View the PDF Invitation or see below for more details. Registration is required.

An Elegant, Historically Inspired Dinner Served in the Grand Ballroom, 7PM
Punch, Frivolities

Puree of fresh peas, dite saint-germain
Filet of Kennebec Salmon – sliced tomatoes, cucumbers, potatoes, anchovy mayonnaise

Cutlets of young turkey, cream sauce with green peppercorns; Cauliflower polonaise, asparagus, oyster stuffing, sweet potatoes, Peach Melba

Please let us know if you require a vegetarian dinner.

Presentation

Featuring a video by Aurum Design to introduce a talk with The Pfister’s General Manager Joe Kurth, and Honoree Mr. Greg Marcus.

Remarkable Milwaukee

Monday, November 2nd, 2009 at The Pfister Hotel

With guests of honor Mr. Greg Marcus, President and CEO of The Marcus Corporation, and Mr. Joe Kurth, General Manager of The Pfister Hotel.

An event to honor The Pfister Hotel and The Marcus Corporation while supporting Historic Milwaukee’s Mission to increase awareness of and commitment to Milwaukee’s history, architecture, and the preservation of our built environment.

Remarkable Reception 5PM
Cash Bar, Hors d’oeuvres, and music by The Neil Davis Duo

Silent Auction in the Hall of Presidents to support Historic Milwaukee, Inc.
History Tour with Concierge Peter Mortensen

First tour begins at 5PM
“As concierge for over 24 years, Mr. Mortensen is sought after today to lead special historical tours of the building. He knows a thing or two about what makes this hotel tick…”

Art Tour with Artist-in-Residence Reginald Baylor

First tour begins at 5PM

Reginald Baylor will give guests a tour of The Pfister Hotel’s Victorian Art Collection through the eyes of an artist. Learn about Mr. Baylor’s creative process and view his work; you will see The Pfister’s collection of paintings through new eyes.

Afterglow at The Pfister Hotel’s Blu Bar, 9PM
Join Historic Milwaukee and the music of the Neil Davis Duo while we imbibe one of the best sky-high views of Milwaukee at Blu Bar.

If you picked up a newspaper in Milwaukee in the past month, you would think that roundabouts were a danger to society.  Headlines have ranged from “Are roundabouts dangerous? So far, yes“  to “Roundabouts take off but still throw drivers a curve.”  You would have missed a critical point though, roundabouts are improving safety for those on the roads.

What roundabout is drawing the most ire in the region?  Perhaps the first one built in Milwaukee at the south end of the Sixth Street Viaduct? Nope, cars, buses, and trucks sail through that roundabout smoothly.  The one at Canal and 25th in the Menomonee Valley after Brewer games? No post-game traffic jams there.

The most hated roundabout in the area lies at the Moorland Road off-ramps on Interstate 43 in New Berlin. The numbers don’t lie, there have been more car accidents at that intersection since the roundabout was implemented.

With 49 crashes at the I-43 and Moorland/Rock Ridge roads roundabout since it opened in November 2007 while still under construction, it’s not a stretch to say things got off to a bumpy start.

…

The old freeway intersection had 29 crashes in nearly eight years before the roundabout, according to New Berlin Police Chief Joseph Rieder. And the Moorland-Rock Ridge roads intersection had 13 crashes between June 2002 and November 2007.

Why have there been more accidents? The most likely reason is the intersection was under construction during a significant portion of that time.  Second, and something for which data isn’t readily available, a number of people are likely being introduced to roundabouts for the first time. It would be interesting to see how many of the 49 crashes involved a first-time roundabout driver.

But there is a significant detail about the accidents that is being largely glanced over in the reports on Moorland Road, accidents that involve injuries are becoming a thing of the past. From 2002-2007, one of the two intersections that was combined to create the Moorland Road/Rock Ridge roundabout had 54% of its accidents end with an injury. The new roundabout only has 6% of accidents that end in an injury.

How? Well that’s the simple and thankfully repeatable part, roundabouts work by moving all of the cars in the same direction, eliminating the dangerous t-bone crash.

