MILWAUKEE | Development News

[eastsider2]

Milwaukee Public Library completes Green Roof
JSonline.com


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Panel approves engineering for Milwaukee streetcar
JSonline.com
The Milwaukee Connector study committee voted, 3-1, to seek Federal Transit Administration approval for the engineering work on the streetcar, which would link downtown attractions to the lower east side with trips every 10 or 15 minutes, from early morning to late at night, seven days a week, for $1 a ride.






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First Retailers open at North End
Biz Times

The first retailers at the first phase of the North End development have opened. Upon completion, the $200 million North End neighborhood is targeted to include 500 residences; 30,000 to 50,000 square feet of retail and a quarter mile of riverwalk. Mandel anticipates construction of the second phase of the project to begin by the end of this year.

Phase 1


Phase 2 - Public Plaza

[johns866]

Originally Posted by eastsider2

Where's the building on Farwell? I might be able to tell you what's going on. I believe the road construction is part of ongoing project from the city to convert one-way streets to two-way downtown to improve pedestrian experience.

Sorry, the building is Kenilworth Place, and they just seemed to be renovating the one storefront. Didn't know about the street project; do you think they're readying for a trolley system while they're at it?

[eastsider2]

Alterra plan in bay view includes office space

[eastsider2]

All projects currently under-construction. Doesn't include projects under construction but stalled due to the economy.

Building: Saint John's on the Lake
Neighborhood: Eastside / Prospect Ave


Building: Eckstein Hall - Marquette
Neighborhood: Downtown



Building: Discovery Learning Complex - Marquette
Neighborhood: Downtown


Building: Empowerment Village
Neighborhood:



Building: US Bank Parking Garage
Neighborhood: Downtown



Building: Columbia St Mary's Hospital
Neighborhood: Eastside / North Ave



Building: Eerie Street Bamboo Plaza
Neighborhood: Thirdward



Building: Horny Goat Restaurant Patio Build-Out
Neighborhood: Walker's Point


Building: Latitude Apartments
Neighborhood: Eastside / North Ave



Building: Job Corps Center
Neighborhood:





Building: Jackson Square Apartments
Neighborhood: Third Ward



Building: Cambridge Commons
Neighborhood: Eastside / North Ave



Project: Humboldt Ave Bridge
Neighborhood: East Side

[eastsider2]

Marcus Center revives plan for parking structure redevelopment
Biz Journal

Officials at the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Milwaukee are reintroducing a proposed mixed-use redevelopment of the center’s parking garage in hopes that developers will again see the project’s potential in an improving economy.

Previous proposal (Ovation Plaza)

[eastsider2]

Groundbreaking for Valley Passage



A groundbreaking ceremony was held Tuesday to celebrate the start of construction for the Valley Passage, which will improve pedestrian access between the Menomonee Valley in Milwaukee and the residential neighborhood to the south.

[eastsider2]

A groundbreaking ceremony is being held this morning to celebrate the start of construction of a 140,000-square-foot manufacturing center for Bilbao, Spain-based Ingeteam Inc. in the Menomonee Valley in Milwaukee.
Will be used to manufacture generators and converters for wind turbines and solar power inverters.

Biz Times

[eastsider2]

Update on the Gold's Gym project downtown:

Renderings





The city will be spending $3,053,992 for the purposes of renovating 480 linear feet of Riverwalk. Construction begins this year.

Legistar File # 091567

[eastsider2]

Water School Project Tests University's Budget
The Daily Reporter





The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee might not have enough money to renovate and expand the Great Lakes Research Facility.

The state approved a $50 million budget for the university to build a 125,000-square-foot addition to the research building in Milwaukee. The addition would be the first half of a new UW-Milwaukee School of Freshwater Sciences.

But the building and addition are large structures, and university planners envision a large central commons area to blend the old and new buildings, said Christopher Gluesing, assistant director of the UW-Milwaukee office of university architects and planning.

“It needs to kind of have a heart to it,” he said, “that holds it all together.”

Planners want to simultaneously build the addition and renovate the area of the old building that will connect to the central commons area, Gluesing said. That would ensure all four walls of the commons match.

...

[eastsider2]

New model of the Moderne (now in prep):

[Nowhereman1280]

^^^ Speaking of Moderne:


Moderne high-rise loan guarantee wins final OK, work to begin soon

By Tom Daykin of the Journal Sentinel
Aug. 27, 2010 1:10 p.m. |(27) COMMENTS

The final approval for a federal loan guarantee to finance the planned downtown Moderne apartment high-rise has just been granted by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, an agency spokeswoman told me Friday afternoon.

