This was the last of four meetings held to discuss UWM’s most recent dorm proposal.  Jim Shields, the project architect, presented his design for the building and how it fits on the 3.2 acre lot.  He referred to the site as “an edge site”, indicating how it sits on the “edge” of two drastically different environments.

The design respects the river corridor, while at the same time manages to fit within an urban environment.  The courtyard addresses the river corridor by extending the natural environment deep in to the site.  In addition to respecting the existing forest along the bluff, the courtyard will allow students to eat lunch outside, lay in the sun or as Jim Shields said “play a pickup game of soccer, or throw a Frisbee around.”  The building connects to the urban environment by building to the property line along Cambridge and North Avenue, and following the massing and materials of buildings on North Avenue.   When asked why would you build on the property line, Jim Shields responded by saying that it helps to create “that sense of urban vitality” and that “I think it produces a better city.”  He then added that “in my view as an architect, it wouldn’t be improved if it was set back 10 or 20 feet.”  The 5,700 square feet of retail that fronts on North Avenue closest to the Milwaukee River is intended for a cafe that would utilize a small public plaza.  The stairs and ramp down to the river will connect into this plaza and will be constructed of Ipe wood, a tropical hardwood, that has been used on the RiverWalk in the Third Ward.

As at the previous three meetings a variety of questions were asked but again none were especially problematic.  Questions were asked regarding who would handle snow removal, would the windows be sound proofed, and what kind of security systems would be in place.  Resident’s also brought up concerns regarding possible safety issues arising from a dormitory being situated on a bluff overlooking a river.  Scott Peak,UWM Director of University Housing, responded saying “regardless of where we put a building, college student safety issues are at the forefront.”

Residents were also concerned about the possibility of UWM pursuing further dorms and what UWM’s plans were for the future.  Tom Luljak responded to these concerns explaining that “the chancellor’s overriding goal is to have a resident hall bed for every incoming freshman,” and that each year 1800 freshman students are unable to obtain on campus housing.  He went on to argue that building additional dorms both allows for more freshman to have on campus housing and that this is good for the neighborhoods because as he said “we’ve actually decreased the number of students living in off campus in the neighborhood.”

At the end of the meeting Joe Klein, Cambridge Woods Neighborhood Association President, got up and spoke.  Although there had been three meetings prior to this one, he asked UWM to do a little more neighborhood outreach because in his mind the meeting schedule was just dropped on the neighborhood.  Specifically, he said “this is an invitation to the university and Mandel to really do a little more of an outreach where we can have lower level meetings with people in the neighborhood and UWM.”  It was evident that the purpose of these meetings was to reach out to the neighborhood and answer as many questions as possible, but despite these efforts it seems there is still some level of lingering concern.

The Mandel Group’s efforts to construct a new UWM dormitory on the East Side have included five public meetings, the release of basic site plans, and preliminary project renderings.  Jim Shields, lead architect on the project, has an accomplished and diverse resume of buildings from Discovery World to the renovation of Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist, and now he is putting his mark on another Milwaukee project.  The plans take into account the site’s unique “edge” location between an urban environment and the river corridor.  The design addresses the urban environment by attempting to break up the massing of the building along North Avenue to give the appearance of multiple buildings that fit the size and scale of other buildings along the street.  Additionally, it addresses the river corridor by stepping the building back, and by creating a natural barrier between the structure and the bluff.

We’ve re-posted the renderings here to make them more widely available.

This was the third of four meetings being held to discuss Mandel Group’s proposed UWM resident hall that would be located on the former Hometown gas station site.  This meeting was held to discuss traffic, transit and parking issue connected to dorm.  Ken Voigt, Senior Traffic Engineer for Ayres & Associates Inc., gave an extensive overview of the traffic studies being conducted and the potential improvements for the North Avenue and Cambridge Avenue intersection.

