Plenty of Horne
City Wants Changes for Old Pizza Man Site
Proposed building is "too boxy" and "monolithic," Ald. Kovac and others on review board say.
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Proposed building is "too boxy" and "monolithic," Ald. Kovac and others on review board say. Back to the full article.
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Don’t let them build an eyesore like The Dwell on South Kinnickinnic in Bay View.
Anything in the old Pizza Man site is a welcome addition. Monolithic condos and storefronts were put up on Kenilworth without a problem. I don’t see the reasonable resistance to building something of similar quality on this site. Even if it doesn’t conform to all of the developer’s original guildelines, I doubt that they are so rigid as to require too many major changes. Salvaging 1890’s materials does not seem to make a lot of sense here, and is probably not a safe thing to do. Not every old house is a state landmark.
This intersection has a high volume of traffic, this location should
be treated as a gateway to that area. Inviting, warm and welcoming.
The drawing of the proposed building is anything but that.
Come on guys, back to the drawing board and get it right.
Long time Eastside resident.
@Chris I assume you are referring to what the neighborhood refers to as the Flatitude. Just for some clarification it is apartments not condos. That project was actually held at (zoning) ZND for an extra neighborhood meeting right as Ald. Kovac took office. And I’m fairly certain it is part of the reason why the neighborhood, local business, and the city formed the Architectural Review Board (ARB).
Also it was not the developer’s original guidelines. The architect of the building also happens to be the guy who wrote the ARB guidelines (kinbda funny really). Anyhow just like most buildings I’m sure there will be some tweaks and eventually it will go forward, but having the ARB in place will have at least pushed some minor improvements and did in fact get the massing, and setback of this building right.
In this rare case, and it’s obviously context sensitive, I think in a lot of ways the function will actually be more important that the form. Unfortunately the city doesn’t really have means to accommodate that. On North Avenue, it’s about the ground floor. This is an iconic corner, crossroads, and a gateway in large part because of it’s former function. This was a neighborhood (within 1 mile) and community (east side) gathering spot that attracted people because of it’s function as both a popular business(es) and crossroads for day and night users of the street. Presenting a form (building) with a flat, cold face and a tennant space for another noname beer bar will prevent this function from materializing.
It’s refreshing to see that the North Ave community has has evolved beyond the “anything is good” if it’s built here mentality. The City and the local community shouldn’t settle for bland, developer-driven design. And certainly not here.
Dave — I believe it was the terrible new development at the NE corner of Prospect and North that prompted the ARB formation. This is the single-story building that houses a vacant corner retail slot, Ian’s, and Subway. Though the Flatitude could have certainly contributed as well.
Oakland and North is an important corner. Though to be clear there was nothing iconic about the former Pizza Man building, beyond the great business(es) that it housed. The architecture was just good urbanism — Herb in Planter notes this well in the day/night business use description above.
This design gets some things right in terms of facing the street, height, etc… It’s far from terrible. But it’s emotionless, Anywhere USA building stock at best. Cheap materials, some attempt to bring a little quirk by pushing the windows around (which everyone is doing, 5 years ago), with a tacked on corner projection. There is much room for improvement.
Given the insanely tight window for revision re-submittal, I question how dramatic a change we’ll see. But let’s hope for something better.
Kudos to the North Ave ARB for reasonably demanding better.
@Chris Yes the NE corner of Prospect and North was a big reason behind the ARB, but the process the Latitude went (or didn’t) go through led into the discussion as well.
I really don’t see how monolithic the building can possibly be in comparison to Columbia-St Mary’s or the Prospect Medical Commons just down the street. Even the development already started with the new library and apartments accompanying it has very boxy characteristics.
http://www.bizjournals.com/milwaukee/news/2012/02/21/cre-guide-community-spotlight-east-side.html