Third Ward Complex Needs Air Space Lease

Developer Robert Joseph is advancing a planned apartment building in the northeast corner of the Historic Third Ward.

Joseph Property Development is developing a 60-unit apartment building at the southwest corner of N. Jefferson St. and E. St. Paul Ave. in the Historic Third Ward.

The Historic Third Ward Architectural Review Board first approved the project in 2018, but Joseph has had to wait for over a year as a unique feature is built in the center of the site – an electrical substation.

Now the project team is going before the city to secure the final necessary approvals, including an air space lease for a portion of the apartment building that will hang over the E. St. Paul Ave. sidewalk.

The building, designed by RINKA, will wrap the concrete-encased station with a 76-space parking garage and a double-height commercial storefront. Four floors of apartments will rise above the concrete base.

The city is poised to grant an easement for the six-feet-deep, 64-feet-tall protrusion. It will start 30 feet off the ground.

It’s not the first time the city has granted such a lease in recent years. Joseph also secured an air space lease for the Contour Apartments in 2016. The Huron Building, under construction a couple blocks northwest, required such a lease, as did nearly-finished The Yards apartment building in Walker’s Point.

The City Plan Commission unanimously recommended approval without discussion. The proposal will next go before the Common Council.

For more on the substation, see our coverage from November.

November Site Photos

Renderings

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Related Legislation: File 191619