City Selling Harbor District Development Site

The Department of City Development is seeking someone to develop a vacant lot that sits at the gateway to Komatsu Mining‘s South Harbor Campus and UW-Milwaukee’s School of Freshwater Sciences.

The rectangular 2.03-acre site is the last parcel available in the Freshwater Plaza development. Immediately to its north is a Cermak grocery store and access ramp to the Kinnickinnic River Trail. The Freshwater Plaza Apartments building, with a variety of retail tenants, is located to its west. To the northwest, a Sherwin Williams store and a planned bank branch site front S. 1st St. A large surface lot fills the middle of the site.

A request for proposals has an Aug. 11 due date, with a $1.9 million asking price. The site is addressed as 200 E. Greenfield Ave.

Wangard Partners, as of 2018, had proposed to develop a six-story, mixed-use building on the site with 45,000 square feet of commercial space and 76 apartments. But despite a zoning change being granted, those plans never progressed to construction. The original zoning package, created as part of the redevelopment of the Grede Foundries complex that filled the larger site, called for an office building on the now-listed parcel.

The RFP calls for a developer to follow the 2018 zoning change, which called for an approximately five-story building along E. Greenfield Ave. that could taper off to the north. An all-residential building would be allowed, but the proposal requires first-floor activation. Commercial or office uses would also be allowed.

DCD said it would look favorably upon proposals that include an affordable housing component. The RFP states, “Any housing that is proposed for the site should strive to provide a mix of units that are affordable to a range of incomes. Proposals that incorporate income/rent-restricted affordable units within the proposed development are highly encouraged, with a preference for [two bedroom] or larger units and/or units targeting low-income individuals below 50% [area median income].” The document also says that the city could support an affordable housing proposal with a tax-incremental financing district if it was otherwise not economically viable.

Regardless of whether a TIF subsidy is received, the RFP calls for the developer to comply with the standard TIF district terms of having 40% of the project’s construction hours completed by unemployed or underemployed city residents through the Residents Preference Program and 25% of project costs spent with certified Small Business Enterprises.

A portion of the site along E. Greenfield Ave. is being reserved for a significant water feature. It would parallel the water feature in front of the Freshwater Plaza apartment building that takes rainwater and cycles it through a series of manmade ponds. Because of the water feature and a private street (S. Barclay St.), only 1.3 acres of the parcel are expected to be developable.

The site is a key Harbor District parcel. The building would be visible from S. 1st St. as well as the adjacent bike trail. It would serve as a visual anchor along E. Greenfield Ave., with the Canadian Pacific railroad bridge otherwise blocking sight lines to the UWM, Komatsu and Freshwater Plaza developments.

The parcel is owned by the Redevelopment Authority of the City of Milwaukee. A sale would require RACM and Common Council approval.

A copy of the RFP is available on Urban Milwaukee.

Site

2018 Plans