So while the new roundabout has necessitated the need for a few bumpers to be touched up, it’s eliminated numerous trips to the doctor. And it’s likely the need for bumper repair will fade with time as drivers become more accustomed to the intersections.

Despite NIMBY opposition in suburbs and urban neighborhoods alike, it’s clear roundabouts are an effective way to improve intersection safety for drivers.

Urban Milwaukee’s Upcoming Events & Meetings Calendar should help you keep up to date on important events effecting our neighborhoods, the City of Milwaukee, and our region.

October 12, 2009

Milwaukee Leaf Collection

October 12, 2009 3:00 pm

Autumn has arrived and the leaves are falling.

Milwaukee residents can rake leaves into the curbs starting today, Thursday, Oct. 1st. Dept. of Public Works crews will begin collecting the leaves on Monday, Oct. 12th.

October 13, 2009

Joint Public Hearing

October 13, 2009 6:00 pm

A Joint Public Hearing will be held by the Common Council and the Mayor on Tuesday, October 13, 2009 at 6:00 P.M. in the Common Council Chambers, third floor, City Hall, 200 E. Wells Street, relative to the proposed year 2010 Executive Budget.

October 14, 2009

Green Drinks

October 14, 2009 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm

Green Drinks Milwaukee will meet next Wednesday, October 14, 2009 from 5 – 7 p.m. at the Milwaukee Ale House, 233 N. Water Street. Depending on the weather, Green Drinks will either meet outside at the lower river level, or at the upstairs bar.

Join like-minded people in an informal and unstructured setting to talk about [...]

A Joint Public Hearing will be held by the Common Council and the Mayor on Tuesday, October 13, 2009 at 6:00 P.M. in the Common Council Chambers, third floor, City Hall, 200 E. Wells Street, relative to the proposed year 2010 Executive Budget.

Green Drinks Milwaukee will meet next Wednesday, October 14, 2009 from 5 – 7 p.m. at the Milwaukee Ale House, 233 N. Water Street.   Depending on the weather, Green Drinks will either meet outside at the lower river level, or at the upstairs bar.

Join like-minded people in an informal and unstructured setting to talk about the latest sustainability happenings in Milwaukee and globally. Meet people in various green professions. Have a drink (alcoholic or not), order food (or not), but enjoy lively conversations and good ideas.

Anyone interested in green and sustainability is welcome.  No RSVP is necessary.

http://www.greendrinks.org/

How water is woven into the fabric of Milwaukee’s past, present and future.

An evening with John Gurda telling the story of how Great Lakes freshwater, numerous rivers and rich and abundant habitat was a cornucopia for many Native American tribes and European immigrants to gather and settle in Milwaukee. These waters were highways for transportation of settlers and record number of goods worldwide on canoes, schooners and large Great Lakes vessels.

Water was the elixir our ancestors used to brew volumes of world class beer, process meat into rich old world sausages and brats and hides into leather goods and drive the industry that made Milwaukee famous. Milwaukee’s future is even brighter as we are positioning ourselves to become the Freshwater Technology Hub of the World.

John is a resident of Bay View and Milwaukee native, and well-known author, Milwaukee historian, Journal Sentinel columnist, and creator of the ”Making of Milwaukee” a successful Public Television 2-part series. Gurda is also the winner of the Wisconsin Historical Society’s Award of Merit.

Presentation by John Gurda at the
Friends of Lakeshore State Park’s Annual Meeting
October 20, 2009
5:00 to 7:30 p.m.
Milwaukee Public Market
Water St and St. Paul St.
Free and Open to the Public

Cambridge Commons

Cambridge Commons

Cambridge Commons

Cambridge Commons

Cambridge Commons

The Bookends, proposed by New Land Enterprises, will go before the Milwaukee City Plan Commission on October 19th, 2009 to gain approval of a change in zoning to a detailed plan development.  The project, which would be located at E. Kilbourn Avenue and N. Van Buren Street, consists of a 19-story mixed used apartment building with up to 224 dwelling units, a retail component, and five stories of structured parking.  According to the Journal Sentinel, New Land Enterprises is also requesting that the city provide a loan guarantee, which would allow New Land Enterprises to move forward with the project, potentially breaking ground in the near future.

