tours of the storefront displays. “The hope is that you’ll be walking down Eat Street and there’ll be art everywhere,” Vorderbruggen says.  


Source: Joan Vorderbruggen, artist, Whittier
Writer: Anna Pratt

The Minneapolis Sculpture Garden and nearby Cowles Conservatory, popular attractions at the Walker Art Center, are due for a facelift, according to Phillip Bahar, the museum’s chief of operations and administration.

It’s been almost 25 years since the sculpture garden was inaugurated, he says.

Back then, the garden, which is run by the museum on city parkland, was the “first major urban sculpture garden in America,” and it became a model for many others.  

The University of Minnesota’s Landscape Arboretum ran the conservatory in the beginning, and the Minnesota Department of Transportation constructed the colorful bridge that connects Loring Park and the sculpture garden.

“It was an amazing example of what can happen when the community comes together around one idea,” Bahar says.

Since then, over 8 million people from all over the world have visited the sculpture garden, which is also the most tagged photo subject on the photo-sharing site, flickr, he says. “It carries the message of Minnesota and the arts.”

However, over the years the garden’s soil has become so compacted that water doesn’t drain properly anymore. It needs to be refreshed to “loosen up the topsoil.” Granite pavers that have settled into the land also need to be reset. “Those are some of the things that are hit the hardest by water,” he says.

A new drainage system that’s been designed for the garden would capture rainwater to irrigate the land, a process that's especially useful for the famous Spoonbridge and Cherry sculpture, which has a water feature.

Beyond that, the conservatory’s mechanical systems have become outdated, and its greenhouse use is also nearing an end. The conservatory will probably be turned into an exhibition space of some sort, he explains.

Altogether, it’s an $8.5 million project, which the state legislature is considering in its current bonding bill. To be clear, he says, the park board is making the funding request. As such, “None of this money goes to the art. It goes to infrastructure and landscape,” the sculpture garden’s “hard parts.”

Depending on how the legislative session goes, work on the garden could begin as soon as the fall.  

“We have this beloved state asset,” Bahar says, and, just like any other major infrastructure project, the garden needs work to “replenish it to its glory when it was new.”

Source: Phillip Bahar, chief of operations and administration, Walker Art Center
Writer: Anna Pratt

The historic Uptown Theatre, a well-known fixture in Minneapolis’s Uptown area, closed on Jan. 31 for renovations.

Its operator, Landmark Theatres, which is based in Los Angeles, plans to reopen the place this spring, according to a prepared statement from the company.

The 900-seat theater is a destination for foreign, art and cult films, including the long-running "Rocky Horror Picture Show."
 
As a part of the renovation, Landmark plans to turn the concession stand into a full bar, according to a prepared statement from the company. The theater will also get a giant new screen, luxury seats, and a digital projector. Its distinctive neon sign will remain intact, and  and so will its balcony, which is one of the few of its era in use locally.

The existing Uptown Theatre was constructed in 1939 after the 1913 building on the site burned down. Originally it was known as the Lagoon Theater.

It’s defined by a classic Streamline Moderne style employed by its designers, architecture firm Liebenberg and Kaplan, which also did the Suburban World Theatre down the street, according to the Star Tribune.

The Uptown Theater last underwent a major remodeling in the late 1960s, the Star Tribune story states.   

Alicia Garatoni, who works at Keller Williams Realty and serves as the vice president of the Uptown Association, welcomes the changes. “I’m thrilled, both as someone who loves independent and foreign films and has a business in the Uptown area.”  

“It’s in keeping with the forward movement of Uptown,” including the remodel of Calhoun Square and a number of other area renovations and development projects. “I’m glad it’s getting attention and will drive traffic into the Uptown area.”  

She says it’ll help the area be a well-rounded destination center. “So much is going on in Uptown,” she says. “There’s a lot of reasons to come to Uptown and this is just one more.”  

“I love [the theater] because it has an old-time feeling to it. It’s so charming,” she adds.   

Source: Alicia Garatoni, realtor, Keller Williams and vice president, Uptown Association  
Writer: Anna Pratt

After years of being underused, the 1907 Lehmann Center in Minneapolis's Uptown area will be converted by the Plymouth-based Dominium Development & Acquisition into a 136-unit affordable housing development.

