Nighttime rendering of The Moderne

Following a long-awaited loan guarantee approval from the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), construction will soon begin on The Moderne. The $55.2 million tower, which will stand at the southwest corner of Old World Third Street and Juneau Avenue, will contain 203 apartments, 14 condominiums, 204 structured parking spaces (181 apartments, 23 condos), and 7,230 square-feet of first-floor retail.

The City of Milwaukee had previously approved $9.3 million in loans to finance the project, but they were conditional on the approval of a loan guarantee by HUD. The guarantee was expected to be approved in February, but an overwhelming number of applications received by HUD forced an approval slowdown. To gain approval from the Common Council for a loan from the city, developer Rick Barrett (no relation to the Mayor) agreed to increased levels of Business Enterprises (EBE) program participation (25%) and Residential Preferred Preference (RPP) program participation (30%), and a first-lien personal guarantee of $4.35 million.

The majority of the project is being financed by a $41.4 million loan from  Capmark Financial Group Inc and the AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trust.

The Moderne does not fall within the footprint of the former Park East Freeway, but does fall within the tax-incremental financing district setup after freeway demolition (TID 48). Apartment rents are projected to be $1.94 per square foot in 2013. Average planned sale price for the condos is projected at $939,000. Leasing for the retail space is projected to bring in around $22 per square feet.

The Moderne, designed by Rinka Chung Architecture, tower will stand tall over its surroundings at 30-stories, dwarfing the nearby Bradley Center, Aloft Hotel, and Full-screen4th and Highland Garage. Eventually, the development may not stand alone as the remaining Milwaukee County-owned Park East parcels are developed.

Related Links:

• The Moderne website
• City of Milwaukee Legistar file pertaining to city loans
• Moderne high-rise loan guarantee wins final OK, work to begin soon (August 27th, 2010)
• Activity at The Moderne Site (Jan 4th, 2010)
• The Moderne Gains Common Council Approval for City Loans (Nov 3rd, 2009)
• The Moderne Project Held for Special Committee Meeting (Oct 27th, 2009)
• The Moderne Likely to Receive Public Financing (Sep 15th, 2009)
• Aerial Site Photo (with orange shipping containers still in place)

Jackson Square Apartments

Jackson Square Apartments

Jackson Square Apartments

Jackson Square Apartments

Jackson Square Apartments

Lakeshore State Park

Lakeshore State Park

Lakeshore State Park

Lakeshore State Park

Lakeshore State Park

Daniel Burnham famously said “Make no little plans. They have no magic to stir men’s blood and probably will not themselves be realized.” Burnham, co-author of the famous 1909 Plan of Chicago, had a vision for a much grander Chicago. What he probably didn’t forsee was Chicagoan’s fulfilling that vision 100 years later by building massive pieces of public art. The latest iteration of Chicago’s fascination with large public art is located across the street from the iconic Harold Washington Library in Pritzker Park just northwest of the intersection State Street and Van Buren Street. What is it? A three-story tall eye ball, dubbed the EYE.

Chicago's newest piece of large-scale public art.

For a city that’s displayed to the world a giant bean, 25-foot tall American Gothic statue, and a massive Picasso statue, a three-story tall eyeball should really come as no surprise. Upon a viewer’s first impression the detail of the piece  seem almost overwhelming. The EYE appears quite realistic with red veins on all sides. From across the street, or when attempting to push the piece over, the EYE appears incredibly lifelike. Thankfully it does not blink.

Unveiled July 7th, the EYE was designed by Tony Tasset and fabricated in Sparta, Wisconsin. As is par for the course with public art, someone must dismiss it by claiming it’s barely art. In this case it’s urbanist author James Howard Kunstler, who has named it his Eyesore of the Month for August 2010. The EYE will keep a watch on State Street shoppers until October. After that it’s fate is unknown, but given Illinois’s track record it might be wise to use it to keep track of the Governor’s office.

Large pieces of public art like the EYE are a breath of fresh air in large cities. They’re often capable of evoking a sense of place on their own. When the right location is selected, a piece of public art redefines the space it occupies. In this case Pritzker Park, a fairly sizable pocket park within the Loop, has been transformed into a destination.

