New Homes Popping Up Around Brady Street

August 6th through 10th is Brady Street week at Urban Milwaukee. Visit the site daily for dining reviews, development news, business profiles, tavern profiles and more. Coverage sponsored by the Brady Street Business Improvement District (BID#11)

New homes near Brady St. Photos by Jeramey Jannene.

The Lower East Side is one of the city’s oldest neighborhoods, but owing to the desirability of always-eclectic Brady Street and the proximity to Downtown, the Milwaukee River and the lakefront, it’s also become the site of a substantial amount of new construction.

The many large apartment buildings constructed or planned near Brady Street have been well-documented over the past ten years, but now a wave of single-family homes are beginning to rise.

Some of the new homes have been built on spec, with a developer hoping to find a buyer. Others are being built by existing area residents looking for a modern residence in the historic neighborhood. Regardless of why they’re being built, the new homes continue to inject new life into an eclectic neighborhood in which the only constant is change.

Let’s take a closer look at five under construction or recently completed homes near Brady Street.

936 E. Land Pl.

The 1,877-square-foot, two-story home at 936 E. Land Pl. was built on spec in 2015. The home includes an attached garage built underneath the second-story, a rarity for the neighborhood. The home was purchased in 2017 for $340,250. The house was built by Lemel Homes. The site had been vacant for nearly a decade before the new structure was built.

1114 E. Kane Pl.

Just east of the long-closed Tasting Room, David C. Rolston, CEO of Hatco, and his wife Kay L. Rolston have built a home above the Milwaukee River. The home, according to city records, is the largest of all the new homes near E. Brady St. at 6,872 square feet. It sits on a 10,403-square-foot lot. A construction permit lists the cost of the three-story home at $700,000.

The home was built by Kristi Minser of Amethyst Contacting. An 825-square-foot house was demolished to create the development site.

1128 E. Kane Pl.

Attorney Jason Kuwayama is building a new home on 1128 E. Kane Pl., a short walk from his current home on N. Commerce St. in the Beerline neighborhood. Ryan Scott Development, led by Ryan Konicek, is leading the construction, while Brady Street-based Johnsen Schmaling Architects is leading the design.

If it ends up looking anything like the rendering, people will find the 3,278-square-foot home one of the most modern in the city and quite the wayfinding landmark. Vertical, metal fins will cover the facade of the three-story home.

Kuwayama acquired the long, narrow site for $70,000 in August 2017 from the city.

Michael Horne examined why Kane Place has attracted a number of smaller homes, instead of apartment buildings, in a 2017 column.

1641 N. Astor St.

Construction of a new house at 1641 N. Astor St. is nearing completion on one of the smallest available lots (3,670 square feet) in the neighborhood. Lemel Homes is leading the construction of the residence for Dr. Robert F. Koebert and Dona Hutson.

A permit on file with the city gives the estimated construction cost as $714,594. A construction permit indicates the home will have 3,670 square feet of living space when complete.

Michael Horne covered the project last August for Urban Milwaukee as work was just getting started.

1673 N. Astor St.

Koebert and Hutson won’t long own the newest house on the block, as Kyle and Ruthie Weatherly will have a new residence a block north at 1673 N. Astor St. The new, 2,360-square-foot home, designed by Ramsey Jones Architects, is being built by Lakeshore Carpentry.

Built with a very modern design, the two-story home has an estimated cost of $420,000.

The couple, who will relocate to the house from a nearby condominium, demolished a vacant home on the site to create the building site. A driveway will provide access to a garage at the rear of the 5,080-square-foot lot.

1816 N. Humboldt Ave.

The redevelopment occurring at 1816 N. Humboldt Ave. is certainly the most unique of all the projects underway in the neighborhood. The complicated project involves the conversion of a 124-year-old building into six apartments. The three-story building was long used as a grocery store with apartments above.

Zach Eberhardt, who leads investment group Vetspark 1 LLC, bought the building and an adjacent duplex for $225,000 in early 2017. Eberhardt and his wife will live in the adjacent duplex and rent out the remaining duplex unit, and the six units in the larger building. Striegel-Agacki Studio, Inc. is providing design support, with Eberhardt doing much of the construction work himself.

City records the 5,456-square-foot building was originally built in 1894 and recently contained three two-bedroom apartments and a nearly 2,000 square-foot commercial space. Michael Horne provided more detail on the history of the building and its tenants in an April 2017 column.