The results of the traffic study indicated traffic signals at this intersection would satisfy a four hour warrant justifying the improvement, and would improve pedestrian safety.   It was explained that although one concern with installing traffic signals was that it would encourage Cambridge Avenue to become a “short cut”, the planned timing and the intersection’s offset should stop that from becoming an issue.  The plans also included, enhancing the current gateway island by adding landscaping to make it more aesthetically appealing which will have the side effect of slowing traffic entering the intersection.  Other improvements discussed included count down timers, additional on street parking and the addition of street trees.  Although curb bump outs are often a street improvement used to make an intersection more pedestrian friendly it doesn’t appear likely they will be pursued at this intersection because of its configuration.  Alderman Kovac speaking about the proposed traffic signals said, “it’s not a panacea.  There are advantages and disadvantages”, though he went on to indicate that he felt the traffic signal is a good idea.

The second half of the meeting focused on student transportation options and facilities.  As had been pointed out at previous meetings UWM runs shuttle buses 24 hours a day.  These shuttles currently run at 15 minute intervals during week and 30 minute intervals during nights and weekends allowing students to come and go without personal automobiles.  Scott Peak, UWM Director of University Housing, explained that students are encouraged to not bring a car to campus and that student parking is prioritized based on need.  The number of cars per beds proposed for this dorm is essentially the same as the RiverView dorm, though there will be an addition 27 parking spots for faculty, staff, visitors, and retail business owners.  To facilitate the retail business located in the first floor of the dorm and possible visitors an additional 21 on street parking spaces will be added by widening a portion of Cambridge Avenue.

There were a few questions regarding the new traffic including, if there would be sensors in the street, what else would they do to make it safer for pedestrians, would the light flash at night, and general concerns over a change in traffic flow throughout the neighborhood.  Specifically one resident was concerned about the addition of the new traffic and how that would impact the neighborhoods further from the dorm’s location, but judging from the turnout and level of discourse the concerns proposed at the meeting were minor and items that Mandel Group could address.  In fact opposition seemed so light that when a show of hands was taken to see if there were residents living on Cambridge Avenue in attendance, no one raised a hand.

This was the second of four neighborhood meetings to discuss the proposed UWM resident hall. UWM has been working to increase the number of beds available in a large part because 90% of the students that apply to UWM request student housing and most are turned down. This ability to provide housing for students is important because the retention rate of students living in resident halls is 15% higher than those living off campus. Further, Tom Luljak, Vice Chancellor of University Relations and Communications, explained that another goal is to move students from living in the neighborhood, to students living in student housing. He pointed to the opening of the RiverView resident hall as example of success as their research indicates there are now 300 fewer students living in the neighborhood than there was prior to the opening.

UWM brought a large contingent of staff, UWM Police officers, student C.O.A.S.T. workers, and S.A.F.E. walkers to inform the neighborhood residents of how they handle safety and security issues. They emphasized that UWM resident halls are a controlled environment, that provide an opportunity for students to succeed. Additionally, for safety and security reasons these resident halls include someone working the front desk 24 hours a day, and require guest passes for non-residents to access the building.

Michael Marzion, UWM Assistant Chief of Police, spoke about how the UWM Police Department finds creative ways to solve problems and uses student issues as teachable moments. For example instead of issuing tickets they might give assignments as a way to improve behavior and give students a second chance. Additionally, he pointed out that they have recently increased the patrols in the neighborhood to insure safety and good behavior.

Two students from UWM’s S.A.F.E. walker program spoke about their efforts to help improve safety in the neighborhood. This program consists of 25 students who work primarily from 10 PM to 2 AM six days a week to provide security, medical care, and act as trained observers. Additionally, they explained that when the new resident hall opens it will be expanded to include North Avenue.

Only a handful of residents were in attendance, but the one concern that was brought up revolved around student parking. The owner of Judges (located across the street from the Hometown site) was somewhat concerned that the students would have enough parking so they wouldn’t park on the bridge impacting his customer’s parking. His concerns appeared to be addressed by the plan and previous experience with the RiverView dorm because as he said, “you wouldn’t even know that RiverView was open.”

The continued decline in public attendance at these meetings is a telling sign that UWM has put forth significant effort to inform the community on all aspects of this project.