When it comes to large-scale public art, Chicago does it right. Big pieces of art, many of which invite controversy, encourage people by the thousands to go see them. Even if they’re critically-panned, Chicago’s public art installations create a sense of place and make you want to go see them.

Milwaukee has made some inroads on using public art. The controversial orange sculpture The Calling helps define the eastern edge of Wisconsin Avenue and serves as a gateway O’Donnell Park and Milwaukee Art Museum (which makes plenty of a statement on its own). Without the large sculpture, O’Donnell Park is nearly a surface parking lot, a massive piece of concrete. With the orange sunburst it’s at least a defined place, a mildly inviting pedestrian pass-through to the lakefront from downtown.

Coming in 2011 (and almost not at all), Janet Zweig’s Pedestrian Drama flip-sign animation kiosks coming to Milwaukee’s Wisconsin Avenue  will certainly make Wisconsin Avenue a bit more intriguing to walk down. The Milwaukee Riverwalk is adorned with jewelry and the Bronze Fonz (which despite criticism sees a steady stream of tourists).

Milwaukee would be wise to look to take advantage of large-scale public art with some of its urban parks. There are two well-located urban parks that would likely benefit the most, Cathedral Square and Pere Marquette.

Pere Marquette has the permanent gazebo, which functions well as a band shell and wedding photo opportunity spot. Beyond that though, the gazebo doesn’t draw many people into the park.

Cathedral Square has a great location, well-defined street wall surrounding it, and a layout that doesn’t make any sense at all based on park use. During the summer the park’s fountain is entirely covered by a stage for the well-attended Jazz in the Park. During the winter the fountain is turned off as the park is covered in snow and holiday lights. The holiday lights make the park a well-lit destination in the winter, but in the summer the park doesn’t encourage anyone to walk through it with the exception of one week. That one is Bastille Days, where MSOE’s miniature Eiffel Tower introduces a welcoming north anchor to the park and the roads are closed to traffic all around the park. Switching the stage location to the north end of the park would allow the fountain to return to summer operation, encourage more pedestrian activity, and open up the south end of the park for temporary art installations that invite more people into the area.

To take full advantage of public art, Milwaukee needs to start thinking bigger.

Drawing of the proposed riverwalk segment

The riverwalk segment for the proposed Beerline B Apartments will go before the Milwaukee City Plan Commission on August 23rd. General Capital Group is bringing the riverwalk segment forward for approval before the entire project. The 140-unit project, which recently was awarded $2,345,310 in WHEDA tax credits for 119 low-income units, will occupy the corner of Commerce St and Pleasant St. The site was one-time the location of the proposed Pleasant Street Market anchored around a grocery store, which appeared to halt after the anchor tenant signed a deal on the other side of the river.

The Beerline B Apartments riverwalk segment is the missing piece that will connect all of the Beerline B neighborhood with Schlitz Park and the rest of Westown, East Town, and the Historic Third Ward via the Milwaukee Riverwalk.

Project Files

• Project Narrative (PDF)
• Project Photos (PDF)
• Project Drawings (PDF)
• Beerline TIF Update (12/31/2009)

Food Cart Friday!

Food Cart Friday!

Food Cart Friday!

Food Cart Friday!

Food Cart Friday!

Carjacked by Catherine Lutz and Anne Lutz Fernandez

Carjacked, The Culture of the Automobile and Its Effects On Our Lives, explores the love, lust, and reality of America’s car culture. The authors, Catherine Lutz and Anne Lutz Fernandez, have a refreshing and realistic take on America’s car obsession and its broad implications. From a teenager’s first car to an adult’s quest for the best car on the road, Carjacked has stories from across the country about the lengths people go to to get that coveted automobile.  The latter half of the book extensively (but impressively briskly) explores the physiological, economical, and sociological effects of American car culture.

The book reads like a sobering look in the mirror of our car obsessed society, and includes a number of eye-opening facts and statistics. That driving costs an average of 66 cents a mile, a parking garage stall costs around $19,500 to build, commuting represents only 16% of total trips by car, the busiest hour on the nation’s roadways is one in the afternoon on Saturday, transit users on average weigh five pounds less, dying driving is three times as likely as dying as a result of a homicide, driving at 65 mph instead of 75 mph results in 12% less gas use, and that the average spends more than 18.5 hours a week in a car.

