Nova Could Be Downtown Airbnb Hub
Apartments could be temporarily leased as "pop-up hotel." Plus: A recap of week's real estate news.
Nova at N. Van Buren St. and E. Juneau Ave. in April. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.
A new apartment building nearing completion in downtown Milwaukee could become quite the Airbnb destination, but only temporarily.
New Land Enterprises is seeking zoning approval to lease up to 90 of the 251 units in Nova, at N. Van Buren St. and E. Juneau Ave., through short-term rental services for no more than two years.
The proposal would generate a new revenue stream for New Land and its investors while the company works to fully lease the building, which will open this summer.
It’s an arrangement that New Land managing director Tim Gokhman says his firm already pursues in most of its other buildings. “We work with short-term rental operating partners. We don’t operate it ourselves,” said Gokhman to the City Plan Commission on June 26. “Over the years we have figured out how to operate such partnerships so that most importantly they’re not detrimental to residents. If such a thing is run in a way that it is a disturbance, a nuisance, it impacts us more than anyone else.”
But in order to comply with the zoning code, which requires a “commercial hotel” designation for any building with more than four units leased on a short-term basis, New Land is seeking an amendment to the 2021 zoning change that enabled the building’s development. Gokhman said his other buildings are limited to four units.
“I want to make it very, very clear, this is not a hotel,” said Gokhman. “We don’t have a banquet hall, we don’t have a ballroom, we don’t have a bar.” He said it’s for people who don’t want to stay in a hotel, including his family. He said the multi-room arrangement of a furnished apartment is more appealing to families with children. Individual tenants are prohibited from renting out their apartment on the services.
Gokhman said monitoring systems in the short-term rental units automatically report the presence of smoke or elevated noise. In the case of Nova, Gokhman said a manager would also live in the building. “Any concerns about additional nuisance are unfounded,” he told the plan commission.
The Department of City Development (DCD) is endorsing the change, even as it explores possible regulations for properties leased on Airbnb and other services. “There is not any physical changes to the building proposed,” said DCD planning manager Sam Leichtling. “This would be a temporary use while the building is being leased up.” DCD also supports the proposal because the Downtown Area Plan identified a hotel as an acceptable use for the area. “From a planning perspective, all of the planning documents do support tourism as a land use in Downtown.”
A number of objections have been submitted, including from social services agency Jewish Family Services (JFS) and the 601 Lofts condominium board. Both are located to the north of the new building. A handful of nearby residents have also filed objections.
JFS, which supported the apartment proposal, is concerned about what could happen to its unsecured parking lot. In a letter, the organization said it expects it will need to buy gates or pay to secure the property. “We have safety and security concerns for JFS property, our staff and clients,” said JFS CEO John Yopps. “We don’t know what to anticipate so everything looks like it’s possible.”
“We have 251 units in the building, we have 300 parking spaces,” said Gokhman. Short-term rental guests could use the parking structure in the nine-story building’s base. “What we generally see from short-term rental guests, someone coming into the city for a couple of days is not going to have a car at all… unfortunately, there is more than enough parking if someone wanted to bring their vehicle.”
The developer said New Land’s on-site management staff would work with the short-term operator and its on-site manager to address any issues. A network of cameras in common areas of the property would also track bad behavior. “It’s pretty well handled,” he said. Gokhman said his organization remains in communication with JFS and has suggested closing the N. Van Buren Street entrance to the lot. He acknowledged construction is a “pain in the butt” with subcontractors not following directives.
One of the rental agencies New Land partners with is Milwaukee-based Frontdesk, which leases and furnishes units before making them available on several different short-term rental platforms. But Frontdesk is not the partner for this development. “It’s someone that has come out of a national real estate company,” said Gokhman, declining to name the operator because the agreement is not signed.
The plan commission unanimously endorsed the change. The change still needs the approval of the Common Council.
For more information on Nova, see our coverage from April.
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Weekly Recap
Can County Protect Renters With Housing Vouchers?
There’s a problem in Milwaukee County, of landlords turning away prospective tenants because they plan to pay their rent with Section 8 housing vouchers.
