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.

New Land Enterprises has proposed a development for the southeast corner of Farwell Avenue and Kenilworth Avenue. The proposal is a five-story mixed-use apartment building with first floor retail. The apartments will primary be one-bedroom and studio unit that will provide high quality housing for young professionals who choose to live in the heart of the East Side. Since the opening of the Kenilworth building, various retail operators have opened, including the national retailers American Apparel and Urban Outfitters, and this projects inclusion of first floor retail will expand this growing cluster. The plans are available on the City Plan Commission website.

Plans and Drawings
Description
Map

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.

I’ve sat through many community meetings and a consistent thread has been “Those Damn College Kids” are ruining the East Side.  From listening to this small group of residents you would think that the students on the East Side are terrible, that all they do is get drunk, fight, scream at night, and urinate on their neighbor’s yards.  I’ve also heard residents claim that not only do students commit minor crimes but that they attract crime to the neighborhood.  Hearing all of these problems I’ve come up with a solution.

I say move UWM out of Milwaukee.  Right now UWM is looking into expanding its Engineering School out into Wauwatosa, and maybe they should consider moving the entire university.  We’ll definitely be better off without all of those college students running around town, destroying property values and ruining our quality of life.  Right?

Of course this idea is so terribly misguided and shortsighted that I thought nobody would suggest such an idea.  Apparently I was wrong.  A group of East Side residents recently held a community meeting to discuss this concept and have actually started a petition urging UWM to relocate.  In response I felt it was necessary to point out a few of ways that college students help to make our city a better place.

• They Volunteer and Support Charities
• They Support Business
• They Make our City Safer
• They Help Grow our City

The truth is that many students become engaged in their community by volunteering and supporting charities.  UWM students have helped to cleanup the Milwaukee River, Bradford Beach, and even our streets.   Additionally UWM students, working though the Center for Volunteerism & Student Leadership at UWM, get involved with mentoring, helping the elderly winterize their homes, donating blood or choose from over ninety organizations working to improve our community.  Beyond volunteering and despite their limited incomes according to the Alloy Media + Marketing’s 8th Annual College Explorer “69% of students cited “donating money to a cause or charity.”  It’s clear that students are helping our community with their time and money, but rarely get credit for their efforts.

Individually college students may not have access large sums of spending money but as a group they represent a significant block of disposable income.  In fact the Alloy Media + Marketing’s 8th Annual College Explorer study reports that college students will represent “a record $237 billion in spending this year”.  A cursory look around the East Side reveals numerous retail outlets targeting college students with their products.  In just the past couple of year American Apparel and Urban Outfitters have both opened stores on the East Side looking to tap into this market.  College students clearly represent an economic development opportunity and a dedicated renewable source of customers that support retail business in Milwaukee.

It is true that students sometimes are the victims of crime and sometimes they commit crimes themselves.  But it isn’t true that singling out and eliminating students from the East Side will make it a safer neighborhood.  The truth is, that college students like all residents add “eyes on the street.”  The idea that having more “eyes on the street” helps to deter crimes stems from the concept that criminals don’t want to be caught so they don’t want to be seen committing a criminal act.  College students play a vital role in this area by increasing the “eyes on the street” during different hours than the 9 to 5 crowd otherwise would.  This mixture adds to the overall safety of the neighborhood, it certainly doesn’t take away from it.

Finally the future of Milwaukee requires growth and fundamental to this growth is a college educated populace.  A recent report put out by CEO’s for Cities, titled Attracting the Young, College-Educated to Cities, indicates that “college educated young people are most likely to consider living in places similar to where they are now.”  The idea that college educated people will choose to live close to where they went to school shows that to build up this talent pool will require college students going to UWM on the East Side.  If Milwaukee intends to compete in the global economy, it is these very college kids that will play a key role.

I think we need to remind people, that when they say “Those Damn College Kids”, they should be reminded that “Those Damn College Kids are the Future of Milwaukee.”

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 was the third and final of the three initial meetings regarding the UWM dorm proposals. We already have published a Prospect Mall site meeting review and a Hometown Gas Station site meeting review.

Last Thursday night, residents of Milwaukee’s lower east side gathered at Holy Rosary Church to discuss the final of three proposals selected by the UWM Real Estate Foundation. The meeting began much like the two previous had, with the developer (Phelan Development) making a presentation on the plan, followed by a short bit by the architect (Jim Shields in this case), and representatives from UWM talking over some basic logistics and facts. After which Vice Chancellor for University Relations and Communications Tom Luljak straps on his bullet proof vest, and questions from the audience are allowed.