Bob Monnat, the chief operating officer of Mandel Group, gave an overview of how the public meeting process will work and a presentation covering the environmental aspects of the project. He explained that the point of have these meetings take place within the recently built dorms, was so that residents could get a feel for the type of atmosphere and quality that is to be expected. Additionally he pointed out that in an effort to make this as open a process as possible the materials from each meeting will be posted on the Mandel Group website.

A brief history of the site was laid out to give perspective as to the need for redevelopment of this location. The site has had many uses over time including, a roller rink, an ice harvesting site, a truck storage and repair facility, and a gas station. The most recent uses created environmental issues that were worsened by the site being covered by a 100% impervious surface. This impervious surface resulted in a significant amount of stormwater runoff carrying toxins and chemical from the former uses directly into the river. The proposed dorm design plans to convert the site from 100% impervious to 91% pervious which will dramatically reduce the stormwater runoff from this site and improve water quality.

The green initiatives for the project stemmed from the need to remediate the site and UWM’s requirement for green features as part of the new dorm. Jim Shields, the lead architect from HGA, gave an overview regarding the greenspace and planting of the site. He explained that all the trees would remain just as they are now and that there would be no clear cutting on the site. Additionally he pointed out, that they are going to plant the greenspace with native trees, that the site would include rain gardens, a grass field for soccer or frisbee, greenroofs on the two wings, and the main building’s roof will collect rain water in a cistern to use for watering the grass. He added that a high density development is needed to qualify as a sustainable urban development and to receive the LEED certification they are looking to obtain. Bob Monnat added that “there is very little benefit of building a LEED certified building out in the middle of a cornfield that, where everyone has to drive to,” indicating that you lose the environmental savings that you have created when you force everyone to drive.

In addition to the numerous green features the proposed building will follow standard urban design guidelines. Specifically it will be located on the property line, it will have first floor retail, and underground parking. The project will also include the building of a public access stairway and ramp to allow access to the river from the site.

Although the stated goal of the meeting was to discuss the green features of the project there were a handful of questions on other topics. While a few residents asked about the students moving through the neighborhoods, trash issues, parking, and traffic, the most vocal opposition came when a resident interrupted saying “I don’t want to hear anymore about the building.” There were also questions from residents regarding what will happen during the winter as the trees shed their leaves but as Jim Shields explained “according to the Milwaukee River Workgroup our building was adequately concealed.” If turnout was any indication, this meeting showed just how far UWM has come in working with the neighborhood as opposition to the project was clearly considerably lower.

The Hometown Gas Station on North Avenue has been almost completely demolished. The site is one of the proposed locations for the new UW-Milwaukee dorm. Owned by the Mandel Group, the site hasn’t functioned as a gas station for years. There was recently a public hearing on Mandel’s proposal for the site.

I’m not going to speculate on whether this means Mandel knows something we don’t in regards to winning the Request-For-Proposal from the UWM Real Estate Foundation, but they appear to be going ahead as such at the moment.

This meeting was appropriately held at the Urban Ecology Center. It was appropriate because one of the key opposition concerns around the Hometown site was its location along the Milwaukee River. Although the location was different many of the same citizens were attendance. UWM brought with it the same group from the previous meeting, David Gilbert from the UWM Real Estate Foundation, UWM Director of University Housing Scott Peak, Vice Chancellor for University Relations and Communications Tom Luljak and UWM Chief of Police Pamela Hodermann.

The Mandel Group appeared well prepared and attempted to show that this was a green project in part because the Hometown site is currently a vacant gas station with environmental issues. Further they had materials showcasing a long list of brownfield development projects that they’d been involved in. The dorm’s most recent version is a “U” shaped complex designed to minimize the frontage along the river. It will have 105 parking spots, a cafeteria, first floor retail, and it was specifically pointed out that there will be no mechanical facilities on the roof.

Many of the audience member questions revolved around UWM’s need for new dorms, how will they control the students, and taxes. Members from UWM indicated the need for beds is strong because they currently provide only 12% of housing for students. This is an issue because it hurts student retention and that students living in university-run housing perform better than students living outside of university housing. Tom Luljak pointed out that during “this past year we [UWM] spent a lot of time quantifying the crime in terms of neighborhood disruptions” and that “in the last year as we tallied up the number of citations issued by Pam’s department and the Milwaukee Police Department we found the minority of the students cited lived in university housing”. Additionally, there were a couple citizen complaints regarding their belief that UWM doesn’t pay taxes and how that is unfair to them as the taxpayer. But what seemed lost on the audience was that UWM will be making payments in lieu of taxes (PILOTS) to cover their impacts on city services.

