Llewellyn Library, 907 E. Russell Ave. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.

A former Milwaukee Public Library (MPL) branch in the city’s Bay View neighborhood could soon be redeveloped.

The MPL is working with the Department of City Development (DCD) and Alderwoman Marina Dimitrijevic to sell the former Llewellyn Library, 907 E. Russell Ave. It is expected to be listed for sale via a competitive request-for-proposals process in early 2024.

Dimitrijevic told Urban Milwaukee she expects the property to be reused as housing.

The building opened to the public in 1914, with a major addition to the front completed in 1959. The property is located just off S. Kinnickinnic Avenue at the intersection of E. Russell Avenue and S. Lenox Street.

MPL shuttered the facility in 1993, replacing it with the current Bay View Library, a few blocks northeast at 2566 S. Kinnickinnic Ave. The property was then leased to Milwaukee Public Schools, with the neighboring Bay View High School using the building for its Redcat Academy program for several years.

It is currently vacant and the MPL board has declared it surplus, clearing any library impediments to its sale.

Appraisals indicate the city could yield more revenue from a sale if a developer is allowed to demolish the building and replace it with housing.

According to library board minutes, the city has received two appraisals for the property. If the property was sold as a development site for a “high-value apartment building,” the property appraisal is $490,000. If the buyer were required to reuse the existing building, the assessment would be only $330,000.

But the city, at least initially, is expected to pursue keeping the building.

“The City is looking to adaptively reuse the existing building where the redevelopment complements the residential character of the neighborhood,” said a DCD official in a statement to Urban Milwaukee. “The site is zoned RT4, which allows residential uses with some commercial or a mixture of both (i.e. live/work space).”

The two-story, 8,234-square-foot building sits on a 17,365-square-foot lot.

The property is not large enough to fit a major new apartment building, like KinetiK, but could, theoretically, accommodate a smaller building near the size of the 69-unit Vue Apartments building at 2202 S. Kinnickinnic Ave., a 19,955-square-foot lot. A building of that scale would require a zoning change. A four-story, 31-unit apartment building is located immediately east of the former library on a 15,634-square-foot lot.

Dimitrijevic told Urban Milwaukee she could see something similar to the condominium townhomes on S. Aldrich Street, if the former library building isn’t saved.

The recently approved Bay View Plan, a land-use plan, calls the site “an opportunity for creative residential, live-work or mixed-use.”

The ability to repurpose the building, once a modest Beaux Arts structure perched atop a hill, is complicated by the unusual 1950s addition and heavily modified interior. The firm of Van Ran & DeGelleke designed the original building.

The library is named for Henry Llewellyn, whose children donated the property. The community room in the current library is also named for Llewellyn.

Nearby Church For Sale

The library isn’t the only aging building in the area likely to find a new use. A block to the west, the former Deutsche Evangelische Christus Gemeinde (German Evangelical Church) is for sale.

The building, 2644 S. Pine Ave., was most recently home to Iglesia Arca De Salvacion. Based on sounds that reverberate through the neighborhood on summer afternoons, it’s also been regularly used for band practices.

The wood-framed structure was constructed in 1895, with a major addition in 1908. It contains approximately 4,500 square feet of space.

“The Church’s nave would warmly welcome a new congregation as worship space. The location is remarkable and could be reinvented or repurposed,” says a listing from Paul Monigal of Corley Real Estate.

It is offered for sale for $449,000.

The Chicago-based Assembly of Pentecostal Church of Jesus Christ Inc. owns the church.

The organization also owns the church at 907 S. 12th St., currently home to Templo Maranata Aipj, the church at 2335 S. 13th St. (Templo de Restauracion) and a small office building at 1570 W. Grant St.

Weekly Recap

City Wins $15 Million To Demolish Northridge, But Still Must Prevail In Court

Milwaukee has secured a major piece of funding to demolish Northridge Mall, but spending the money continues to require the city to prevail in court.

Governor Tony Evers announced a $15 million grant from the state’s American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) grant on Friday that would fund the city’s demolition costs.

