As Tower Delayed, Site Will Provide More Parking On East Side
Proposed Farwell Avenue tower appears unlikely to move forward soon. City supports shared parking.
Revised rendering of 1490 N. Farwell Ave. Rendering by Korb + Associates Architects.
New Land Enterprises will be able to collect some extra parking income while it waits for market conditions to change to move forward on a 24-story East Side apartment tower.
A zoning change pending before the Milwaukee Common Council would grant the company the ability to lease a 61-space parking lot on N. Farwell Avenue to area residents or businesses for up to four years.
The property, 1490 N. Farwell Ave., is technically two rear parking lots attached to the Renaissance Place event venue, 1451 N. Prospect Ave., and the Mexican Consulate, 1443 N. Prospect Ave.
“There is more parking than the Consulate needs and Renaissance Place needs on a daily basis,” said New Land senior development coordinator Joey Wisniewski to the City Plan Commission on Sept. 30.
The zoning change, which would be an amendment to a 2023 amendment for the proposed 346-unit zoning change, would allow New Land to rent spaces to outside tenants.
But only for a limited period of time.
The ability to use the lot as rental parking, and to build the tower, expires in October 2028.
“They would also be required to screen the dumpsters within 30 days of approval,” said Department of City Development (DCD) planning manager Sam Leichtling.
DCD is supportive of the change. “It’s consistent with our goals as a department for shared-use parking,” said Leichtling.
Several years ago, following issues with a long-delayed tower on N. Prospect Avenue, the council changed its practices to include a five-year expiration on site-specific zoning changes (detailed planned developments).
“The intent was to have this remain parking while we wait for development of the site,” said Wisniewski in speaking to the Zoning, Neighborhoods & Development Committee on Tuesday. He called it an oversight in the 2023 zoning change.
Both the commission and the council committee unanimously endorsed the change. The full council is scheduled to consider the change Tuesday.
The proposed tower would leave the two Prospect Avenue buildings in place, but redevelop the parking lot with high-end apartments. A total of 411 parking spaces would be included in the base of the new structure, with 40 spaces for the two existing buildings. New Land acquired the properties in February 2023.
An occupancy permit is pending for New Land to reopen the shuttered event venue.
What’s The Timeline for the Building?
New Land Enterprises managing director Tim Gokhman has been clear that the market for new high-end, high-rise apartments in Milwaukee isn’t as robust as it once was.
The completion and successful lease up of Northwestern Mutual‘s 7Seventy7 tower in 2018 set off a wave of new buildings, including New Land’s mass timber Ascent tower. But the latest entries appear to be encountering slower-than-expected lease-up rates.
In early July, when leasing figures were released for the then-nearly-finished The Couture and 333 Water towers, Gokhman said he thought the high-end market had reached saturation. “I think that ultimately all of these units will fill up. But the absorption slowdown indicates this sector of the market is getting saturated, as it serves only the highest income renters,” said the developer in an X post.
He had already raised alarm in February, when he said in a LinkedIn post that New Land company had no plans to start construction on any buildings in Milwaukee in 2024. Another developer, with a proposed tower a block east of New Land’s proposal, publicly placed his own project on hold in August 2023.
The developer has been vocal that he believes the city needs a greater supply of workforce housing that serves a price point affordable to middle-income earners that can neither afford new high-end buildings, nor qualify for federally-subsidized housing. He’s also made it clear that he believes the city needs to help fill a financial gap in creating that supply.
In addition to the high-end Farwell Avenue building, the company has two workforce-targeted apartment buildings approved for development in Walker’s Point. None of the projects will break ground this year.
The issue came to a head in late July, when Gokhman went public with complaints about the city’s request for proposals process for a downtown site and his concerns with the lack of city financial support to develop more housing.
The zoning change is now poised for approval, while the fate of the winning bidder for the downtown site and a potential city housing policy change continue to be discussed at City Hall.
Renderings
Renaissance Place
Consulate Photos
Site
New Land development site on 1400 block of Prospect Avenue. Image from City of Milwaukee land management system.
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