MILWAUKEE | Development News

[Markitect]

Originally Posted by CG5

I hate D'Amato.

Care to elaborate?

I agree with his stance on the Harley museum project. He's not against the museum or Harley; he's just asking for a better urban design. Being such an important figure in the city, Harley really should give some condiseration as to how its proposed museum will be placed in the city.

He's concerned about the quality of the built environment, moreso than other alderpersons in the city. He doesn't just approve projects for the sake of getting something built regardless of their design (no project should be approved in that manner); he wants to emphasize good urban design...just like Norquist did, just like Peter Park, just like Bob Greenstreet, just like what you ought to be learning at school. Nothing wrong with that.

Or is your hatred toward him based on something else?

[CityGawd5]

Two words: "student ghetto."

[theodore]

Apologies if this was discussed somewhere earlier in this thread, but what's going on at North and Prospect where that old Ford Dealership used to be? Maybe it's been vacant for a while, but I just noticed it for the first time yesterday when I passed through town.

[Markitect]

That particular site is going to be redeveloped with a new mixed-use building in conjunction with the forthcoming new Columbia-St. Mary's Hospital complex that will be going up across the street.

[Markitect]

Once again, many articles to share today...

First up, a really great profile of Robert Greenstreet, Dean of the School of Architecture and Urban Planning at UW-Milwaukee, whom Mayor Barret recently appointed to become City Architect/Planner (pending Common Council approval).

From today's Business Journal (a four-pager): UWM's Greenstreet brings expertise, love of city to Milwaukee's future look

***

The Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission will once again study the possbility for a regional transit authority. The intention is to create a single entity to oversee financing, operation, planning, and development of transit issues; rather than the piecemeal, individual county-by-county, city-by-city, collection of agencies that exist today. A similar proposal in 1993 was rejected by County Boards throughout the area.

See this Business Journal article for more (two-pager): Planners revive study on regional authority for transit - Milwaukee County Board requested study to relieve property tax burden

***

Along with the growing number of riverfront condominium developments in Downtown Milwaukee, there is a growing number of riverside boat slips and marinas. Several have already been built, several are planned, and several are surely yet-to-be-proposed. A few environmental advocacy groups, while not opposed to the condo developments, are emphasizing the impotance of a riverfront plan--to better coordinate public versus private river access for pedestirans and boats, and to prevent adverse environmental effects on the city's waterways.

Read more about it in the Business Journal (three-pager): On the riverfront: Boat slips multiply with new condos along Milwaukee River

***

Over the past several years, the condo market in and around Downtown Milwaukee has been booming with new construction, rehabilitation, and conversions. Many more condos are in progress, and many more are on the way.

Is the market saturated; has it reached its peak for now? Is it time to start focusing on other types of housing/residents? How are developers and real estate people reacting? Find out in this article form the Business Journal (two-pager): Saturation in the city: Downtown condos still hot, but boom may have peaked

***

Despite those questions, plans for condo developments forge ahead, with Keybridge Development's proposal to build a 12-story condominium project in Walker's Point. The site at 106 W. Seeboth Street is prominantly located at the confluence of the Milwaukee and Menomonee Rivers, offering commanding views of Downtown, upstream a few blocks away.

The former Terminal Storage Company building now stands on the site, which will be incorporated into the overall project. Developers are planning to use the old building mainly as street-level retail space and a 263-car parking garage, while building a 5-story residnetial addition atop the northern end and a 7-story addition atop the southern end. The $60 million project, named First Place on the River (in reference to its location at the corner of Seeboth and First Streets), will have 184 units and 24 boat slips.

The previous owner of the building had plans last year for a similar rehabilitation-and-addition condo project (called Downtown Yacht Club), but recently sold his development rights to Keybridge, who made the current proposal. The Journal Sentinel ran an article about the previous proposal in April 2003. Below are two photos from that article, showing the rooftop view from the Terminal Storage building. Downtown is to the north, in the background; the Third Ward is to the east, on the right side.