“This grant is only the latest example of how we are connecting the dots with our local and federal partners and working to build stronger, safer, and more prosperous communities across Wisconsin,” said Evers in a statement. “This project will remove a blighted property, address safety hazards, and clear the way for the site to be redeveloped into a significant asset for the community, bolstering growth and development for Milwaukee and our state.”

In its now multi-year legal battle to see the vacant mall redeveloped, the city has sought to have property owner U.S. Black Spruce Enterprise Group, a Chinese firm, demolish the building. But, in January, the city switched gears and asked Judge William Sosnay to drop the fines in exchange for giving the city the property. City officials said they had identified a funding source to cover the estimated $15 million cost to clear the 46.5-acre property.

Read the full article

Mitchell Street Building Saved, New Development Planned For Parking Lots

Aspiring developer Zuwena Cotton is changing plans for her first major development.

Cotton previously secured approval to demolish a historically-protected, two-story building to construct a new affordable apartment building. But she’s now saving the historic building and planning to develop the new building and a series of townhomes on rear parking lots.

The developer told the Zoning, Neighborhoods & Development Committee Tuesday that she’s excited to move forward with the proposal for Historic Mitchell Street.

Her new plan involves partnering with Cinnaire Solutions to develop a five-story, 51-unit apartment building atop a parking lot at 1718-1734 S. 12th St. A city-owned parking lot, 1747 S. 12th St., would be redeveloped with eight three-bedroom, two-story townhomes. The city, pending full council approval, would give Cotton “site control” of the approximately 13,600-square-foot lot.

Read the full article

Could New Coggs Building Go Solar?

Two Milwaukee County supervisors have sponsored a resolution asking the county administration to consider adding solar panels to a new $42 million human services building in the King Park neighborhood.

The county is developing a 60,000-square-foot building for the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) at 1230 W. Cherry St., less than one block south of the Marcia P. Coggs Human Services Building. The new building, for which construction started in October, will retain the Coggs name.

The county has plans to eventually raze the original Coggs building, 1220 W. Vliet St., in order to construct additional parking for the facility, but it remains open to proposals for repurposing the structure, which was originally a Schuster’s department store. The development site includes the L-shaped, 2.26-acre Coggs parcel and another 0.78-acre adjacent parcel.

The resolution, sponsored by Chairwoman Marcelia Nicholson and Sup. Priscilla E. Coggs-Jones, asks for the administration to study the addition of solar panels to the parking lot at the new building.

Read the full article

New Park Will Be Built Atop 24th Street

A partnership of the City of Milwaukee and Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) will result in a portion of S. 24th Street being converted into a public play space, including a new soccer field.

“On the really densely populated Near South Side, there is not a lot of space for new public parks,” said Department of City Development planning manager Sam Leichtling to the City Plan Commission on Monday.

But that’s what residents who live near the Rogers Street Academy, 2430 W. Rogers St. said they want, noted MPS facilities planning analyst Nicholas Straube of a multi-year community engagement process.

Additionally, a portion of the building is leased to the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Milwaukee and the nonprofit is seeking a larger playground as part of a lease extension. “It’s used a lot,” said Straube of what is currently a 15-foot-wide facility along S. 25th Street. The facility, however, isn’t suitable for playing ball games, said Straube.

Read the full article

Church, Cupid Partner On Affordable Housing

A partnership of St. Matthew C.M.E. Church, Cupid Development and Cinnaire Solutions is aiming to transform a vacant lot overlooking Interstate 43 into 50 affordable apartments for seniors.

Cupid and Cinnaire are working to build a five-story building and 10 side-by-side townhomes at the corner of N. 8th Street and W. Chambers Street.

The proposal would be primarily funded by low-income housing tax credits, which are awarded in a competitive process each spring by the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority.

Developer Malik Cupid told the City Plan Commission Monday that the Wisconsin Historical Society connected him with the Methodist church, which had acquired several lots surrounding its facility, 2944 N. 9th St., in recent decades. Cupid said he was inspired when he learned of the congregation’s role in the 1960s civil rights movement.

Read the full article