The $30 million complex, which has been dubbed the Buzza Lofts, will have a mix of one- and two-bedroom apartments along with studios, according to Chris Barnes, who is a vice president and project manager at Dominium.

Following a wide variety of uses, the building most recently belonged to the Minneapolis Public Schools.

Considering that the building is historically designated through the National Register of Historic Places, “We’ll need to mesh it with historic profiles,” Barnes says.  

Many of the internal walls will be demolished so that the developer can start with a clean floor plate. “Once the demolition is completed, we’ll lay out the apartments in the grid,” he says.  

The building will also have a leasing office, a fitness center, and a lounge.

For the most part, its creamy white exterior will remain the same, though the roof will be replaced and new window openings will be made, Barnes explains.

Dominium hopes to achieve Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), in the high-ranking silver category, for the building. As just one example of the eco-friendly amenities being planned, a former parking lot will become a landscaped green space, with benches, tables, and a fireplace. “It’s unusual for an urban development to have that much green space,” he says.

Another one of its major green initiatives relates to stormwater management on the site.

Barnes is optimistic about the project, which will probably be ready by the end of the year.

On the whole, the rental market in Minneapolis is doing well, Barnes says. “Uptown as a sub-market is among the more desirable areas. Folks of all income levels want to live in that neighborhood.”


Source: Chris Barnes, vice president and project manager, Dominium Development
Writer: Anna Pratt

When Peter Haakon Thompson stepped in as the curator and host for Intermedia Arts’ new coworking area, called ArtsHub, he focused on getting the place physically ready.  

He wanted to do away with its office look to create a more welcoming workplace for artists, organizers, and others who are interested in social change. “A big part of what I did was create a 'place' out of 'space',” he says.

ArtsHub, which opened last month following a September preview, is housed both within Intermedia and in a separate building behind it, which is referred to as ArtsHub West. Both spaces have conference rooms and a kitchen, although ArtsHub West is geared more for small groups. From either location, people can copy, print, and access the Internet. 

Inside Intermedia, the mezzanine-level ArtsHub has a warm, cozy feeling. With an exposed ceiling and a balcony, it feels like a boat, Thompson says. “I like the idea that it’s an enclosed space that overlooks the lobby.”

It’s furnished with vintage tables and chairs that come from the University of Minnesota’s ReUse Center. Some of the tables look like they came from a biology classroom. Each table has a desk lamp.

In setting it up, Thompson paid attention to light, and how the eclectic furniture works together. “I felt like a curator of desks and chairs,” he says, adding that he hopes people will find a favorite nook.

He also placed one table in the gallery area. How that table gets used is “going to develop as time goes on, when ArtsHub is more part of the building.”

ArtsHub West involved more construction. Thompson took down the walls to make one large open space and installed items for a kitchen. The space also got a new coat of paint--inside and out--which is accentuated by stencil work.  “It has a funky artistic look,” he says.

Artist Ethan Arnold, who painted the lime-green exterior, has artwork showing inside.   

Now, Thompson is focused on programming for the spaces with skill-shares, table tennis, “grant jam days,” happy hours, and more--to facilitate interaction. “We want to provide another way for people to feel like they’re part of a community of other creative types.”
 

Source: Peter Haakon Thompson, ArtsHub curator, Intermedia Arts
Writer: Anna Pratt

The locally-based Greco Real Estate Development has a $32 million apartment building in the works for a vacant lot at 29th and Lyndale in Minneapolis.

The 170-unit complex would include 7,500 square feet of commercial space and 220 underground parking spaces, according to Finance and Commerce.

In the last several years, Greco had explored various development possibilities for the site, including a boutique office building and workforce housing, but those concepts didn’t pan out.

Since then, the plan has been scaled down.

In a recent Finance and Commerce story Greco's Arnie Gregory says that the current design will turn around a piece of land that is “kind of blighted looking.”

Signage for the upcoming project has been put up on the parcel that he describes in the story as the “last big piece of the neighborhood."

It’s an ideal location for apartments because “There’s a very, very high demand in this neighborhood. It’s just kind of the energy spot of town,” he adds.

On the Minnescraper Forums development discussion website, comments about redeveloping the vacant lot are positive: “That’s kinda nice…an improvement I’d say,” says someone who goes by mnmike.

Another comment, from mplser, reads: “I like it. lots of glass and it actually looks different from all of the recently built apartment buildings.”