See this Business Journal article for specifics (two-pager): Developer plans 12-story 3rd Ward condo (the title contains a mistake; this project is in Walker's Point, not the Third Ward)

[pip]

quote from the Milwaukee Business Journal:

From 2002 to 2005, developers have planned or constructed 2,352 condos valued at $739.4 million in four downtown-area aldermanic districts. That represents a huge increase over 2001, when 128 condo units were completed valued at $27 million.

Wow and holy shit Milwaukee!

[Markitect]

Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker has proposed demolishing the Courthouse Annex, which looms above the northbound lanes of I-43. The monolithic building holds a large parking garage, a telephone/call switching center, and some other County offices.

Walker would like the Annex demolished at state expense, since the freeway lanes and ramps which pass beneath the building are going to be rebuilt as part of the Maruqette Interchange reconstruction project. He questions whether the monolithic concrete building, which is already deteriorating, will be able to withstand the rigors and pounding of the nearby reconstruction. He says demolishing the Annex now for $22 million will prevent the building from deteriorating further. This is compared to waiting 10 years to tear it down (theoretically, when widening/rebuilding Milwaukee's aging freeway system would take place, which proposed plans, if approved, would require demolition of the Annex anyway) at a cost of $27 million; plus an extra $20 million spent over those ten years just to hold the building together that long.

The Wisconsin Department of Transportation is not interested in paying to tear down the Annex as part of the Marquette Interchange reconstruction project, which already has an $810 million price tag.

Read more in the Journal Sentinel article: Walker wants Courthouse Annex demolished - State should do it as part of freeway job, he says

***

So where does all of the stuff housed in the Courthouse Annex supposed to go if it would be demolished? In a newly proposed $75 million building at the other end of the Civic Center. County officials are exploring the possibility of erecting a building at N. 6th and W. State Streets that would house a parking garare, retail shops, and County offices relocated from the Courthouse Annex, the Courthouse itself, and office space currently being rented out at Schlitz Park.

More from the Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee County envisions $75 million building

***

Newly elected Aldreman Robert Bauman, a long-time transit advocate who represents the Downtown area, wants to see Milwaukee get a light rail line.

Bauman would like to see a 5-mile, $120 million starter-light rail line linking tourist attractions throughout the Menomonee Valley, and Downtown, and the Lakefront. This is in contrast to the current "Milwaukee Connector" study, which ruled out light rail for a 14.5-mile, $300 million electric guided-bus system (patterned after such systems being used in France) that would link the Menomonee Valley, Downtown, the Near North Side, and the East Side.

Bauman says now is the right time get light rail rolling along his proposed route, since it could be built in conjunction with the upcoming Canal Street reconstruction/extention project which runs the entire length of the Menomonee Valley.

As always, issues being raised include financial feasability, political support, and public support.

See the Journal Sentinel for more details: Rail line linking valley, lakefront proposed

Below is a map showing Alderman Bauman's proposed light rail route, and the proposed Milwaukee Connector electirc guided-bus route.

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by pip

quote from the Milwaukee Business Journal:

From 2002 to 2005, developers have planned or constructed 2,352 condos valued at $739.4 million in four downtown-area aldermanic districts. That represents a huge increase over 2001, when 128 condo units were completed valued at $27 million.

Wow and holy shit Milwaukee!

yeah, no kidding man, 2,300 is definitely an impressive number. milwaukee is on a roll.


re: light rail: while i'd love to see more rail transit additions to every city, looking at the map from markitect's post, it seems to me that the elctric guided bus system would actually do more to better serve the neighborhoods and PEOPLE of milwaukee. a light rail line connecting miller to the clalatrava with a stop off at the bingo hall would be great for tourists, but otherwise, a light rail line running in the menomonee valley might have trouble attracting daily commuters/users.

any input on this issue mark, you know craploads more about the city than i do?

[Markitect]

That was one of the criticisms brought up in the accompanying article, Steely--one with which I happen to agree.

