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.

Haven’t seen any official announcement yet, but we’ve heard from a credible source close to the project that the The Residences at Palomar project has been canceled. We’ll update this post as we learn more. At the moment, calls in to the project are going unanswered.

The high profile Sydney Hih building and Downer Avenue redevelopment project were the main items on the agenda for this commission meeting.

The initial item regarded the proposed interim historic designation for the Sydney Hih building. The developer requested it to be held over and as it had been previously presented the developer had no immediate intention to demolish the building. Although SandraMcSweeney questioned how many times it could be held over and whether or not there was a limit, it was held again.

This Historic Preservation Commission (”HPC”) meeting included agenda items for the high profile projects, The Palomar, The Brewery and the Goll Mansion redevelopment.

Original plans for the Palomar project involved the redevelopment of the Sydney Hih building as part of a new Kimpton Hotel. Over time these plans have changed and now Gatehouse Capitol and Ruvin Development intend to demolish the buildings to a develop new a 22-story building.

While it certainly sounds ridiculous, I think it’s a distinct possibility that Robert Ruvin could have prevented most, if not all of the trouble stemming from the Saturday night fiasco at RiverSplash on Old World Third Street and Water Street.

Resolution 071564 proposed the vacation of two “paper” alleys to support the Palomar development project within the Park East. Apparently Alderman Bauman read Mary Louise Schumacher’s article in the Journal Sentinel, History lost in Park East bait-and-switch, because he stated that “I see this as a bait and switch” referring to the dramatic change [...]

The Sydney Hih Square development has gone through, many iterations, public debate of TIF financing, the shuffle of lead developers, but now has taken a small step forward. This sign of progress is seen in the launching of The Residences at Hotel Palomar website. The site’s launch is in part preparation for pre-sales [...]

The controversial Sidney Hih project , that last summer was turned down for city financing of a TIF, appears to moving forward again. The first indications were the signing of multiple tenants to the project as recently reported in the Bizjournal article “Ruvin recruits Park East tenants”. The second significant step forward occurred this [...]