Would Milwaukee be better off with the Park East Freeway spur intact? No. Has development been slow so far? Yes. Is that a problem? Only if you have a short-term perspective on the future of Milwaukee.

In the recent Journal Sentinel article, Changes Proposed to lure developers to Park East lots, Supervisor Clark is quoted saying “I think what we’re doing is just fine,” Clark said “It is the economy. We have challenges in the credit markets. I don’t think it’s anything we’re doing to scare developers away from development in the Park East corridor.” Supervisor Clark is partially correct that the economic crisis has hurt the development of the Park East, but actions or in-action by Milwaukee County have been the most significant hurdle to the development of the Park East.

In response to the announcement of the failing of The Residences of Palomar, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel ran an editorial talking about the idea of building a temporary park in the Park East land reclaimed from the former freeway spur. The idea is a bad one.

A new development team, the Milwaukee River Hotel LLC which includes Ed Carow of Wave Development, has taken over development of the $27 million Aloft hotel. This change in the development team has visibly jump started the project.

Despite delays, alterations, and setbacks the 160-room Aloft hotel project has finally started to overcome some of these hurdles. This project at one time included two stories of residential condominium units, referred to as The Residences Above, but those were removed due to a lack of market demand. This setback the project’s planned ground breaking back in April of this year but recently there have been many encouraging developments regarding this project.

The Urban Milwaukee authors have been closely following the destruction of the North Powerhouse along the Milwaukee River. We’ve accumulated a nice collection of photos tracking the demolition progress. The building was built in the late 1920s and used by the city to help distribute steam throughout downtown Milwaukee.

Rumors had circulated for weeks regarding the demise of The Residences Above portion of Ruvin Developments’ Aloft hotel project. Indications such as the website for The Residences Above being down for weeks and their sales sign coming down in record time combined with the market’s downturn made it appear likely that a change in [...]

The nine-story Aloft Hotel and condominium project is now on track to break ground in April with a target completion date of May 2009. To facilitate pre-sales Ruvin Development has launched The Residences Above website which includes floor plans, pricing and contact information for potential buyers. According to the website the nine condominium [...]