[Markitect]

The project has, and will be located in the same general area--on Municipal Pier, just south and east of the Art Museum. As to where exactly on the Pier it will be located (at the eastern tip, or along the southern edge, or somewhere else nearby) I have no idea.

The criticism about obstructing views of the lake came about because of the building's opaqueness. Most of the facade of the building was a solid white mass with small slivers of windows. It was definitley a valid criticism when the building was located at the far eastern tip of the pier (as seen in the third picture above). Earlier this year, the design was proposed to be relocated slightly, to the southern edge of the pier (as seen in the first rendering and model pictured above), but that brought on a different set of issues.

Also at the time, the City was in lease negotiations with the Pieces of Eight restaurant, which also shares the Pier with the project (which is not depicted in any of the images above). It was unsettled at the time whether the restaurant would continue to operate there and if the City would kick them out (they were behind on their lease payments owed to the City at the time). That conflict was eventually settled, Pieces of Eight stays put, and that also affects the configuration of Municipal Pier and the proposed Pier Wisconsin building.

I think an architetcural competition for the Pier Wisconsin project will bring forth an interesting set of designs, based on who some of the architects are (see article). A building located at such a promoinent location in the city's "front yard" must be carefully designed. I was not a fan of the original design and thought is was far from perfect, less so because it appeared to mimic certain elements of the Art Museum (white colored, mast sturcuture, cables), but because it really did obsturct lake views (the renderings above are misleading because they are all taken from viewpoints at which people would never be able to view the building) and the sloping white facades were almost entirely opaque.