Ribbon Cutting for Concordia 27 Finally Comes
Much lauded mixed-use project on 27th and Wells took nearly a decade to develop.
Ribbon cutting for Concordia 27 project. Photo taken June 25, 2024 by Graham Kilmer.
Nine years and five days, that’s how long Rick Wiegand has been trying to redevelop a historic building at the corner of N. 27th Street and W. Wells St.
“Not that anybody’s counting, but that’s 3,290 days,” Wiegand said. “The goal was to get it out of the control of a notorious slumlord, and find new uses for the adverse uses that were going on at this property.”
Wiegand is no stranger to difficult real estate projects. He redeveloped the historic Ambassador Hotel. “A crack hotel, by any definition, that’s what it was,” said Ald. Bob Bauman.
The line was part of Bauman’s speech to a packed room on the ground floor of Wiegand’s latest project.
It’s called Concordia 27. Wiegand is leading the $20 million redevelopment of a four-story building at 801-813 N. 27th St. into mixed-use commercial space and affordable housing. Quorum Architects oversaw the redesign of the building, which is comprised of two inter-connected buildings — the four-story Cecilia building at the corner and a similarly-styled, two-story annex.
At a ribbon-cutting ceremony Tuesday, the developer and members of the community celebrated the opening of the commercial portion of the nearly 100 year-old building, which includes six small-business retail spaces, a community event space, offices and a commercial kitchen for the Centers for Independence, a cafe and makers space for Fruition MKE, office space for Scaling Wellness in Milwaukee (SWIM) and the new headquarters of Near West Side Partners (NWSP). In the future, the building will also offer 33 affordable housing units, which are still being developed
In 2021, Wiegand sold a number of properties to finance the redevelopment. “This project took all I had physically, emotionally and financially,” he said. But he added that it would have never moved forward without “literally hundreds of people contributing their time and energy.”
The project attracted support from local, state and federal government; as well as local organizations and corporations like Harley-Davidson, Molson-Coors, Town Bank/Wintrust, Herb Kohl Philanthropies, We Energies and Weyco Group.
The state Department of Administration provided $5 million in funding from the American Rescue Plan Act; the county provided $2 million to support the development of affordable housing; and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is providing rental assistance vouchers for a majority of the apartments.
The NWSP, which was an early and critical supporter of the project, is calling Concordia 27 a “community center and resource hub.” The organization was founded in 2014, and one of the founders was the late Mike Lovell, chancellor of Marquette University. Lovell’s impact on the project and the wider community hung heavily over the ceremony Tuesday.
“Concordia 27 would not have come about had Dr. Lovell not challenged our community to think bigger, and to think and engage as neighbors,” said Lindsey St. Arnold Bell, NWSP executive director.
Other speakers, like Sen. Tammy Baldwin, County Executive David Crowley and Marquette Interim President Kimo Ah Yun all remarked on Lovell’s impact. The senator said his “immense absence” was felt. Crowley called him “a pillar of the community.”
Yun said he was a visionary and that SWIM, a trauma-informed wellness organization, was one of Lovell’s passions. Lovell started the organization with his wife Amy. It now has offices in the Concordia 27 building.
“Generational trauma; their concern was how do you move a whole community to allow that community to heal,” Yun said.
The multi-dimensional nature of the new development was also remarked upon by all the speakers. Each expressed hope that its many pieces — housing, health, small business, community gathering — will positively impact the Near West Side and the Concordia neighborhood.
Ald. Bauman presented Wiegand with a proclamation issued by the Milwaukee Common Council commending him and NWSP for their effort on the Concordia 27 development.
Typically, the council does not give out awards to real estate developers, Bauman said. “But in this instance, we do need some special recognition.”
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How about a Senior Hub transit point, that would pick up (and then drop off) seniors from this complex and surrounding neighborhood, and transport them daily to the County run Senior Centers at Washington Park and Clinton-Rose?