The most vocal opposition came from Sura Faraj, a former candidate for third district alderman, who said “I appreciate the university but this is not the site”. She then went on to argue that density isn’t green and that “the most sustainable thing you can do is not build on the Milwaukee River”. This seems misguided because promoting high population density is actually one of the greenest efforts available. Density allows you to develop less land and share energy use which are both green priorities. Ann Brummitt, The Miwaukee River Work Group Coordinator, added that they support the view-shed because “we believe very strongly in the face of a lot of people not agreeing with us in scenic beauty”, but as noted in the comments below she says “Mandel has met every criteria we asked for”.  So it appears now that despite Sura’s objections, the Milwaukee River Work Group believes Mandel Group has proposed a workable solution and as Ken Leinbach, the Executive Directory of the Urban Ecology Center, indicated in reference to Mandel’s proposal that “they have meet that criteria”. UPDATE It appears now that The Milwaukee River Work Group is supportive of Mandel’s proposal so this has been updated to reflect their sentiment.

Unrelated to the night’s topic, two audience members brought up UWM’s efforts of expanding into Wauwatosa and argued UWM should do this in downtown Milwaukee. Tom Luljak attempted to say it was about partnerships and not real estate but also then talked up the Wauwatosa site’s natural area and how it could be used for research. Before he finished Alderman Kovac butted in with “what about Downer Woods”, reminding Luljak that UWM already has a great natural space right on its campus.

In the end what stood out, in stark contrast from the Prospect Mall site meeting, was that although opposition remained present at this meeting, it had a much calmer tone leaving the door open to amicably developing this site. In fact a handful of residents supported the project saying “I hope this site is approved”, “we might as well make it a positive” and “I’m kinda of excited about this site”.

Our thoughts on the last meeting can be found in the Prospect Mall UWM Site Meeting - Review article.

Public meetings for each dorm site have been announced.  At each meeting the development teams will explain the proposal.  The developer of the proposed site and UWM representives will be available for questions at each meeting.  As a refresher we have included our opinion on each of the sites as described (we have not see the proposals yet).

If you want to see fireworks, the best meeting to go to will be the Hometown site.  The controversial (in application, not nearly as much in theory) river overlay district is going to empower the NIMBY (not-in-my-backyard) crowd to assume they have ownership over the entire river corridor and probably engage in quite the debate filled with half-truths and well-spun facts.  Bring your thinking cap and evaluate everything you hear, as individuals will certainly bend facts to attempt to make a point.

Dave Reid and myself will be at the meetings on the 2nd and 4th, but will unfortunately have to miss the meeting on the 3rd.

Tuesday, Sept. 2 • 6:30pm • Maryland Ave. School - 2418 N. Maryland Ave.
Boulder Venture’s proposal for the Prospect Mall parking lot, between Ivanhoe Pl. and Kenilworth Pl.

Site #1 - The Prospect Mall
Actual Location: Prospect Avenue between Ivanhoe Place & Kenilworth Place
What’s There Now: Former Prospect Mall, currently empty, along with surface parking lot across Farwell
Note: We have heard that this project would potentially only use the east side of Prospect, the surface parking lot and Qdoba. We are unsure how it would integrate into the currently empty mall. If this is true, it could change our ranking (see bottom of article) of the site.  UPDATE We contacted Boulder Venture to clarify this question but they are unable to comment on the proposal at this time.