If approved, the development will go before the Zoning, Neighborhoods & Development Committee, and then onto the full Common Council.  The full detailed plan is available on City Plan Commission website, and the associated file, 081081, is now available in legistar.

Yesterday it was announced that prominent East Side development Park Lafayette is being foreclosed on by Amalgamated Bank of New York, the primary lender on the project.  Not surprising to those who have seen the massive towers, Amalgamated Bank is claiming they are owed nearly $100 million by Renaissant Lafayette LLC, an affiliate of Renaissant Development Group. Renaissant Development Group is led by prominent Chicago developer Warren Barr.  Park Lafayette was Barr’s first entry into the Milwaukee market.  While the foreclosure is certainly bad news for Barr and the bank, it’s not necessarily all bad news for Milwaukee.

1. The construction of the towers was finished.  There isn’t construction equipment or fences blocking the roads. Makes walking, biking, and driving near the project just a little bit easier.  It also allows people to move in, who spend money at local businesses and serve as eyes on the street.  Perhaps most importantly for the City of Milwaukee, it allows them to assess the building at a much higher amount.  For an example of how this could be worse, look at The Residences on Water on the corner of Juneau and Water.  That building is being fought over in court while it sits with fences around it blocking the sidewalk and parking.
2. Both towers were built at the same time.  It’s likely if only one tower was built, that only one would be ever built.  You would have fewer empty units certainly, which would maybe marginally help property values in the area, but at the same time the nation is a massive recession centered around the housing area so things would be terrible regardless, best if the city gets something out of it in return.  What is that the city gets? Density. Park Lafayette is 292 units on a rather small lot, that’s future customers for businesses in the area.  While the construction of Park Lafayette isn’t encouraging development in the area right now, in the long-term those units will fill, the residents will spend a lot of money at local businesses, and overall the building will generate a lot of positive externalities for the city.
3. Two-hundred empty units in an urban, dense development is much better than 200+ empty single-family homes in a suburb.  Empty houses are at risk for theft (copper wire, etc) and possess a security risk by eliminating eyes on the street.  If you’re going to have 200 empty units, a high rise tower is probably the best configuration possible.
4. The construction was entirely privately financed.  The City of Milwaukee didn’t have to contribute any public money to make this project happen. Yes, the project dumped a lot of empty units on the housing market, but it’s hard to say the City of Milwaukee should have done something to prohibit an outsider investing money in the city.
5. The large development pushed the ceiling for the neighborhood upward.  One more large building only serves to dampen public opposition to the next tall building proposed for the area.
6. There is hope.  Mandel Group, Garrison Partners, and Schmocke & Associates were able to come in and turn around The Pointe on the River.  Unit sales just crossed the 50% threshold.  Now, Park Lafayette is almost twice the size of The Pointe on the River, so a turn-around in a year is unlikely, but over the next few years new management and an improving economy should make things improve drastically.
7. The units aren’t being unloaded on the market as apartments.  This makes projects like The Moderne (almost all apartments) make more sense despite the glut of condos on the market.  Mandel’s new ONE at The North End is within one unit of being full, and other apartment buildings around downtown and the lower East Side are near full.
8. The bank wants Bob Monnat of the Mandel Group to be the court appointed receiver.  If there is to be light at the end of the tunnel, bringing in the most successful development team in town is a great start. The sales competency that Monnat and the rest of the Mandel Group has will certainly lead to a fairly-priced, fully-occupied building much faster than almost any other developer or sales team in town could deliver.

So while it’s certainly a shame that the 200+ empty units might be negatively affecting prices of units in the area, things could be much worse.  Long-term things still look good for the neighborhood.  In the short term it’s hard to say that any development project that has been brought forward has been stalled because of the excess units at Park Lafayette.