Opponents of Wisconsin Avenue Historic District Win Fight

3100 block of W. Wisconsin Ave. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.

Maybe you can fight City Hall.

Property owners in a new historic district on W. Wisconsin Avenue successfully convinced Sharlen P. Moore, their new alderperson, that they should be dropped from the proposed district.

The district, which was to be made up of five homes from the street’s Grand Avenue era, is now formed by only two houses. The Common Council unanimously endorsed the scaled-down proposal Tuesday.

“I listened to the owners,” said Moore in an interview with Urban Milwaukee. “It’s not about what I want. I don’t own those properties. It’s important that we were listening to the constituents.”

The change comes after a series of meetings saw Alderman Robert Bauman, a proponent of the proposal, on the receiving end of several vulgar insults and a death wish from one of the property owners.

It also follows a citywide redistricting process that saw the now-dropped homes moved from Bauman’s 4th District into the 10th Aldermanic District, which Moore represents since winning the April election for the open seat.

The proposal, which was filed in January by a resident and initially centered around an apartment building owned by Berrada Properties, was held in April to allow the newly-elected Moore to weigh in.

“I think it’s important that rather than shoving something down someone’s throat that we take the time to support them by educating them,” said Moore.

Those that assailed Bauman are no longer part of the equation.

At a March 11 hearing, where the Historic Preservation Commission recommended designation, real estate investor Eric Sobush called Bauman, a commissioner, a “mother f**ker.” Later that night, Sobush’s partner Mark Roeker emailed Bauman: “Hope you get untreatable cancer.” Sobush and Roeker owned the home at 3121 W. Wisconsin Ave., where they had their office and lived.

But Roeker and Sobush listed the home for sale in the days following the controversy.

The property, according to state records, was sold for $364,000 on May 8 to married couple Deanna Singh and Justin Ponder, who jointly lead the consulting group Uplifting Impact.

Moore said she consulted the new owners to form her opinion about what to do with the district. The owners of the neighboring homes, 3111 W. Wisconsin Ave. and 3127 W. Wisconsin Ave., previously publicly opposed the designation.

The only remaining properties in the district are two houses on the north side of the street, a bungalow at 3034 W. Wisconsin Ave. and the Brumder Mansion, 3046 W. Wisconsin Ave., which is operated as a bed and breakfast. Both are owned by Tom and Julie Carr.

In April, the council designated the Berrada-owned Millerand Apartments, 3035 W. Wisconsin Ave., as a stand-alone historic property.

Historic Preservation Commission planner Andrew Stern, in presenting a staff report on the district in April, said the homes are now primarily used as offices but were built by prominent architects for prominent families. “These are really the last cluster of properties from the Grand Avenue period of history in Wisconsin,” said the planner.

Throughout the series of hearings, several preservation advocates testified in support of the district’s creation.

Moore, on Tuesday, said she expected the property owners to continue to invest in and maintain the properties. Local historic designation prohibits modifications to the exterior of properties without securing a “certificate of appropriateness” from the commission or council.

Unlike many past Milwaukee preservation battles, the debate was not spurred by an attempt to demolish one of the properties.

James Dieter, who lives approximately eight blocks away in a historic mansion, had submitted the nomination after Youssef Berrada, Milwaukee’s largest landlord, began modifying newly-acquired properties in the neighborhood.

Alderman DiAndre Jackson praised Moore for not trying to do an end-run around Bauman when he was out of town last month. “We just call that good politicking,” said Jackson.

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Related Legislation: File 231836