Carjacked will be easy to read for just about anyone as it doesn’t delve deep into land-use planning, tax codes, or foreign policy, yet still maintains a detailed and fact-based description of the extent of America’s car culture.  Even more refreshing is that the book is grounded in reality. Catherine and Anne don’t set outlandish goals for a world free of cars, instead aiming for reducing car use and “… remaking our transit system so that we can allow more people to live car free.”

If you’re going to a ride in a car this year, you should read Carjacked.

Jackson Square Apartments

Jackson Square Apartments

Jackson Square Apartments

Jackson Square Apartments

Jackson Square Apartments

Jackson Square Apartments

Jackson Square Apartments

Jackson Square Apartments

Jackson Square Apartments

Jackson Square Apartments

One of the many things that makes urban neighborhoods special is their dynamic nature. Unlike a suburban cul-de-sac, an urban neighborhood is never finished. A healthy urban neighborhood sees a steady influx of infill development or building rehabilitation as the success of the neighborhood builds upon itself. Milwaukee’s East Side residents and business owners are likely to see the results of such infill development over the course of the next year as a number of new buildings open. The projects run a fairly wide spectrum of different development types, including a dorm, hospital, independent-living facility, and high-end apartments.

Cambridge Commons

The view from across North Avenue of the soon-to-be complete residence hall.

New UWM Residence Hall
Location: Intersection of North Avenue and Cambridge Avenue along the river
Size: 700 beds
Opening: late August/early September 2010

The building will bring 700 students to the neighborhood, as well as introducing another coffee shop (The Grind) to the area. The UWM Real Estate Foundation will move their offices to the building. We’ve profiled Cambridge Commons extensively here before.

Columbia St. Mary’s Hospital

Rendering of the new Columbia St. Mary's hospital

Combing the operations of Columbia Hospital (Maryland and Kenwood) and St. Mary’s Hospital (existing site) in a new $417 million facility.
Location: Eastern end of North Avenue
Opening: October 2010

Columbia St. Mary’s is combining their two namesake East Side operations into one modern facility with the goal of saving $19 million annually. The new hospital will introduce a number of new potential customers to North Avenue area businesses.

Latitude Apartments

Latitude Apartments under construction on Kenilworth and Farwell.

Originally proposed by New Land Enterprises, the approved project was ultimately sold to Dermond Property Investments before construction. Construction is nearing completion on the apartment building.
Location: Southwest corner of the intersection of Kenilworth Place and Farwell Avenue
Opening: August 2010
Size: 90 units (71 one-bedroom, 19 studios)

The apartment will include 90 residential units and 7,500 square-feet of retail space.  It includes 90 parking spaces for residents, as well an additional 14 spaces for the retail tenant.

Park Lafayette

Park Lafayette before completion.

Condos turned apartments
Location: Northeast corner of the intersection of Lafayette Place and Prospect Avenue)
Opening: Now
Size: 281 Units

After a significant amount of turmoil around it’s near-empty opening as condos last summer, this project appears headed for better days. Over 70 units are now occupied, primarily as rentals, and a steady stream of moving trucks can be spotted entering the building. Additionally, there is now a fair amount of foot and car traffic going in-and-out of the towers. Well Warren Barr and Amalgamated Bank are likely going to lose a lot of money on the project, but Mallory Properties appears poised to buy the property and run the buildings mainly as apartments.

St. John’s on the Lake – The Expansion

The Expansion under construction at St. John's on the Lake.

Massive expansion of  the St. John’s on the Lake housing facility.
Location: 1840 N. Prospect Avenue (block south of Kane Place)
Opening: Early 2011
Size: 88 units starting at 1,140 square-feet

The Expansion at St. John’s on the Lake will include a number of different service offerings including independent living, assisted living, and skilled nursing care.  The Expansion was almost entirely pre-sold before construction started. The property tax loophole for developments like this has been closed.