The Fitz Rises On The East Side

Construction of The Fitz apartments. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.

A once hotly-contested apartment complex is now rising along N. Hackett Ave., though at least one neighbor still publicly opposes the project.

The four-story, 55-unit building, to be known as The Fitz, will replace a grass lot with a market-rate apartment building while also generating income for a neighboring church to gain a fully-accessible parish hall.

The project is a partnership of developer Michael DeMichele, Three Leaf Partners and St. Mark’s Episcopal Church. The church, 2604-2644 N. Hackett Ave., sold its underutilized lot in exchange for the development team replacing its 1940s parish hall with a modern, fully accessible building. HGA designed both buildings, with JLA Architects serving as the architect of record on The Fitz.

Construction workers now have the housing structure standing at half its eventual height. A deep hole remains where the parish hall will go. Across the street, a lone “Keep Our Neighborhood’s Aesthetic” sign protests the new building’s existence. The website referenced on the sign, KonaHackett.com, is, however, no more.

When a zoning change was introduced in 2022, project opponents, many of whom live in three-story condominium buildings across the street, filed a lawsuit, then dropped it.

Project opponents repeatedly raised concerns about the perceived impacts to street parking, traffic, property values and the loss of green space. The zoning change for the project would “destroy the neighborhood,” said Larraine McNamara-McGraw, a former alderwoman and one of the leading opponents, during a Sept. 13 public hearing.

And while the building isn’t finished to allow her claim to be tested, approximately two dozen people were dining al fresco Friday at Cafe Hollander while workers swung hammers across the street.

The final apartment building, 2630 N. Hackett Ave., will have an H-shaped design and 69 underground parking spaces. The church, which is losing a small parking lot as part of the development, intends to lease space at a parking structure a block to the south. Church officials said most parishioners previously did not use the lot.

Catalyst Construction is leading the general contracting on the project. The firm is affiliated with Three Leaf Partners, the successor to Catalyst Partners and Milwaukee Bucks guard Pat Connaughton‘s Three Leaf Development.

During the 2022 zoning approval process, then-alderman-in-waiting Jonathan Brostoff endorsed the project as “truly a win, win, win, win, win situation.” He said it would improve public safety by having more people monitoring the street, increase the number of patrons for area businesses, create more accessible housing units for those with disabilities, support the long-term financial sustainability of the church and increase the city’s property tax base. “It’s something that is in a lot of ways a slam dunk.”

The parish hall will look different than what was first proposed in 2022.

“Overall, I think the design is actually improved a little this time around,” said Historic Preservation Commission senior planner Tim Askin on Feb. 6 when the commission was asked to approve a revised design. The key elements were the removal of the proposed rooftop deck and stairs to the deck. “They’ve added some detail into the brickwork to give it a more vertical finish that I think it needed.

Architect Jim Shields, detailing the extended glass depth within the brickwork, said: “that’s one aspect of quality and depth here that will make this otherwise simple addition pretty elegant.”

The rooftop terrace could be added in the future said Shields, who noted the changes were a result of lower than expected fundraising totals.

The property falls oversight of the historic commission because it is located within the Downer Avenue Historic District.

Park Bank in Madison is the primary lender for the apartment building.

Photos

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Renderings and Site Plan

Pre-Construciton Site Photos