Jeramey Jannene
Friday Photos

The North End is Nearly Finished

Fifth phase is the final piece of the puzzle for the Mandel Group.

By - Apr 20th, 2018 05:04 pm
Chroma Construction. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.

Chroma Construction. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.

After more than a decade of development, The North End is nearly complete. The fifth and final phase of the Mandel Group‘s massive mixed-use complex is scheduled to start accepting residents in May. The new apartment building, to be known as Chroma, will include 89 apartments when complete.

Chroma, the Greek word for color, will join the ONEPortraitSilhouetteAperture and Vignette buildings in the photography-named complex of buildings clustered around the intersection of N. Water St. and E. Pleasant St. Vignette recently opened to residents, and based on social media activity both its new apartments and outdoor pool have been a smash hit. See inside those apartments in our project profile released this morning.

The Mandel Group originally planned to build both the Vignette and Chroma buildings together, but split the two buildings into two projects to more easily obtain financing according to Mandel Group Chief Operating Office Robert Monnat. The two buildings will maintain shared amenities.

Design work on the building is being led by Eric Ponto of Engberg Anderson. Peridot is leading the building’s construction. The apartment building will include 60 underground parking spaces and 36 upper-level spaces.

The building will be the most dog friendly in the entire complex. An artificial grass dog run is planned as well as a dog spa.

You’re forgiven if you didn’t think Chroma was part of The North End. The project is located across N. Water St. from the rest of the project, occupying the northeast corner of the intersection of N. Water St. and N. Milwaukee St.

However, now that the project has reached its maximum height and colorful balconies have been installed it feels more unified with the rest of the complex. Standing in the middle of N. Water St. amid all the new buildings suddenly feels a lot more like being in the middle of an outdoor living room, and not at all like wandering through a post-apocalyptic wasteland of the abandoned Pfister & Vogel Tannery. Those days are gone. Traffic is substantially calmer as well, with three stoplights added to N. Water St. between E. Juneau Ave. and E. Pleasant St. Mandel, along with a handful of other developers, has transformed the area.

The North End currently includes 561 apartments, numerous commercial tenants, Denim Park, a new segment of the Milwaukee RiverWalk and the Fresh Thyme Farmers Market grocery store. Add in the planned 89 units at Chroma and The North End will have more residents than many Wisconsin towns.

Construction on the six-story building began in March 2017.

Photos

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3 thoughts on “Friday Photos: The North End is Nearly Finished”

  1. Cindy Belanger says:

    Call me old fashioned, but I liked the Pfister & Vogel building. That building had a lot of character, the North End makes Water St. feel like a nondescript canyon. But, I guess anything goes if it builds up the tax base.

  2. Sam says:

    I’m okay with the canyon-esque north Water street. This area should be as dense as it has become. Some variation in heights would have been nice, but that goes more towards the vagaries of construction/development finance.

    All the traffic lights now make me miss when this was a desolate stretch a bit. That Cherry St. light especially aggravates me on weekends. There is no reason that shouldn’t be a flashing yellow on weekends.

  3. Dave Reid says:

    Walking home from Danceworks while passing in front of The North End the other night it occurred to me just how much more vibrant this stretch of Water St is today. Used to feel like a very isolated and desolate stretch, now people coming and going. People hanging out in Denim Park, Birch + Bucher busy with customers.. Amazing transformation.

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