Grohmann Tower

MSOE Opens Viets Tower

New residence hall replaces Roy W. Johnson Hall.

Inside The Redevelopment of Viets Tower

MSOE is transforming its oldest residence hall, adding a 13-story addition.

Viets Tower’s Rise

MSOE redeveloping 1960s residence hall into modern complex accessible to all students.

City Selling 10 Parking Lots

Looking for land redevelop in the city? DCD may have a deal for you.

Buffalo Wild Wings Closing?

The lease for the chain's Water Street location is up in January.

Downtown Pizza Place Opening Soon

Chicago-based Pizano's Pizza & Pasta is about as Italian as you can get.

10 Images of a Changing City

Think Milwaukee moves slowly? These dramatic interactive images will change your mind.

Is Bucks Arena a Done Deal?

The way the team's owners are buying up downtown land, they're clearly certain the deal will pass.

MSOE puts finishing touches on former Staybridge building in Milwaukee: Slideshow

1,449 New Apartments Coming

And more are on the way, all within a two-mile radius of City Hall.

Inside the World’s Tallest Qdoba?

Finally there is activity in the 14-story building on Juneau and Water that's been occupied only by a Qdoba since 2008.

The Slow Demise of Sydney Hih

Sydney Hih could be saved, a witch hunt on North Ave, UWM has a baseball team (?), and Alderman Jose Perez wins a game for the Brewers.

Regional Bus Service Cuts, Transit Center Redevelopment, Museum Mile, and More

The 11th installment of Eyes on Milwaukee focuses on transit, development, and new restaurants. The Downtown Transit Center's redevelopment is inching closer to reality. The Milwaukee Museum Mile is a new marketing effort for some overlooked museums. Service reductions are coming to the Milwaukee-Racine-Kenosha commuter bus service, and the Milwaukee City Clerk is still tweeting, thankfully.

Future of Transit Event, Urban Milwaukee Store Grand Opening, and More

Welcome to the eighth installment of Eyes on Milwaukee. This week I invite you to a handful of Urban Milwaukee events, challenge you to name the new river skimmer, and share a fair amount of development news and information about new restaurants in Milwaukee.

A Year in Review

As the US economy continued it slow recovery from the Great Recession, Milwaukee was left with a couple of failed development projects to complete or redefine, a changing real estate market, the opportunity to make small infrastructure changes, and questions about the future of transit.

Condominium Sales Update

A sampling of projects in varying states of completion showed that over 200 recently completed or under construction condominium units have not been sold. A look at the data indicates that In many cases the high priced units have gone un-sold. Clearly the market downturn has slowed sales but this may also indicated a demand for units priced at an affordable level. Development # Units % Sold Status City Green 44 20% Ready to Move In First Place on the River 184 56% Ready to Move In Park Terrace Bluff Homes 16 56% Ready to Move In Park Terrace Row House 21 71% Ready to Move In Residences on Water 31 29% Under Construction River Renaissance 81 55% Ready to Move In 601 Lofts 83 61% Ready to Move In Sterling 112 98% Ready to Move In University Club 56 89% Ready to Move In Data was not available for the The Breakwater, Park Lafayette, Flatiron, Union Point, The Edge, and Kilborn Tower

Photos of The Residences on Water Construction

The View Down Water Street Originally uploaded by compujeramey There are a lot of photos of the construction of the Residences on Water being taken. Dave Reid of the Milwaukee Development Update has done an excellent job snagging images of the construction to-date. I recently was over there to snag a few pictures between classes and have added them to a Flickr set for your viewing pleasure. Of course, because the community generates the best coverage, you can add your photos to the mix by uploading them to Flickr and tagging them “The Residences on Water“. Dave and I have both done this and you can find our photos available together by browsing the tag. Please feel free to add yours to the growing collection.

