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.

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.

The existing building will be dwarfed in comparision to the 21-story tower that will consume the old surface parking lot.

While normally the construction of an urban high rise wouldn’t draw resentment from this website, a high rise that was built tax-free seemed a bit odd.  After all, should the state of Wisconsin really grant a property tax exemption for luxury senior living? Before the latest state budget was passed, this facility (like almost all other non-profit hospitals, assisted living facilities, nursing homes, hospice facilities, and dorms) would have been entirely free of any property tax.  Michael Horne calculated exactly what that meant to the bottom line of the City, County, State, MPS, MATC, and MMSD, and it was almost $2 million, annually.

• City of Milwaukee — $671,470
• MPS                     — $684,750
• County                  — $348,600
• MATC                  — $161,020
• MMSD                 — $113,710
• State                      — $ 14,940

Obviously, that money could be used to hire a lot of teachers, police officers, and firefighters.  Not to mention plow snow, pick up garbage, clean parks, and keep libraries open.

St. John's on the Lake "The Expansion" as viewed from Prospect Avenue.

Had a future resident of the St. Johns on the Lake independent living facility simply elected to instead purchase a luxury condo at another high rise, say Kilbourn Tower, instead of The Expansion they would have been paid their fair share of property taxes.

That said, there is certainly good reason to grant exemptions to seniors residing in senior-living facilities.  They likely are on a fixed income and are potentially spending a considerable amount of money on medical care. But where should the line be drawn?  Clearly someone capable of paying an entrance fee starting at $270,000 and monthly fees that start at $3,000 is not living on your traditional fixed income.  They do not need a tax break simply to be able to live their life comfortably.

Thankfully, as part of 2010-2011 state budget that was signed into law by Governor Jim Doyle this summer, a compromise was reached by the Conference Committee that protects the interests of both fixed-income seniors and municipalities.  The Conference Committee narrowed the exemption to the following.

• All units whose fair market value is 130% over the county average equalized value are assessable. In determining the fair market value of each unit the assessor must eliminate the value of the common area.
• A maximum of 30 acres is exempt
• If over 50% of the units are determined to be taxable, all of the common area becomes taxable. If 50% or less are taxable all of the common area is exempt.
• The retirement home must be non-profit and benevolent to qualify for exemption.

In Milwaukee County, that 130% figure would equal a unit with a value of $240,330.63 (fun fact in Waukesha and Ozaukee County it would be right around $410,458).  With an average unit construction cost of $946,306 (which would include all the common area amenities), it’s pretty clear units will be paying property taxes from the minute they’re occupied.

As far as I can tell, problem solved.

From an urbanist’s perspective, it’s good to see more senior living being located in a walkable neighborhood (and correspondingly so in a pedestrian-friendly facility).  The residents will have access to all that the Lower East Side has to offer within walking distance from their apartment, and will be welcome new customers at any of the businesses.  Children and grand children coming to visit will have an easy time getting to the facility by car or bus (MCTS route #30 runs by the front door of the facility).  It’s also nice to see a large surface parking lot being replaced by a building, this will pay dividends by making the neighborhood as a whole more attractive to pedestrians, visitors, and potential residents alike (much as the unfortunately bankrupt Park Lafayette does just a few blocks away).  With the tax issues resolved, this building gets the seal of approval from this urbanist as it could have just as easily been a sprawling greenfield development in Lake Country.

Future taxpayers of St. Johns on the Lake, welcome to the neighborhood!