MILWAUKEE | Development News

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by DeBaliviere

Why does every article about Milwaukee have to mention Happy Days and Laverne & Shirley?

i think it's because those two TV shows are the most enduring cultural references to milwaukee that exist in america at large, for better or worse. the fact that so many still associate milwaukee with those TV shows decades after they were last aired shows just how wildly popular Happy Days and Laverne & Shirley actually were.

but you do have a bit of a point about people not being able to let it go. i mean the mary tyler moore show was EXTREMELY popualr in its day, yet minneapolis has been able to out grow the fact that it was the setting for the show. milwaukee still walks with its happy days/laverne and shirley shadows.

[Markitect]

Milwaukee County continues to search for a site to consolidate its administrative offices, which are currently spread across different locations throughout Downtown--notably at the Courthouse Annex (which has expensive maintainence issues) and at Schlitz Park (which cost $3+ million/year in rent).

Earlier this year, County officials announced one possible alternative would be a new office building and parking garage to be built on a County-owned surface parking lot at N. 6th and W. State Streets, in the Civic Center area. A new alternative under consideration is office space within the proposed PabstCity complex, a few blocks to the north.

Both options would allow the County to demolish the Courthouse Annex and discontinue leasing space at Schlitz Park. However, neither option would be chosen if studies reveal they wouldn't save taxpayers money.

Read about it in the Journal Sentinel: County may move offices to PabstCity - Idea could save taxpayers money, Walker aide says

[theodore]

Anything going on lately?

[cubercle]

at the time of this posting theodore had exactly 1000 more posts than me.

[CityGawd5]

He still does.

[theodore]

Not anymore.

[cubercle]

[MSPtoMKE]

Oops! whats the cross street?

[neqquah]

I think it's Teutonia Ave. Was anyone killed in that accident?




btw, I was on Water and Wells last night and saw a very similar accident. The victim of the accident crawled out of his car (which was upside down, btw) and he only suffered a busted lip.

The guy that hit him took off, but left his bumper laying on the street with the LISENCE PLATE still attatched!


and yeah, the cops have the lisence plate.

[CityGawd5]

Hey, did anyone catch the housing expo this weekend? I couldn't make it...I didn't find out about it until Thursday, and I already had plans for Saturday.

Just to let y'all know, there's a somewhat interesting pull-out section on downtown neighborhoods (East Town, Westown, Brewer's Hill/Brady Street, and the Third Ward) in the most recent Biz Journal.

[Markitect]

Originally Posted by CG5

Hey, did anyone catch the housing expo this weekend? I couldn't make it...I didn't find out about it until Thursday, and I already had plans for Saturday.

Just to let y'all know, there's a somewhat interesting pull-out section on downtown neighborhoods (East Town, Westown, Brewer's Hill/Brady Street, and the Third Ward) in the most recent Biz Journal.

Thanks for bringing things back on topic.

Yes, I did catch a bit of the Downtown Housing Expo and Open House this past weekend. I didn't go on any tours, but stopped by the booths set up at Pere Marquette Park where a bunch of developers and real estate firms had lots of information to give and brochures to hand out.

Of particular note...

Architects/developers Vetter Denk broke ground for its Park Terrace project in the Beerline area along N. Commerce Street this weekend. The development consists of 21 row houses and 16 single-family homes carved into the bluff near Kilbourn Park, overlooking the Milwaukee River.











^ Renderings of the Park Terrace Row Houses and Bluff Homes.

***

The Mandel Group is caring the RiverCrest condos into the riverside bluff just up the street. RiverCrest broke ground this past spring at the corner of N. Humboldt Boulevard and E. Commerce Street, next to the Jewel-Osco.

***

Wescott Real Estate and Vetter Denk are in the marketing stages for Union Point, which will be the first mixed-use building for the Beerline area. It is a retail/residential building that will be built at the corner of N. Humboldt Boulevard and E. Commerce, right in between the Park Terrace and RiverCrest projects.

***

Further downstream in the Third Ward, the Mandel Group is marketing for the Marine Terminal Lofts, which is a rehabilitation/new construction project. The existing 3-story building at N. Broadway and E. Erie Street will be renovated, with two new stories built on top of that. An extension of the RiverWalk and a new public plaza is planned to be built with this and neighborhing projects.



^ A rendering showing the Marine Terminal Lofts along the river in the Third Ward.

***

New Land Development has plans to break ground on the 10-story CityGreen Condominiums later this year. The condo tower is in the 1100 block of N. Marhsall Street in East Town. It is expected to be completed in 2006.

Earlier this year, New Land also broke ground for an 11-story mixed-use retail/condo tower known as the Strerling, at the corner of N. Farwell and E. Royall Place.



^ A rendering of the Sterling Condominiums.


More later...

[CityGawd5]

I'm likin' those rowhouses. The new housing in the Beerline/Brewer's Hill area is pretty funky. In a good way, of course.

[MSPtoMKE]

Hmmm, didnt hear about the housing fair this year. Last year my urban planning prof told me about it so i did go then and it was interesting. I dont remember it being so early in the year last year. I like those first rowhouses posted the best, i think. CG, if you havent seen it already, there is an exhibition in the SARUP gallery about housing by Johnsen Schmaling Architects, it is pretty interesting.

[Markitect]

The Housing Expo was around the same time as last year--third weekend in September, the same day as the Milwaukee River Challenge rowing races through Donwtown (this year with two Olympic gold medalists from Wisconsin).

I also like the stuff Vetter Denk has been designing/developing in the Beerline, including the River Homes, River Court, and the Milwaukee Rowing Club facility that's already been built. They're good examples of new urbanist developments that aren't so hokey-looking with pasted-on ornamentation and fake-historic styles. Johnsen and Schmaling used to work for Vetter Denk before starting their own firm, and so they worked on some of the Beerline stuff.

[theodore]

Is that Sterling building the one next to Pizza Shuttle?

[cubercle]

[CityGawd5]

theodore -- yes it is. I wonder if you'll still be able to see the Dali-esque pizza mural once the Sterling goes up. That mural's got character.

Markitect -- Is the Milwaukee Rowing Club building the glassy one that's sort of underground, with the floor-to-ceiling windows facing the river? I love the way that looks at night. And what do you know about the condo (?) building across the river from what I presume to be the rowing club; the yellowish and green one with the funky skybridge on the top levels?

M2M -- I haven't seen it yet. I'll have to check it out after work on Wednesday.

OH, and btw UWM Arch students...you know who you are...if you want to see a circus, stop by the RC in the coming weeks. THe 100 model projects have just been assigned, and the current crop of freshmen seem to be taking it seriously. I've "helped" 25-30 people the past three times I've worked. From what I remember, it was never this busy last year.

[Markitect]

Originally Posted by CG5

Is the Milwaukee Rowing Club building the glassy one that's sort of underground, with the floor-to-ceiling windows facing the river? I love the way that looks at night.

Yes, that's the rowing club's boathouse. It opened about a year ago, in time for last year's river race.

And what do you know about the condo (?) building across the river from what I presume to be the rowing club; the yellowish and green one with the funky skybridge on the top levels?

That's another one of New Land's developments--the Highbridge Condominiums, on N. Water Street. And their Riverbridge condos are under construction just up the street on that side of the river.

[Tom In Chicago]

Is this upside down cars thing some kind of new 'fad' that I'm not too old to care about? If so Milwaukee sure is on the cutting edge of it. . . wow!

[CityGawd5]

Uh oh...someone post some more flipped cars...the Flint thread is catching up to us.