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.

February 1, 2010

Community & Economic Development Committee Meeting

February 1, 2010 9:00 am

The Community and Economic Development Committee hears matters relating to community development, block grants, job development, business improvement districts, city public relations, industrial land banks and revenue bonds, emerging business enterprises, recreation, cultural arts and the library system.

The Community and Economic Development Committee meetings start at 9:00 a.m. and are held in the Room 301-B, [...]

February 2, 2010

Zoning, Neighborhoods & Development Committee Meeting

February 2, 2010 9:00 am

The Zoning, Neighborhoods and Development Committee reviews issues relating to city development, zoning, historic preservation, incremental tax financing, building codes and housing projects.

The Zoning, Neighborhoods and Development Committee meetings start at 9:00 a.m. and are held in the Room 301-B, City Hall, unless otherwise noted.[...]

February 3, 2010

Milwaukee County: Committee on Parks, Energy and Environment Special Meeting

February 3, 2010 10:00 am

All matters concerning county parks and parkways are the responsibility of this Committee. Members set policy for the parks department, organized recreation, cultural activities, the University Extension program, the Environmental Services Division of the Department of Public Works and Zoo park services. Members have jurisdiction over matters concerning the conservation of all uses of energy [...]

The Zoning, Neighborhoods and Development Committee reviews issues relating to city development, zoning, historic preservation, incremental tax financing, building codes and housing projects.

The Zoning, Neighborhoods and Development Committee meetings start at 9:00 a.m. and are held in the Room 301-B, City Hall, unless otherwise noted.

Agenda

The Community and Economic Development Committee hears matters relating to community development, block grants, job development, business improvement districts, city public relations, industrial land banks and revenue bonds, emerging business enterprises, recreation, cultural arts and the library system.

The Community and Economic Development Committee meetings start at 9:00 a.m. and are held in the Room 301-B, City Hall, unless otherwise noted.

Agenda

All matters concerning county parks and parkways are the responsibility of this Committee. Members set policy for the parks department, organized recreation, cultural activities, the University Extension program, the Environmental Services Division of the Department of Public Works and Zoo park services. Members have jurisdiction over matters concerning the conservation of all uses of energy and make recommendations relating to conservation of air, water, energy and all other resources.

Agenda

On what might just be the coldest day so far this Winter, we thought a look at Summer in Milwaukee would be fun.

Jazz in the Park

Bradford Beach

Cafe Hollander

Miller Park

Downer Avenue Bike Race

After today’s news, nationally 2010 might go down as the year of high-speed rail, but here in Milwaukee it just might be the year of the Park East.  By looking at the economy and listening to all of the talk of doom and gloom one would think this isn’t very likely, but it sure seems that momentum is building in the Park East corridor.

First, up of course is The Moderne, which borders the Park East and is scheduled to break ground in February.  This $56 million, 30-story high-rise apartment project received city financing in late 2009 and when built out could serve as a catalyst to further development in the corridor.

Another significant project that appears to be advancing is the first phase of RSC & Associates’ Park East Square proposal.  This first phase would include a 120-unit apartment building with 4,000 square feet of retail space.  Recently it received assistance from the Redevelopment Authority of Milwaukee (RACM) which would issue $25 million in revenue bonds to help the project move forward with the intent of breaking ground in late spring.  Although, RSC & Associates have failed to meet ground breaking goals in the past with RACM’s assistance it appears this project is likely to move forward.

At a Zoning, Neighborhoods & Development committee meeting in October, 2009 Department of City Development (DCD) Commissioner Rocky Marcoux stated that Mandel Group would be bringing forward the second phase of the North End shortly.  As of yet this hasn’t occurred, but with the success of the first phase, combined with Mandel Group finishing up two major projects, Corcoran Lofts and Cambridge Commons, elsewhere in the city this year, they might look to continue their development within the Park East.

The $76 million Eco-Square at Park East proposal by Fair Market Development would build out 400 residential units and 10,000 square feet of retail space in Block 22 of the Park East if it were to move forward this year.  Unfortunately, as there hasn’t been any recent news regarding this project it seems like the least likely of the projects to move forward in 2010.

Finally, Rainier Properties II LLC’s office and movie theater proposal looks promising as Marcus Corp., has formally committed to the $100 million project.   The potential time-line for this project probably will push it beyond 2010, as various approvals, financing, and a likely city funded TIF will need to be worked out prior to ground breaking.  If it is able to meet those requirements this project could dramatically change downtown Milwaukee for the better.  Because, it is one of the key sites in the Park East corridor, would fulfill the long talked about downtown movie theater need, further extend the Riverwalk, and be a socially diverse meeting place that Milwaukee needs.

Certainly, there will be plenty of land in the corridor to develop post 2010 and only a couple of these projects will actually break ground this year, but with the addition of new density, new entertainment options, and new office space, it might just be that 2010 is remembered as the year of the Park East.

Ever wondered what it would be like to be up in a tower crane?  Just what kind of view you would get from up there?

Well the tower crane operator on the Saint John’s on the Lake high-rise project has been taking photos throughout the project and has been kind enough to share his view with us.  Take a look, it is quite the view.

If you’re having trouble viewing the slide show you can see the photos here.

You’ve heard the sad story of Pizza Man, Cush, Black and White Cafe, and Grecian Delight, as well as the unfortunate residents that lost everything (fundraiser Thursday night). You’ve probably heard by now that there are some indications that the fire was started as an act of arson. What you probably haven’t given much thought to yet is what will occupy that iconic corner.

The building that housed Pizza Man was a unique mixed-use building.  It housed four retail stalls and ten residential units without any parking. It’s hard to imagine a new building being built with that ratio of residential units to retail stalls today, typically buildings today often contain a larger number of residential units. Also, as listening to any debate about any housing proposal in Milwaukee would tell you, buildings today don’t get built in Milwaukee without parking.

