New Developer Hopes To Resurrect Harbor District Plan
After success in Third Ward, Minnesota developer sets sights across river.
234 S. Water St. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.
A long-dormant proposal for an 11-story apartment building at a vacant riverfront site has been resurrected by a new developer.
Kaeding Development Group filed for a zoning change to enable the development of 234 S. Water St.
Specific details on the latest proposal aren’t immediately available. Kaeding would be the fifth developer to publicly consider a building for the site.
Robert Schultz planned the Rivianna tower complex (with helicopter landing pad) in 2009, David Winograd had a 2015 plan to develop apartments at the site, Peter Renner had a 2017 plan for condominiums, and developer Ryan Bedford planned the 11-story, 133-unit Admiral’s Wharf apartment complex in 2019.
Bedford was expected to close on his financing in March 2020. Later that year, after the pandemic took hold, the city approved a $1.5 million environmental cleanup loan for what was expected to be a $43 million project.
But costs and interest rates kept rising.
“It’s been quite the struggle the last couple years,” Bedford said in 2022 to the board of the Redevelopment Authority of the City of Milwaukee. The city approved a revised riverwalk funding agreement for the 0.7-acre site, with the hope that Bedford would finally be able to start construction that same year. But the plan, known as Admiral’s Wharf, didn’t advance to construction.
The site, according to a project representative, is smaller than it appears because of a high-water determination from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. Bedford planned a valet parking strategy to accommodate the narrow footprint of the site.
Now Kaeding is stepping in.
The Minnesota-based firm previously developed the 261-unit Evoni Apartments complex in the Historic Third Ward. That development opened in 2025.
The Water Street site, located just outside of the Historic Third Ward, is currently owned by an affiliate of VJS Construction Services. VJS was a partner in the Bedford project, which would have used an insulated concrete structure from Bedford’s firm KB Walker.
The site was long used as a base for Jerry’s Dock, which relocated several years ago to the Menomonee Valley.
The City Plan Commission and Common Council must review Kaeding’s zoning change request. Kaeding is requesting a detailed planned development that would enable a specific building design rather than using one of the city’s blanket zoning designations. The planned development designation is commonly used for more complicated developments.
Hints were given, Third Ward success
Carl Kaeding hinted in November that a new project could be in the works. He told the Zoning, Neighborhoods & Development Committee that he intended to return with a new project in February.
He also indicated he would consider developing a second phase of Evoni on additional land owned by the Italian Community Center. “We’re ready when they are,” he told the committee.
Kaeding was appearing before the committee to close out the public subsidy agreement that harvested incremental property tax revenue to build an extension of E. Corcoran Avenue.
He said leasing of Evoni was going well. “We’re a little over 60%. We’ve been leasing since February,” said the developer.
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