Piles Being Driven For New Third Ward Apartments

Kaeding apartments site at 615 E. Corcoran Ave. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.

Residents and visitors to the Historic Third Ward can’t catch a break. The official sound of the neighborhood might soon be that of a pile driver.

But soon after the banging stops, there will be hundreds more residents to enjoy all that the neighborhood has to offer.

The latest pile driving marks the start of construction on a five-story, 258-unit apartment complex at the southeastern corner of the neighborhood. Its foundation work follows that of the 31-story 333 N. Water St. Below-ground work on that tower wrapped up earlier this year, and the building itself now climbs higher by the week in the northwest corner of the neighborhood.

The newest pile driving will create the foundation for Minnesota-based Kaeding Development Group‘s complex. The list of first-floor amenities that are intended to activate the building from the street in addition to attracting tenants includes a club room, coworking space, yoga room, golf simulator, billiards room, bike room, conference room, dog wash and sauna.

Kaeding is developing a 2.85-acre, vacant lot acquired from the Italian Community Center (ICC). The site is located northwest of the intersection of E. Summerfest Pl. and N. Harbor Dr. It is just south of the ICC’s large surface parking lot, 132 N. Jackson St., and immediately east of the Milwaukee Ballet‘s Baumgartner Center for Dance. Henry Maier Festival Park and the south gate into the grounds is just east of the site.

E. Corcoran Ave. will be extended along the northern side of the building. It will create a new, public connection between the neighborhood to the west and N. Harbor Dr.

Three courtyards will be inset into the building’s facade, yielding what developer Carl Kaeding told the neighborhood’s architectural review board in July 2022 is the visual appearance of three separate buildings. The north-facing courtyard will have a pool, a patio and grills are planned for the east courtyard and a dog park will fill the south courtyard.

Ramlow/Stein Architecture + Interiors is leading the complex’s design. VJS Construction Services is serving as the general contractor.

A 357-stall parking structure will be wrapped by the building, only visible from the ballet’s facility to the west.

Known as The Coachyards, the ICC acquired the former Chicago & North Western Railway yard from Milwaukee County in 1986 for $1.3 million. It sold the dance center property in 2017 for $2.4 million and the apartment site in December 2022 for $6.03 million. The ICC still maintains ownership of the majority of The Coachyards property.

The city, using increased tax revenue from other nearby developments, will construct a long-contemplated addition of E. Corcoran Ave.. It will also construct a sidewalk and other infrastructure along the west side of N. Harbor Dr., where there is currently only a ditch.

The city legally created the Kaeding site in early November when the Common Council approved a certified survey map request to divide the larger parcel and dedicate the new public street. The only building on the site was a 6,944-square-foot warehouse addressed as 640 E. Summerfest Pl. The ICC acquired that property in 1997 according to city records. The new property is addressed as 615 E. Corcoran Ave.

Much of Kaeding’s past work includes hotels, but the company is also developing a mixed-use complex in downtown St. Paul. The Milwaukee project was first publicly revealed in December 2021 and was res designed in 2022 following feedback from the Historic Third Ward Architectural Review Board.

Photos

Kaeding Building Plans

Street Plan