That approval paves the way for developer Rick Barrett to begin building the Moderne, which will have 203 apartments and 14 condos at the southwest corner of W. Juneau Ave. and N. Old World 3rd St. It will be among the largest construction projects currently happening in the Milwaukee area.

HUD's local office granted preliminary approval last fall for the guarantee, which applies to a $41.4 million loan from the AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trust. The Common Council in November approved $9.3 million in city loans for the Moderne, which also will have at least $4.3 million in equity financing from Barrett and his partners.

Barrett had scheduled a February groundbreaking on the project.



Its astounding to me that they can throw up a 33 story highrise in Milwaukee for a good deal less than $100 million. Same building in Chicago would be $150 million.

[Nowhereman1280]

^^^ Since that piece of fantastic news caught no one's attention, maybe this will:
Area retail real estate market sees little change in 2nd quarter

The Milwaukee area's retail real estate market saw virtually no change for the second quarter compared to the first quarter of 2010, according to a new report issued by CoStar Group.

The vacancy rate remained at 6.7% when the latest quarter ended June 30, the report said. Quoted rental rates decreased from first quarter 2010 levels, ending at $11.73 per square foot per year. That was a decline of 1.2% from $11.87.

Milwaukee's northwest side had the highest vacancy rate for submarkets, at 16.3%.

The submarket with the lowest vacancy rate was the east side of downtown, at 2.3%, with downtown's west side reporting a 3% vacancy rate.

http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/business/98840044.html

These are rock bottom numbers. I don't think downtown Chicago has ever had a 2.3% vacancy rate in any sector in any market in any time in the past... Clearly there is plenty of demand for urban retail in Milwaukee, a trend which bodes well for more retail rich, pedestrian oriented neighborhoods.

[Tom In Chicago]

Originally Posted by Nowhereman1280

These are rock bottom numbers. I don't think downtown Chicago has ever had a 2.3% vacancy rate in any sector in any market in any time in the past... Clearly there is plenty of demand for urban retail in Milwaukee, a trend which bodes well for more retail rich, pedestrian oriented neighborhoods.

I think it's all about market absorption. . .

. . .

[Nowhereman1280]

^^^ Yeah, that and Milwaukee doesn't have the massive retail liquidity that Chicago does. It takes supply longer to respond to demand when the total supply is not very large.

[johns866]

Great to hear the news about the Moderne, though. Looking forward to something growing in the frozen wastes this winter!

[eastsider2]

GM Today had some new information about Kane Commons. Excerpt from the article:

Each of the sustainable development’s 12 units is unique in architecture and intent, from a historic rehab streetside to the dramatic bluff houses along the Milwaukee River to Kohler’s own eco-friendly home. They range in size from 1,200 to 3,300 square feet and are built around a common courtyard.


Each building in the Kane Commons development is unique in architecture, says architect Russell LaFrombois III. "Julilly (Kohler) had always envisioned a group of diverse people living here. I took that as a lead."



Several of the units in the Kane Commons development feature a view of the Milwaukee River. The bluff has been restored with nearly all native plants that help to slow stormwater runoff into the river.

[eastsider2]

According to the Biz Journal:

The Iron Horse Hotel of Milwaukee was named “Boutique Hotel of the Year” by the Boutique & Lifestyle Lodging Association.

The motorcycle-themed hotel said it was recognized for excellence in six categories: design and architecture; sustainability; food and beverage; customer service; marketing and sales and operational performance.

[eastsider2]

According to the Journal Sentinel, Johnson Controls's recent expansion in Glendale (suburb of Milwaukee), has recently been awarded the Platinum LEED certification. And for the second time in three years, Wisconsin is home to the greenest building in the nation, based on a scorecard developed by the U.S. Green Building Council.

[eastsider2]

Milwaukee got a shout out in the New York Post, on an article focusing on Urban Renewal. Excerpt:

"People have been writing about Milwaukee 2.0 for a long time now, but only recently has the city that’s perhaps known best for people that didn’t exist — Laverne, Shirley, The Fonz — ambled out of the 1980s and into the 21st century...

But hip? Never. That’s changed. These days, Milwaukee feels like it’s finally back in the game, innovating and restoring and renewing and just damn fun to spend time with."

[eastsider2]

Ballet, MCW, UWM join forces for downtown arts, clinic space
Milwaukee Biz Journal

The Milwaukee Ballet Company will join with Froedtert & Medical College of Wisconsin, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s Peck School of the Arts and other potential partners under a plan that will create a new downtown hub of arts, arts education and wellness activity within the next five years.

The plan, dubbed the “Harmony Initiative,” will create a single space in downtown Milwaukee — specifically the North Water Street corridor — to house the Ballet’s new administrative offices, its school and rehearsal space combined with a Froedtert & Medical College of Wisconsin sports medicine clinic.