In August UW-Milwaukee will begin occupying Cambridge Commons, their new 700-bed residence hall. Owned by the UWM Real Estate Foundation and developed by the Mandel Group, the near-complete residence hall raises the bar for Milwaukee student housing when it comes to quality and ecological sustainability.

There might be a new development style taking hold in Milwaukee. A lot of focus is put on transit-oriented development, and the power of a station to improve the development of a neighborhood, but what about residence halls? Do they offer similar development when built in an urban setting? At least in one part of Milwaukee’s East Side neighborhood, it appears so.

Milwaukee Police Chief Edward Flynn has had his new police district boundaries approved by the Common Council Public Safety Committee. The new boundaries will have the most significant effects on the East and South sides of Milwaukee.

If you’re going to go out and enjoy a walk along any of Milwaukee’s rivers, now may be the team to do it. This past Saturday approximately 3,000 volunteers, myself included, descended upon Milwaukee’s river beds to clean up everything we could.
This was the second year I had participated in the event, and I [...]

Mandel Group’s efforts to construct a new UWM dormitory on the East Side took a step forward this week after receiving approval at both the City Plan Commission and the Zoning, Neighborhoods & Development Committee. This matter will be taken up by the full Common Council on December 16th, 2008 and if approved intends to break ground within 90 days.

Two significant East Side projects, New Land Enterprises’ Kenilworth apartment building and Mandel Group’s dormitory proposal, were on the agenda for this committee meeting.

First up was New Land Enterprises’ Kenilworth apartment building proposal. This proposal had been held at the previous committee meeting to allow for an “informational” meeting with the neighborhood. As the committee had indicated at the prior meeting they felt that overall this was a positive development for the city. It was approved and will now go before the full Common Council.

Bob Monnat, the chief operating officer of Mandel Group, gave a short presentation covering the history behind the development of this site. He explained that Mandel Group had originally planned to take advantage of the stunning views from the site and create a commercial use development. When UWM put out the RFP for a new dormitory Mandel Group responded after determining this could be a better fit for the site. Throughout the efforts the building was set back 50 feet and limited in its height. He explained that as the project evolved through working with the Milwaukee River Work Group and other community members that “we actually ended up with a better project.”

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 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.

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.