These vouchers are used by people and families making 50% or less of the area’s median income. Sup. Shawn Rolland has authored a resolution that he hopes will eventually lead to a solution to the problem.
Rolland said he and others on the county board have been hearing stories from housing advocates about the Section 8 discrimination. The county does have an ordinance that prohibits this discrimination, but the process of enforcement is not working as currently devised. What’s more, there is legal uncertainty about whether the county can enforce its own ordinance.
With enforcement now a questionable tactic for solving the problem, Rolland’s resolution seeks to “develop a list of viable strategies to incentivize landlords to accept renters who are participating in Milwaukee County’s Housing Choice Voucher Program.” And it asks the county’s Department of Health and Human Services, which contains the county’s Housing Division, to work with any other relevant county agencies on the issue.
Construction Underway On Harley’s Hub
It won’t be done in time for next week’s 120th Anniversary event, but construction is well underway on Harley-Davidson‘s new park.
Known as Davidson Park, it’s part of the company’s still largely undisclosed plan to reshape its west side headquarters.
The new park, scheduled for a spring 2024 opening, will be located along W. Highland Boulevard near N. 37th Street, replacing a large amount of the surface parking lots the company acquired over decades. A permit request says the project will cost $21.8 million to construct.
The central feature, The Hub, is to be a sunken, multi-use events space. It will provide views of the brick buildings the company has occupied for approximately 120 years and of a new natural environment. There are also plans for a market street, garden and nature-focused playground.
Northwestern Mutual Donates $3 Million To Home Ownership Efforts
Northwestern Mutual will donate $3 million to two Milwaukee homeownership initiatives.
The insurance company will contribute $2.5 million to the Milwaukee Community Land Trust. It will also contribute $500,000 to Acts Housing‘s homeownership acquisition fund.
Both initiatives aim to increase the supply of affordable housing for lower-income owner-occupants in Milwaukee.
“As a financial services company, we recognize our responsibility to support and add economic value to our communities,” said Grady Crosby, NM vice president and chief sustainability and impact officer, in a statement. “By leveraging our expertise and working directly with local residents and partners, we’re helping to create a pipeline to homeowners that makes housing more affordable and gives residents a stake in their properties for generations to come.”
35th and Vliet To Become Milwaukee’s Art Intersection
Derrick Cainion has big plans for the intersection of N. 35th Street and W. Vliet Street.
Since 2022 he has been working to develop what he has named Art Intersection MKE, and hopes to develop a mural and sculpture garden first and then add an art gallery, artist housing and event space. He’s seeking to buy eight vacant lots from the city.
“The point of Art Intersection Milwaukee is to have a space where people can learn, create and celebrate through art and community, where people can come together and view public art and change the face of the neighborhood and also drive economic development on the Vliet Street corridor,” said Cainion to the Zoning, Neighborhoods & Development Committee on June 13.
A $260,000 grant from the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District‘s Fresh Coast Clean Communities program would pay for constructing stormwater retention infrastructure on the site. An additional $265,000 project, backed by a mix of grants and financing, would cover the demolition of the fire-damaged home in the middle of the site and the building of a solar pavilion — an outdoor meeting space sheltered by solar panels.
E. North Ave. Apartments Moving Forward
The City of Milwaukee is doing its part to move a new affordable apartment complex from rendering to reality.
“When people ask for how the city supports affordable housing, this is a really good example,” said Department of City Development affordable housing specialist Maria Prioletta to the Zoning, Neighborhoods & Development Committee Thursday morning.
The city listed the E. North Avenue site for sale in 2020, selected KG Development as the winning bidder later that same year, endorsed a zoning change and a request to the state for low-income housing tax credits, allocated funding from its Housing Trust Fund, served as a pass-through on a state grant and is now advancing a $1.25 million tax incremental financing (TIF) district that is effectively a property tax rebate.
The Riverwest Workforce Apartments and Food Accelerator will include 91 apartments, 83 of which will be set aside at below-market rates for qualifying individuals making between 30% and 80% of the area’s median income.