This proposed light rail (which would be streetcar in nature) is much more "tourist-oriented" in that it really only connects touristy destination points; it doesn't serve many on-line residential areas, save for a few pockets in Downtown (most of the Downtown routing runs through retail, convention, and office areas). Alderman Bauman would like to see the light rail line run down Canal Street, through the Menomonee Valley, most of which will be redeveloped as a modern urban industrial/office park--in other words, a significant new employment center. However, the light rail line wouldn't do much in the way of getting employees to work there since it doesn't serve the places those employees live.

The proposed elecetic bus route does a much better job serving nearby residential neighbohroods, on the Near North, Near West, and East Sides; and connects them not only to Downtown, but to the Menomonee Valley as well, where that concentration of new jobs will one day get developed.

Part of the reason the City is pushing so hard to turn the Valley into a new 21st century industrial center is because of the nearby workforce. The neighborhoods to te immediate north and south of the Valley contain have the highest concentration of unemployment in the state. So the new industrial development has the potential to create many family-sustaining jobs for those people. The routes along Walnut Street and Wisconsin Avenue at least address part of the issue, connecting those residents to jobs in the Valley (in addition to the regular bus routes that already make that connection, not shown on the map).

On the other hand, I'm pretty sure Ald. Bauman's light rail proposal is a "first phase" in what would become a more comprehensive system. It certainly has potential to become the "central spine" with future lines branching off of it (up the East Side to UWM, through the Near North and Near West Sides along Walnut Street and Fond du Lac Avenue, downt to the South Side/Airport along 6th Street or I-794--which was basically a description of a much more extensive LRT proposal from the 1990s, and probably even other earlier proposals form the 80s and 70s, which really starts to look like portions of the streetcar system we already had before they were replaced with buses and freeways!).

[CityGawd5]

It'd be nice to have a transit alternative...the busses are a bit slow. Not too bad, but driving is definately faster in many cases. I definately agree that the proposed lines don't make too much sense if they aren't expanded...while it's a great idea to run a mass transit line through the Valley (which will hopefully act as a catalyst for development...I'm assuming that's the theory), if the line doesn't run through the neighborhoods that the workers live in, it won't be too successful. But hey--this has all been said already.

As for the Annex...is that the building with the horrendous whale mural? Raze the fucker.

[UglymanCometh]

At least you've got something proposed..... we still can't get our "regionalized bus system" off the ground.

Milwaukee continues to show me much progressive thinking.

(fill in the blank)

Calcasieu

[Markitect]

Originally Posted by CG5

As for the Annex...is that the building with the horrendous whale mural? Raze the fucker.

That's the one. You can see where maintenance workers have chipped away at loose concrete over the years, to prevent chunks from falling onto the freeway, thus exposing some of the steel rebar in the concrete walls/pillars/ceiling.

It would be nice to see Annex demolished and a nice new building go up at 6th and State Streets.

Originally Posted by SuburbanCalcasieu

At least you've got something proposed..... we still can't get our "regionalized bus system" off the ground.

Milwaukee continues to show me much progressive thinking.

Unfortunately the last time Milwaukee was progressive in terms of it's transit system was back when it still had a rail transit system. Since it was whittled away and ultimately scrapped in the 1950s, somebody's always been proposing a new light rail system of some kind...but that's all they've ever been, just proposals, studies, and talks. Nothing ever comes from them.

Meanwhile, our existing bus system is continually hacked away little by little, while the fares increase.

It's very frustrating, and non-progressive.

[Markitect]

The Mandel Group, developers of the 34-story University Club Tower plan to commence construction on September 27. The luxury condo high-rise has already pre-sold 36 of its 56 units--or percent of the building (many at $1.5-plus million).

See this article from the Business Journal for more on University Club Tower specifics, plus some stats on its nextdoor neighbor, Kilbourn Tower, currently under construction: University Club Tower set for September

***

If given the opportunity to build a casino Downtown, Potawatomi tribe officials have said the tribe would also continue to maintain operations at its present casino in the Menomonee Valley. All of this is assuming that the current tribal gaming compacts dispute at the State-level come out in the tribe's favor, and that the City, State, and Federal goverments would approve a Downtwon casino--all of which are major hurdles to overcome. A Downtown casino site, most notable one in the old Park East Freeway corridor, has been touted by a few local politicians, business groups, and developers of the PabstCity project (which is just up the street from the potential casino site).

