County Officials Suggest Taking Back Couture Site
Supervisors cite lack of progress on county-owned lakefront land.
A handful of members of the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors suggested this week that the county explore new development partners for The Couture site while the project is stalled waiting for financing to come through.
The site, at 909 E. Michigan St., is intended to be transformed into a 44-story apartment tower containing approximately 300 units.
While Barrett Lo Visionary Development waits on its application for a loan guarantee from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Supervisors John Weishan, Jr. and Marcelia Nicholson commented this week on a closing window for development and the county potentially “doing something” if the project doesn’t get underway. The sale agreement allows the county to take the site back if construction didn’t start by February 2018, Tom Daykin reported in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
“We’ve been very patient for a very long time,” said Weishan. Barrett Lo paid $500,000 to acquire the approximately two-acre parcel.
Barrett Lo did demolish the former Downtown Transit Center, clearing the site for the tower, but has yet to start construction on the project because of financing issues.
$1.3 million grant going into Near West Side Public Housing
A $1.3 million federal grant was awarded to Marquette University and Northwest Side Partners in partnership with the Housing Authority of the City of Milwaukee (HACM) to study and plan for rehabilitation and redevelopment of the College Court public housing complex at 3334 W. Highland Blvd.
HACM executive director Tony Perez said the grant will leave the authority better positioned to apply for a larger $30 million federal grant to redevelop College Court. HACM is looking at the project to be similar to Westlawn’s redevelopment, which was funded in part with a $30 million Choice Neighborhoods grant, Sean Ryan reported in the Milwaukee Business Journal.
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- City Advances $8.1 Million TIF for Michels
Correction: The story originally incorrectly reported HACM as the grant awardee. The story has been updated to reflect that Marquette University and Northwest Side Partners are the grant awardees.
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More about the Couture
- Eyes on Milwaukee: Couture to Start Construction in January - Jeramey Jannene - Nov 23rd, 2020
- Eyes on Milwaukee: The Couture Developer Applies For Federal Loan Guarantee - Jeramey Jannene - Sep 5th, 2020
- Eyes on Milwaukee: The Couture Developer Secures Financing - Jeramey Jannene - Jun 26th, 2020
- Eyes on Milwaukee: Is A Couture Deal Finally Coming? - Jeramey Jannene - May 13th, 2020
- Eyes on Milwaukee: Still No Deal For The Couture. Yet - Jeramey Jannene - Dec 11th, 2019
- Plats and Parcels: NBA Player Plans Downtown Apartments - Jeramey Jannene - Oct 13th, 2019
- Transportation: Couture Streetcar Extension Decision Pushed to June 2020 - Jeramey Jannene - Oct 2nd, 2019
- Transportation: City Struggles on Couture Streetcar Extension - Jeramey Jannene - Sep 12th, 2019
- MKE County: Supervisors Question Couture Project - Graham Kilmer - Sep 11th, 2019
- Plats and Parcels: The Couture Getting New Signage - Jeramey Jannene - Aug 25th, 2019
Read more about Couture here