Baird Name Will Be Added Atop U.S Bank Center
One of Milwaukee’s largest employers has had a quiet presence in the city for decades, but that’s about to change.
Financial services firm Baird will soon see its name displayed at the top of Wisconsin’s tallest building and on its largest convention center.
The company announced Thursday it has extended its lease at the U.S. Bank Center for five more years, through 2033. It occupies 21 floors of the 42-story downtown tower, 777 E. Wisconsin Ave. The lease includes 456,000 square feet of space, maintaining the company as the largest tenant in the 1.1-million-square-foot building.
“Every few years we conduct a thorough review of our current and future space needs, then look at our options to ensure we are providing the best experience for our associates and clients,” said CEO and chairman Steve Booth in a statement. “Milwaukee is a great place to do business and U.S. Bank Center has proven to be an excellent location for Baird as we’ve continued to add new talent to best serve our clients. We are committed to the local community and pleased to be a major part of its future.”
Rusty Bolts Will Cost City $50,000
Within 36 hours of its installation, a new water meter installed by Milwaukee Water Works (MWW) personnel failed and flooded the basement of a near-west side apartment building.
It’s a mistake that will cost the city $50,000 and an insurance company likely more than $100,000.
The issue, based on documentation compiled by city officials and private contractors, stems from reusing rusted bolts instead of new ones that would have only cost a few dollars.
On March 10 the new meter was installed in the basements of each of the three buildings at the Highland Park Apartments complex at N. 17th St. and W. Highland Ave. Tenants of the easternmost building, at 1145 N. Callahan Pl., reported issues on March 11, with standing water found in the basement. At 3:00 a.m. on March 12, water was discovered spraying from the meter. According to MWW data, at least 8,750 gallons of water leaked into the basement.
New ‘Healing Spaces’ Created In Vacant Lots
A pandemic-inspired program to give people more outdoor space has found success in the Harambee neighborhood and is now spreading throughout the city.
Thirteen vacant lots have been transformed into pocket parks as part of the City of Milwaukee’s Healing Spaces Initiative and two more are on the way. The spaces include benches, accessible pathways, gardens, solar lights, Little Free Libraries, shade structures and more.
“The pandemic, when we were in the throes of it, showed us just how important outdoor spaces are and how residents increasingly prioritize having these sorts of amenities available to them in neighborhoods like Harambee and across the entire city,” said Mayor Cavalier Johnson at a June 22 press conference held at Peace Park, a “healing space” at 3240 N. Martin Luther King Jr. Dr. It’s maintained by the nearby HeartLove Place, a faith-based community organization.
“This is truly the power of partnership on full display,” said area Alderwoman Milele A. Coggs. The Healing Spaces Initiative provides up to $10,000 grants to community organizations to create, activate and maintain the new public spaces. “None of this would be possible if it wasn’t for the collaboration of many, from the residents to the funders.”
State’s Home Prices Up 104% Over Last Decade
The median home price in Wisconsin has more than doubled over the last decade, as supply has failed to keep up with demand after homebuilding slowed during the Great Recession.
That’s according to new data from the Wisconsin Realtors Association, or WRA, and a new report from the University of Wisconsin-Extension.
Median home prices in Wisconsin have risen from $144,000 in May 2013 to $294,000 in May 2023, according to realtors association data.
In fact, from February 2012 to the same month this year, Wisconsin went from having the second-lowest median home sale price among its neighbors — Illinois, Minnesota, Michigan and Iowa — to the second-highest, according to UW-Extension.
Survey Finds Many City Houses Need Repairs
Iran Jennings knows firsthand about the housing conditions of her neighbors.
That’s because Jennings was part of a project by the Reclaiming Our Neighborhoods (RON) Coalition and Rocket Community Fund that surveyed the exterior of Milwaukee homes.
“I got involved because I want to see my community thrive,” Jennings said. “Doing it this way allowed me to see what challenges my neighbors are facing.”
Eighty-six residents conducted surveys in 15 Milwaukee neighborhoods.
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