Pros

• Close to other dorm (Kenilworth) and close to campus
• On an existing bus route (30)
• Uses a currently unused property
• Would help area businesses by delivering 500 new customers
• Would please students to be close to other students

Cons

• Would create another cluster of students possibly creating more neighborhood backlash

Wednesday, Sept. 3 • 6:30pm • Urban Ecology Center - 1500 E. Park Place
The Mandel Group’s proposal for the old Hometown gas station, on the NE corner of North Ave. and the Milwaukee River

Site #4 - Hometown Gas Station
Actual Location: 1436 North Avenue
What’s There Now: Abandoned gas station

Pros

• On North Avenue near entertainment district
• On existing transit route (21)
• Inbetween both Riverview and Kenilworth dorms
• Next to river
• Easy for current UWM Shuttle to stop here on route from Riverview

Cons

• Would draw ire of many residents because of Milwaukee River Overlay District due to its spot along river
• Nearby residents would certainly raise a fuss about parking, congestion, regardless if it were true or not.

Thursday, Sept. 4 • 6:30pm • Holy Rosary Hall - 2011 N. Oakland Ave.
Phelan Development and Towne Investment’s proposal for the SE corner of Farwell Ave. and Royall Pl.

Site #2 - Near Brady Street Site
Actual Location: 1744 N. Farwell Avenue, Southeast Corner of North Farwell Avenue and East Royall Place
What’s There Now: Surface Parking Lot

Pros

• Would deliver 500 new customers to Brady Street area
• Replaces existing surface parking lot
• Close to entertainment for students
• On existing bus route (30)

Cons

• Would be furthest dorm from campus

The University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee Real Estate Foundation announced the final three sites (narrowed from a field of for the new 500 to 700 bed dorm to be built.

In alphabetical order they were…

Boulder Venture: The old Prospect Mall at 2217-2239 N. Prospect Ave. and parking lot at 2214-2228 N. Prospect Ave. between Ivanhoe Place and Kenilworth Place. The Prospect Mall building, bought by Boulder Venture in 2004, has about 42,000 square feet.

Mandel Group, Inc.: Property that abuts Milwaukee River corridor, E. North Ave., N. Cambridge Ave. and Wisconsin Paperboard, 1514 E. Thomas Ave.

Phelan Development, LLC and Towne Investments: 1744 N. Farwell Ave. (southeast corner of N. Farwell Ave. and E. Royall Place).

Our picks for the three best sites were…

Best sites currently for the new UWM freshman dormitory

1. Prospect Mall Site
2. Near Brady Street Site
3. Hometown Site

The same three sites. Now we’re not vein or ignorant enough to think that anyone from UWM based their decisions off our conclusions. It is possible though they used some of the same logic we did though to get to their conclusion. They obviously have much more data than we do, but at this point let’s go over again what we know about each site.

Site #1 - The Prospect Mall
Actual Location: Prospect Avenue between Ivanhoe Place & Kenilworth Place
What’s There Now: Former Prospect Mall, currently empty, along with surface parking lot across Farwell
Note: We have heard that this project would potentially only use the east side of Prospect, the surface parking lot and Qdoba. We are unsure how it would integrate into the currently empty mall. If this is true, it could change our ranking (see bottom of article) of the site. UPDATE We contacted Boulder Venture to clarify this question but they are unable to comment on the proposal at this time.

Pros

• Close to other dorm (Kenilworth) and close to campus
• On an existing bus route (30)
• Uses a currently unused property
• Would help area businesses by delivering 500 new customers
• Would please students to be close to other students

Cons

• Would create another cluster of students possibly creating more neighborhood backlash

Site #2 - Near Brady Street Site
Actual Location: 1744 N. Farwell Avenue, Southeast Corner of North Farwell Avenue and East Royall Place
What’s There Now: Surface Parking Lot

Pros

• Would deliver 500 new customers to Brady Street area
• Replaces existing surface parking lot
• Close to entertainment for students
• On existing bus route (30)

Cons

• Would be furthest dorm from campus

Site #4 - Hometown Gas Station
Actual Location: 1436 North Avenue
What’s There Now: Abandoned gas station

Pros

• On North Avenue near entertainment district
• On existing transit route (21)
• Inbetween both Riverview and Kenilworth dorms
• Next to river
• Easy for current UWM Shuttle to stop here on route from Riverview

Cons

• Would draw ire of many residents because of Milwaukee River Overlay District due to its spot along river
• Nearby residents would certainly raise a fuss about parking, congestion, regardless if it were true or not.

Let the debate continue.