So what will replace Pizza Man? Unfortunately, all indications seem to point to something not as dense as the building that was previously there. This is a shame for a lot of reasons, but most importantly because it’s a setback for a neighborhood that’s improved rapidly in the past four years with the addition of Whole Foods (and offices above), Educator’s Credit Union, a small building housing three restaurants, the Kenilworth Apartments, Latitude Apartments (soon to be completed), the Downer Garage Redevelopment (in progress), and the Cambridge Commons (under construction). All of this development has happened on-top of the development of the new Columbia St. Mary’s hospital at the east end of the corridor. It’s a shame to lose a truly urban building in the middle of one of Milwaukee’s great urban neighborhoods.

The Money Problem

A bank will undoubtedly require parking as part of any mixed-use building, claiming that’s the only way to insure that the project will financially work.  Ironically, the previous building, which had no non-street parking, was one of the few buildings on the East Side that every retail stall was almost constantly occupied in. While the potential lenders demand for parking is probably justified in numerous places across the Milwaukee region, it’s been proven that you don’t need parking to operate a business (or four) at the corner of Oakland and North.

Redevelopment Options

There are a few easy and likely redevelopment scenarios for the iconic corner. A lot of the options are readily visible around North Avenue already.

One of those options is a building similar to the one that now houses Brueggers, Subway, and Ian’s Pizza (Prospect and North).  A one-story, all retail building. It could contain parking, and likely would as a result of zoning (the property is zoned LB2). This certainly isn’t the desired scenario, as it would likely mean surface parking and a reduction in housing in the area. Nor is the parking a set-in-stone inclusion, as a zoning variance could be obtained.

Another possible option is the construction of a bank branch similar to the new Educator’s Credit Union (Prospect and Ivanhoe). A two-story design that encompasses a first-floor drive-thru that is completely covered. This type of development isn’t perfect, but gives a slightly more urban feel than a surface parking at one end of the development.

A long-shot option is the construction of a project similar to Latitude Apartments with first-floor parking replacing any retail. This is unlikely because of zoning, and the traffic snarls curb cuts would cause at that busy intersection

Without a doubt, the worst case scenario for this site is the proposal for the development of a drive-thru restaurant, similar to the McDonald’s down the block.

Potential Work-Arounds

While there are certainly other creative financing solutions out there, two options come to mind to rebuild the corner in a true urban fashion. The first of which is for UWM to claim the site for a small residence hall. The second is for RACM to finance the redevelopment of a mixed-use building. It seems that likely without some amount of public financing, a building with less density is extremely likely.

Please join the Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin for the 2010 Wisconsin Bike Summit on April 21st and Lobby Day on April 22nd in Madison.

Last year at the 2009 Wisconsin Bike Summit over 450 bicycle leaders from around the state gathered in Madison to celebrate Wisconsin bicycling. We learned how bicycling can be a simple solution to our state’s health, economic and mobility challenges. We learned that Wisconsin is uniquely positioned to be one of the world’s great bicycle places. Most importantly, we asked our legislative leaders to support a more bicycle-friendly Wisconsin through the following legislation: increased funding for bicycle infrastructure, one of the country’s first state-wide Complete Streets statues, and an anti-dooring law to protect bicyclist’s position on the roadways.

Within 60 days of the 2009 Summit all three pieces of legislation were signed in to law by Governor Doyle. We joined together, we asked, and we created a more bicycle friendly Wisconsin!

The 2010 Wisconsin Bike Summit is going to be even bigger and more exciting. We’ve expanded the program to include informative and interactive breakout sessions:

* “From Planning to Implementation: Safe Routes to School Programs in Action” lead by Wisconsin’s Safe Routes to School expert practitioners.
* “Bicycle Friendly Wisconsin” lead by the national expert Andy Clarke, President of the League of American Bicyclist. The session will also include lessons learned from Milwaukee and La Crosse leaders.
* “Building Community Partnerships for Effective Bicycle Trails Advocacy” lead by La Crosse’s Human Powered Trails.
* “How to Build an Economic Case for Your Community to Develop & Maintain Mountain Bike Trails” lead by the Chequamegon Area Mountain Bike Association.
* “Wisconsin Mountain Biking Forum” organized by the Wisconsin Off-Road Bicycling Association, Human Powered Trails and the International Mountain Bicycling Association.

These sessions will be followed by a plenary session at 6 p.m. Our keynote speaker is Andreas Røhl, the head of the City of Copenhagen’s Bicycle Program. In central Copenhagen residents and visitors take over 50% of all their trips–to work, to the store, running errands–by bike. Andreas is going to share Copenhagen’s inspiring story and show us a path to make Wisconsin among the world’s great bicycling places.

Click here to see an inspiring BBC interview, “Cycling is like brushing your teeth,” with Andreas.
Click here for a fun music video on Copenhagen Cycling.

Following Andreas’ presentation, Chris Fortune, president of Saris Cycling Group, will lead a panel of Wisconsin political, business and civic who will have just return from a tour of the great cycling cities in Europe. The panel will include trip attendees Madison Mayor Dave Cieslewicz, Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk, UW Associate Vice Chancellor Al Fish, and others. Their stories of great bicycling in Europe will certainly inspire us to continue creating world-class bicycling in Wisconsin.

Summit and Lobby Day registration is only $25. More detail can be found on the Bike Federation of Wisconsin website here or in the attached document.

Flyer

Warm up with complementary Fat tire beer and celebrate your admiration of biking with hundreds of other Milwaukee bike lovers at the 2010 Love Your Bike Party! Thank you to Trocadero’s for graciously hosting this year’s bash. More event details coming soon.

Trocadero
1758 N. Water St.