Construction Continues Despite Snow

As the city slipped and slid around from multiple inches of snow and ice dumped on it in recent days, construction crews continued building our city. Down on Water St. at The Residences on Water site men scrambled to remove snow from the roof while a crane lifted large beams into place. It appears the ER Post Structural System does allow them to build quickly as had been indicated. In fact fast enough that a line of semi’s sit with their engines running across the street from the site waiting their turn to unload the next beam. Over at the Breakwater site they have been busy as well. A second crane which is the largest crawler crane in the state has recently been assembled and will have a reach of up to 400 feet. The snow may have slowed some work but workers continued building the foundation and with second crane it’s clear that shortly we will see this project begin to rise out of the ground.

The Residences on Water Are Rising Fast

The Residences on Water Originally uploaded by compujeramey The Residences on Water are rising fast, leading me to believe that the building actually will make its spring 2008 opening date. I walked by the building tonight on the way home from dollar burger night (every Tuesday) at Bar Louie. I was impressed at how quickly the building is rising. A couple quick facts… The building has 31 condos ranging from $234,000 to $2,300,000, of which 8 have been sold. The condos will occupy the top four floors. The Staybridge Suites hotel will occupy the middle six floors and include 128 rooms There will be a rooftop garden for residents and hotel guests. There will be 14,000 square feet of retail space The building is being built using the new ER Post Structural System that enables alternate floors to remain column free and allows for rapid build times from the use of precast trusses, the fact that it can be assembled in all weather conditions, and the requirement for fewer pieces. If you buy the penthouse of penthouses in the development for $2,362,100 you get a private 2,400 square foot root-top green space. Apparently there are two roof-top green spaces, presumably divided by some kind of massive HVAC unit. Developer Development Opportunity Corp of Fort Myers, Florida purchased six parcels of land for the development. Five of the parcels and a city-owned alley were purchased from the Milwaukee Redevelopment Authority for $443,340. The other parcel was a 13,000-square-foot parking lot purchased from the 1101 North Market Street Partners for $1.2 million. The 1101 North Market Street Partners also had previously sold the former Blatz Wash House located adjacent to the new development at 1101 North Market Street to SSG Properties Inc. of Pewaukee for $4.2 million in 2003. SSG Properties is too say the least, excited. The Blatz Wash House might finally get the attention it deserves with the increased foot traffic in the area. No word yet on who might be occupying the retail space. I don’t think it will take long to find a tenant for the site because there isn’t much else in the way of retail space in that area on Water St. coupled with thousands of drunk people at bars every weekend, MSOE dorms just around the corner, and a growing number of condos being developed in the area. The most important aspect of the development is that it replaces a surface parking lot with a large building that increases neighborhood density, which makes everything around the new building better and continues to expand upon a growing downtown area. The visual perception of downtown used to end at the 1000 North Water Street building, but will now continue north one more block to The Residences on Water. Dave Reid of the Milwaukee Development Update has a Flickr photo set up already and a blog post.

The Residences on Water

The Residences on Water is beginning to rise out of the ground. The building utilizes a new development method, called the ER Post Structural System, that should allow for the pace of work to dramatically pickup in the coming weeks. This acceleration is possible because this method allows for all-weather erection, has fewer pieces and lets other trades begin work earlier in the process. The $20 million project is being developed by Fort Myers, FL based Development Opportunity Corporation. Once complete it will include a 128-room Staybridge Suites, 31 condo units, ranging in price from $234,000 to $2.3 million of which 8 have been sold so far, and 14,000 square feet of retail space. I believe this project will have long lasting positive impacts on the Water St district. First it finishes the corner by removing a surface parking lot which adds to the urban fabric. Secondly the new activity created by the residents and hotel guests will continue to fuel neighborhood business. Further this project is clearly connected to Manpower’s move to downtown and should support their business travel needs. Overall this is one of the most intriguing projects to watch considering the potential long term affects it will have on Water St.To follow this development I’ve started a flickr set, The Residences on Water, that I will update with new pictures to keep track of the progress. Articles Ready to rise Downtown Staybridge hotel, retail project to finally begin New Precast Building Product from Spancrete Speeds On-site Construction Time