Meanwhile, PabstCity developers are asking the City to establish a $75 million TIF disctirct (tax incremental financing) for thier redevelopment project at the former brewery. Under a TIF, the City borrows money to pay for public improvements (sewer lines, street reconstruction, streetscaping, environmental clean-up, etc.) in a district deemed as blighted. The borrowed money is then paid back through the increased tax revenue generated by new development within the district over a period of time.

Some alrerman are growing concerned over the amount of TIFs being established throughout the city. Mayor Barrett would like to look into the matter some more to see how much the City should be involved.

Check out the Business Journal article for more info (two-pager): Tribe would keep valley casino - If Potawatomi go downtown, would maintain existing site

***

The US Department of Housing and Urban Development has awarded a $19.5 million Hope IV grant to the Milwaukee Housing Authority. The money will be used to construct 110 new units to replace 81 existing units in the Highland Park public housing development in Milwaukee's Midtown neighborhood. A majority of new units will be replacements for existing public housing units (which are typically low-rise apartment buildings), but there are also provisions for some single-family houses to be made available as afforadble housing to lower-income families, and some market-rate single-family houses.

This is the fourth such HUD grant Milwaukee has received since 1993. Previous grants have been applied to other public housing developments across the city. They have been quite successful at revitalizing public housing--making "the projects" look and feel less like "the projects," integrating them into the surrounding neighborhoods, rather than being an isolated enclave in the middle of urban neighborhoods.

Have a look at this article from the Business Journal for details, plus a few short blurbs about a retail development in Walker's Point in a former paint factory, and an unidentified nationally-known company that is looking to establish a call center in the city (two-pager): Housing Authority receives $19.5 million grant for new housing

[Markitect]

Where a freeway once stood, development will rise--60 acres, over $250 million worth of development expected.

After a delay lasting several months, the Common Council finally approved the Park East Redevelopment Plan--a series of documents which sets the framework (master plan, zoning regulations, development code, architectural guidelines, etc.) for how the former freeway corridor and surrounding blocks will be redeveloped.

While the plan itself was ready to be approved several months ago, the delay was due to debating whether a "community benefits agreement" should be included, which would have attached additonal regulations to developments that would occur in the area (requiring developers to hire minority workers, to provide jobs at union wages for non-union workers, mandates for affordable housing), which would likely drive up the cost of developments--or discourage development in the corridor all together, as some critics claimed. CBA supporters lost out, however, when the Common Council approved the Park East Redevelopment Plan with "no strings attached," which finally sets the ball rolling for redevelopment.

Now that the Redevelopment Plan has been approved, the City can now move ahead with subdividing each block into parcels that can be purchased by developers--which means we may start to see some proposals coming in for this land. Some additional site-preparation work still must be completed in order for the land to be put up for sale, but that should be ready later in the year.

Read this article from the Journal Sentinel for more: Council OKs Park East plan without conditions - 'Community benefits' development proposal rejected by aldermen

Also check out the Milwaukee Department of City Development's Park East webpage to get all the details about the redevelopment effort--project newsletters, freeway demolition before/after photos, public presnetation model photos, as well as the Redevelopment Plan documents themselves: Park East Redevelopment Project

***

Developers from Key Bridge Group are planning to construct a $25 million, 8-story,76-unit condo project very close to the Park East corridor. The project, called 601 Lofts (it's address will be 601 E. Ogden Avenue), will be built on an empty lot at the northern edge of Downtown. Developers have already started marketing the condos, and hope to start construction this November.