Construction at 29th and Lyndale could get started as soon as March 2012, according to Finance and Commerce.

Right now, Greco also has a couple of other apartment projects underway in the area, including the resort-like Flux in Uptown and the redevelopment of the Holden Building in the North Loop.

The company was also behind Blue, a 242-unit building nearby that opened its doors in 2008.


Source: Finance and Commerce, Minnescraper Forums  
Writer: Anna Pratt

Mark Dwyer, an entrepreneur who lives in Minneapolis' Linden Hills neighborhood, sees dramatic changes in store for the corner of 43rd and Upton Avenue South in Minneapolis.

Dwyer, who also serves as the president of the Linden Hills Business Association, presented a proposal earlier this month to the neighborhood group, for a $22 million mixed-use development that he's dubbed Linden Corner, which has a website.

The mid-rise development would have 34 condos plus a restaurant and commercial and office space on the ground level.

Linden Corner would replace the Famous Dave's restaurant on the site--the location where the barbecue business started--along with a nearby office building.

Dwyer says that the building will stand out for quality materials and details such as a decorative cornice, upper-floor step-backs and high ceilings. "We're designing it in such a way that it'll read three floors instead of five," he says.

The first-time developer has been working on the plan for several years, which he plans to make as green as possible, though he says those specifics are still coming together. 

Already he's found plenty of interested buyers for the condos. "There's a huge need for this type of housing in the neighborhood," which he adds is especially appealing to empty-nesters who want to downsize without leaving Linden Hills.
 
Part of what makes the development in this location ideal is its proximity to the 50th and France business district, Uptown and the Lake Harriet Band Shell plus bike, bus and walking paths. 

In developing the plans, Dwyer is working with TEA2 Architects, who are based nearby, along with a civil engineer and landscaper who are both also neighborhood-based. "We're as local as we can be and we really care," he says. 

In the neighborhood, "There's such an opportunity to tie this corner in better with the other three corners," he says, adding, "That's what this does. It really completes the energy for the corners."

Dwyer hopes to break ground within a year, so that the place would be occupied by the fall of 2013.

A commenter on an online forum called Minnescraper Forums agrees that the development could have a positive impact on the corner. The user, who goes by nmhood, writes, "I believe we should concentrate on tactical, piecemeal urbanism--not large downtown residential projects. Not to say we can't have both, but I feel there is still a higher demand for this Linden Hills-style development in Minneapolis."

Source: Mark Dwyer, developer, and Minnescraper Forums
Writer: Anna Pratt

HUGE Improv, an improvisational actors troupe that originated at the Brave New Workshop's comedy theater in 2005, has taken its company to the next level with a new permanent home in Minneapolis's Uptown area.

Until the group opened its doors in December 2010 at 30th and Lyndale Avenue South, it had to compete for time and attention at various venues throughout the week, according to Butch Roy, who leads HUGE Improv.  

After working to build up the weekly "Improv-a-go-go" program at the Brave New Workshop, showcasing various troupes, and an improv festival that's now in its fifth year, the group decided to go for a place of its own. "You can only grow so big before you have to risk it and make the big change," he says, adding, "There was a lot of enthusiasm for long-form improv and then came the decision to make the leap."  

Now, HUGE Improv is able to share its stage with many other performers, often hosting multiple shows daily.

But the nonprofit group, which is entirely volunteer-driven, is still fundraising for improvements to its all-black-painted theater, which, in traditional style, has just a slightly elevated stage and 100 seats on one level, according to Roy. Previously a retail space, the 4,000 square feet also includes a backstage area and a lobby, while the bar is still in progress (along with the accompanying beer and wine license), he says.

Altogether, the completed aspects of the build-out totaled $26,000, according to Roy. Earlier on, the group was quoted $67,000 for the work, but HUGE Improv was able to make up the difference with lots of donations and volunteer time, on everything from paint to drapes, he says.

The locally based Shelter Architecture even contributed design services, which was a big help. However, HUGE Improv still needs financial support to offset its construction costs, he says.  

Like many other businesses and organizations, HUGE Improv went through a rough period during the recession, where it incurred a lot of debt. Instead of getting bogged down by that, though, "We try to stay focused on the sense of play that makes it fun," he says, adding, "We want to be ourselves with the audience."  

Source: Butch Roy, president, HUGE Improv
Writer: Anna Pratt