The presentation went smoothly and the developer and architect had clearly thought a lot about making the building fit in with the neighborhood. Shields explained that it was two separate buildings connected by a glass lobby on each floor that mimic the height and size of nearby buildings. There was discussion of how underground parking would be used for the move-in days, so that the streets would not be clogged (unlike what happens on a lot of the east side at the end of August). Also, the fact was pointed out that the location for this dorm is far denser (in terms of population) than the rest of the east side by several orders of magnitude. This is a good indicator that this site would be able to absorb the 690 proposed students with much greater ease than a lower density neighborhood. After the initial presentations, questions began.

Unlike the meeting regarding the Prospect Mall parking lot site, there clearly wasn’t coordinated neighborhood opposition. There wasn’t any radical feedback to start the meeting, and an extremely civil tone was used for almost every question. A strong number of the same faces were in the crowd from previous nights, but they were quieter. Were they quieter because they were simply burned out from three meetings in three nights or did they simply have less objections to this design and location? That question never really was answered.

Concerns were raised over parking. Unlike previous nights which revolved around student parking, concerns from the Brady/Farwell site meeting were about displaced resident parking. The site is being built on a combination of lots, to which no one seemed totally sure who exactly parked in them and how full the lots are. It was clear that area apartment dwellers park there, but no one knew how many or what buildings utilized the lots. A quick drive-by on a weekday reveals decently full lots, but not ones that are packed to the brim.

The developer had no clear plan on how to deal with the issue. Which isn’t to say there isn’t a solution, just that the market, because of the low cost of parking in Milwaukee, doesn’t bear one out immediately. Replacement parking would almost certainly be built at a loss, unless homes were demolished for a surface lot (a terrible idea).

Other concerns involved the use of the alley on the east side of the site off of Royall and that it may be congested. Access to the student parking garage along with any deliveries would be through the alley (allowing traffic to flow on Farwell without interruption). Residents weren’t concerned about sound because of that, but aired concerned that it may get congested. Neither the developer or area residents seemed to understand how much this alley is currently used. My perception of the issue is that something could easily be worked out for a semi-trailer not to be blocking the alley, and that it might actually be a non-issue if a lot of the traffic was coming from the parking lot that is the site for the proposed dorm. At the end of the day, this appeared to be an issue that could be overcome with simple planning and good design.

The final large concern of the night centered around crime. The tone wasn’t as much that the students were the criminals (although a few individuals when pressed on the issue, declined to comment further on if they were or not), but that they were the victims. The crowd appeared to hold a general belief that Pizza Shuttle is a rather crime-ridden establishment past midnight, as is the Fedex/Kinkos parking lot. There were a considerable number of comments that the students would fall victim to this. No one suggested that filling in the corridor (replacing surface parking with a building full of residents) might actually deter crime and the loitering that appears to plague the area late at night.

There was also a few comments that the first floor retail in the proposal would not be occupied because the nearby Sterling Condominiums retail space is still vacant. I was pleased to see Alderman Kovac step forward and say that placing the mixed-use dorm on Farwell may actually encourage both stalls to be filled. The obvious principle that on-top of adding potential customers in the form of students, you’re also building the corridor and making the entire area more attractive.

If this meeting had to be compared to one of the previous ones, I would say it was similar to the Hometown site meeting. The only large difference was that Sean Phelan and Jim Shields didn’t have the coordinated team support that the Mandel Group had. Sean Phelan seemed as if he was a one-man army, while characterizing Barry Mandel as such would be akin to saying Bill Gates is the only person that works at Microsoft. The group approach seems to work, at least in terms of making people not ask questions at the meeting.

If you put a gun to my head and made me build a dorm based on the reaction from the meetings, I would go with the Hometown site first, this site second, and the Prospect Mall site last.

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.

Boulder Ventures provided us with a rendering of their proposed dorm for the Prospect Mall parking lot on the east side of Prospect Avenue. Click on the image for a full-sized rendering.

The site as it stands now looks as such. Again, a high-res image is available by clicking on the image itself.

Clearly the dorm would be an improvement over the stand-alone Qdoba and surface parking lot. It might even help hide the gas station.

Our full review of the meeting where Boulder Ventures presented their vision for the site is available in a past article.