Random tidbits found on the internets…

• Milwaukee Development Update brings us news and insight of a building going up at 1530 North Jackson just north of the Pick ‘N’ Save parking lot and Lyon St.  Despite living just around the corner from it, I have yet to make it over to take pictures, but look forward to doing that following my return to Milwaukee.
• Milwaukee Development Update also has changed addresses going from milwaukeedevelopment.blogspot.com to www.mkedevelopment.com.
• The Brewery Project LLC, led by Joseph Zilber, officially closed their first sale.  While numerous deals have been announced or rumored, Milwaukeeans Charles Trainer and Max Dermond have purchased the 55,000-square-foot Building 10 together as Boiler House LLC.  They’re saying Albion Group Architects will move into the building by the end of 2008 and that a big announcement is coming in January of 2008.
• The Spawl-fueled Pabst Farms mall plans are back up and running with announcement of Developers Diversified Realty Corp as the new developer.  They’re still planning to open Pabst Farms Town Centre by 2010.

On the surface the 1530 North Jackson project seemed to be an appealing development because it was designed by the award winning Studio Dwell Architects out of Chicago and the project slightly improves the density in the neighborhood. Clearly attempting to fit a four story, six unit condominium project onto a small lot is a challenging effort and the design also needed to address neighborhood complaints about its density, style and potential parking problems. It appears the parking issue is managed by the design and the increase in density is very slight so the impact to the neighborhood should be minimized. Unfortunately the design looks to be a new spin on the Dingbat style all be it with parking along the side. The failure of this design isn’t in the quality of materials, slope of the roof, lack of parking, or density, the failure is that it doesn’t properly address the street. For the most part this design turns its back on the street, with much of the building facing the street being solid walls. It’s possible the design images don’t do the project justice and maybe the windows shown will do enough to connect the building to the street but clearly Studio Dwell Architects can do better.You can follow this development through the a flickr set, 1530 North Jackson that will be updated with new pictures to keep track its progress.

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Blair Williams branches out
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