See the Journal Sentinel article for more: Condos planned for Park East area - Construction expected to start in November on $25 million project

[Markitect]

Big Bend Development has expressed interest in redeveloping an existing property within the Park East area. The developer is looking at a site now occupied by the Milwaukee Center for Independence--an agency that serves disabled people, which will be relocating to the West Side later this year. The Center is on E. Ogden Avenue between N. Broadway and N. Milwaukee Street. No specific plans have been made yet; several development scenarios for the site are being laid out for mixed-use development.

Check out the Journal Sentinel for additional info: Another developer looks at project for Park East area

[Markitect]

The Park East corridor was expected to become a hot spot for development, and things are definitely heating up.

Many developers anticipated prime opportunities, so they purchased land/buildings in the blocks surrounding the Park East Freeway before it was even demolished (statring in June 2002) and before the Common Council had established development regulations/guidelines for the area (June 2004):

- The Mandel Group is moving forward with a previously-proposed $100 million plan to replace the former Pfister & Vogel tannery complex on N. Water Street with a mixed-use development that includes at least 500 condos and apartments. Demolition of the vacant tannery buildings and environmental remediation is expected to begin later this year. Mandel had already bought the site in 2001.

- Garot Hospitality Inc. is reviewing its previous plans to build a Country Inn & Suites hotel (a small one, so far, 85-to-100 rooms) on N. Old World 3rd Street, near W. Juneau Avenue. Garot had already bought the site in 2001.

- New Land Enterprises has plans for a condo conversion in an industrial building on N. ML King Drive. The plans are on hold right now, though, as New Land has it's plate full with a few development projects in progress on the East Side and elsewhere Downtown. New Land had already bought the building in 2002.

Those are in addition to the recent propsals in the last week:

- Key Bridge Group's condominium proposal, called 601 Lofts, at 601 E. Odgen Street.

- Big Bend Development's unspecified development on the site of the Milwaukee Center for Independence.

- An unspecified developer has agreed to buy a small warehouse building on N. Edison Street.

See this Journal Sentinel article for more information, which also talks a bit about how the demolition and infrastructure costs for the Park East have escalated: Pace picking up after council's vote - Unity urged in pushing Park East development

[Markitect]

The Kenilworth Building, a large warehouse now owned by the University of Wisconsin--Milwaukee, will be redeveloped into student housing, classrooms, street-level retail, and condominiums. UWM currently uses the building mostly for storage as well as some off-campus studio/classroom space for its art school. The Kenilworth Building is located on E. Kenilworth Place, between N. Farwell and N. Prospect Avenues--about a mile south of UWM's campus.

Weas Development plans to cut the existing 5-story building in half, creating two buildings with an open garden space in between. The west building (fronting Farwell Avenue) will contain street-level retail, parking, and housing for graduate, married, and international students (including a two-story addition onto the roof). The east building (fronting Prospect Avenue) will contain street-level retail, parking, and classroom/gallery space for UWM's Peck School of the Arts. In addition, Weas plans to build 20 to 30 condominiums in a new building to be built along the bike trail at the southern edge of the site.

Weas and UWM are currently working with the City to secure all the necessary permits. The project is expected to be completed by Fall 2006.

See this Journal Sentinel article for more: State OKs overhaul of east side building

And also this article from the Business Journal (two-pager): Weas to split Kenilworth, add condo building - UWM structure will house students, retail, parking

Below is a picture of the existing Kenilworth Building.

[theodore]

^ That's good news, but I'll have to snap a few shots of the artwork on that building before it's cleaned up.

[CityGawd5]

Mark--how close are they going to stick to the proposal made by that SARUP student a few years ago? I've seen the model...I think it was a grad student's thesis project. Anyways, it looks really cool.

I read that article while I was at work...I tore the damn thing out of the newspaper, but you still beat me to posting it.

[Markitect]

Originally Posted by CG5

Mark--how close are they going to stick to the proposal made by that SARUP student a few years ago? I've seen the model...I think it was a grad student's thesis project. Anyways, it looks really cool.

Doing something to the Kenilworth Building has been the subject of a few SARUP projects/studios. I don't know how close this real-life plan will be to any of those, though.