Park East Apartment Building Progressing

1333-1339 N. Milwaukee St. proposal. Rendering by Korb + Associates Architects.

Construction could soon be starting on a new apartment complex at the northern edge of Downtown.

Stevens Construction, on behalf of Chicago-based LG Group, filed for an erosion control permit necessary to construct what is planned to be a U-shaped, 197-unit apartment building at 1333-1339 N. Milwaukee St.

Korb + Associates Architects is designing the building, which would occupy a 1.3-acre sloped site that runs along E. Ogden Ave. between N. Broadway and N. Milwaukee St. The property is between Viets Field and the Convent Hill senior housing complex.

The estimated job cost on the permit is listed at $46 million. An LG affiliate paid $5 million for the vacant property in May 2022.

LG’s website says the building would feature an “outdoor pool, multiple amenity spaces, and a fitness center.” The pool would be located in an interior courtyard, wrapped by three attached structures. The website says 7,670 square feet of retail space is included in the proposal.

The complex would have a maximum floor height of seven stories, with a parking structure podium effectively hidden by the substantial slope of the site. A separate permit request lists six floors and an 80-foot maximum height.

The site has long been associated with the Park East freeway corridor. But the parcel wasn’t directly underneath the former freeway.

The L-shaped lot, which slopes downhill towards N. Broadway, was occupied by a Gothic Revival style building for more than 100 years. That building, demolished in 2006 just after the freeway came down, was last occupied by the Milwaukee Center for Independence.

LG is the fourth developer to publicly pursue a new building at the property in the past two decades.

Big Bend Development first proposed to develop The Terraces at River Bluff condominium complex at the site. It would have included two 13-story towers, an eight-story building and 10 townhomes. But like many early Park East proposals, it never moved forward.

In 2016, an affiliate of Roers Companies bought the site and planned an apartment building, The Skye Apartments, but financing for the development fell through. Korb was also the architect behind that proposal.

Chicago-based Ravine Park Partners proposed to develop an approximately 200-unit development on the site in 2019. The firm never purchased the property.

Permits were previously filed by Korb in February 2022, but they were not issued. The commercial new construction permit, the central permit to enable the building’s construction, was given approval for zoning compliance by the Department of City Development in November and the Department of Public Works in January. According to the city’s land management system, the Department of Neighborhood Services has yet to issue the permit.

A representative of LG did not respond to a request for comment by the time of publication.

LG’s website touts the firm’s experience creating more than 2,000 housing units and $2 billion of development. The firm also offers design and contracting services.

After the Gothic Revival building was demolished, a portion of the foundation was visible for at least five years. Included in the foundation were two doorways that led under the Ogden Avenue sidewalk, creating an unusual sight for passersby.

Renderings

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