Developers Still Pursuing Car-Lite Apartments
Complex was first proposed in 2022.
The 1500 block of E. North Avenue being cleared in 2022. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.
Three years after it was initially approved, Ryan Pattee and Shar Borg are still planning to construct a car-lite apartment building on E. North Avenue.
The four-story, 53-unit apartment building is planned for a vacant lot at 1504-1530 E. North Ave.
A new Board of Zoning Appeals approval request was filed last week.
“Just a procedural step,” Pattee told Urban Milwaukee in an interview. The developer said the 2022 approval had expired. “We are hoping to pull the trigger and start moving some dirt in quarter one or quarter two of next year.”
According to new building drawings, UW Credit Union remains a proposed tenant. A restaurant space, approximately 3,700 square feet, would be included at the west end of the building.
The complex would have only 29 parking spaces, a lower-than-usual unit-to-parking-space ratio for new construction in Milwaukee.
“We really wanted to keep the price of the units down, so the best way to do that was not to spend $50,000 per space on underground parking,” said Borg in 2022.
The building would include eight interior parking spaces and 21 exterior spaces, the latter of which would be shared with commercial tenants.
Residents, according to the 2022 plan, could also take advantage of time-shared spaces at nearby properties. The developers plan to offer two rentable Teslas for errands or other hourly uses and emphasize the potential of walking, biking, Bublr Bikes and the nearby Milwaukee County Transit System bus routes.
Engberg Anderson Architects is working on the building’s design.
The site’s three remaining buildings were demolished in 2022. A large gravel pile has remained on the property since then.
Pattee leads Pattee Group, a real estate investment firm. Borg is a residential real estate agent. It would be the largest to date for both.
Mandel Group executive Robert Monnat is providing technical support on the project. Mandel Group owned a property in the middle of the block.
Renderings
2022 Site Photos
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Love to finally see some progress with the site!
We absolutely need as much car-lite housing as possible, especially where we can cluster them near each other to bolster MCTS use.