Real Estate
Zoning Committee Corrects TID #68
With the days short agenda, the item that stood out was resolution 080541. This resolution dealt with correcting an error within Tax Incremental District (“TID”) #68 (Fifth Ward – First Place). In 2007 the First Place on the River condominium development was assessed at $50 million which although it wasn’t challenged by property owner appears to of been set too high In 2008 it was re-assessed at $24 million because the project was still not completed. This change impacted the tax increment that TID #68 was to be able to collect. The resolution removes the property and re-adds it to the TID at the correct level, resetting the baseline value of the TID allowing it to begin generating increment. This change will still allow the TID to be repaid by 2029 which is within its legal lifetime. This item was approved and will now go before the full Common Council.
Sep 8th, 2008 by Dave Reid
Goll Mansion Project Prepares to Go Before the City for Approval
This project by New Land Enterprises proposes the construction of a 27-story 35-unit condominium development that would activate the Goll Mansion by utilizing it as the development's lobby. Controversy flared up at a recent neighborhood meeting over concerns from residents of 1522 On The Lake that some of their view would be blocked and from historic preservation groups that raised concerns about insuring the preservation of the historic Goll Mansion.
Sep 7th, 2008 by Dave Reid
UWM Prospect Mall Parking Lot Dorm Renderings
Boulder Ventures provided us with a rendering of their proposed dorm for the Prospect Mall parking lot on the east side of Prospect Avenue.
Sep 4th, 2008 by Jeramey Jannene
Hot Meeting About Potential UWM Dorm Site
The Maryland Avenue School played host to a tension-filled meeting to discuss one of three proposals for the location of the new UWM dorm. The proposal on the table was the nearby Prospect Mall parking lot location proposed by Boulder Ventures.
Sep 3rd, 2008 by Jeramey Jannene
Seven Reasons To Replace The Hoan Bridge
Both the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and The Business Journal of Milwaukee have covered the Wisconsin Department of Transportation's announcement that they're examining options for the future of the Hoan Bridge as the day nears when it will need costly repairs. We thought it was time to weigh in.
Sep 2nd, 2008 by Jeramey Jannene
Public Meetings On Final Sites For New UWM Dorm
Public meetings for each dorm site have been announced. At each meeting the development teams will explain the proposal. The developer of the proposed site and UWM representives will be available for questions at each meeting. As a refresher we have included our opinion on each of the sites as described (we have not see the proposals yet).
Aug 26th, 2008 by Jeramey Jannene
Goll Mansion Project Renderings
New Land Development has made renderings available of their Goll Mansion project. We've reposted them here to continue discussion on the proposed development.
Aug 19th, 2008 by Jeramey Jannene
What is the True Value of Water?
Or as Common Council President Hines put it "What is Water Worth?" This question has been on the minds of local officials and citizens as of late because of the City of Milwaukee approving an agreement to sell water to New Berlin.
Aug 15th, 2008 by Dave Reid
Where Is The New UWM Dorm Going?
To be honest, we don't know exactly. But we do know that they've proposed 8 sites, and we'll break down each one to determine which one we think might be the best.
Aug 7th, 2008 by Jeramey Jannene
UWM Dorm is a Hot Topic Among 3rd District Neighbors
On July 29th a meeting of 3rd district residents was held to discuss the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee's ("UWM") recent Request for Proposal ("RFP") to build a new student dorm with 500 to 700 beds.
Aug 1st, 2008 by Dave Reid
Common Council Approves New Berlin Water Deal
This meeting included three highly debated resolutions, the “Wheel Tax”, the 9to5 direct legislation regarding sick pay, the water sale to New Berlin and the retirement of one of the most highly respected government officials. Marty Collins the outgoing Commissioner of the Department of Neighborhood Services gave a heartfelt farewell speech stating “I’m proud to be a public servant”. Then he left with some suggestions and encouraged the Common Council and city staff to promote creativity to find solutions.When the resolution known as the “Wheel Tax” came up for discussion Alderman Jim Witkowiak offered an amendment that would cap the fee at $20 for the duration of the current Common Council. Although Alderman Michael Murphy explained that this amendment wasn’t meaningful because it could simply be overridden with a resolution in the future. Another amendment was offered by Alderman Joe Dudzik that would allow a portion of the vehicle registration fee to support street maintenance. Again it was suggested that this amendment had little value because it will be up to the budgetary process to determine that actual spending. Both of these amendments and the overall resolution passed with a veto proof majority and will no go to the Mayor for action.Another hot button resolution was the piece of direct legislation brought forward by the group 9to5, National Association of Women by obtaining 42,000 signatures in sixty days. The intention of the resolution is to force employers within the City of Milwaukee to give all employees paid sick time. Alderman Bob Donovan spoke out against the resolution saying that “this resolution may end up hurting the very same people it is intended to help”. Alderman Jim Bohl also expressed his concerns that this would resolution hurt business and that “if jobs leave this community there are no benefits to be had”. The Common Council had two options regarding this resolution, either adopt it immediately without changes or let it go to binding referendum. The Common Council voted to let it go to referendum.The most hotly debated issue of the day was the proposed water sale and the associated intergovernmental agreement with New Berlin. Alderman Robert Bauman initially questioned the legality of the water sale saying that his concerns were “beyond the question of policy” because this transaction was outside the bounds of what the Common Council had approved in December of 2007. He questioned if the sale was proper because the original authorization to negotiate was in reference to an area of New Berlin within the current Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District (“MMSD”) service area while this transaction included a portion of New Berlin that is planned to be in the MMSD service area sometime in the future. Alderman Murphy agreed that “the department made a mistake without a doubt” but that the City of Milwaukee needs to move forward with this transaction or New Berlin may find another solution.The intergovernmental agreement with New Berlin included a non-compete clause and a $1.5 million payment to the City of Milwaukee. The non-compete […]
Jul 31st, 2008 by Dave Reid
Public Works Committee Approves New Berlin Water Deal
This meeting’s highlights included the proposed water sale to New Berlin and the reappointment of Jeff Mantes to the Commissioner the Department of Public Works.The water sale involved two separate resolutions. Resolution 080012 would handle the actual water sale and resolution 080011 will enact an intergovernmental agreement contingent on the water sale. Water sales are regulated by the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin (“PSC“) which sets the wholesale price of water and oversees water contracts. Because of this any additional constraints beyond the sales agreement had to handled in an intergovernmental agreement. This intergovernmental agreement included a non-compete clause between the cities as well as a one time $1.5 million payment to the City of Milwaukee from New Berlin to offset some of the potential economic impact associated with this transaction. Further as this agreement proposes the sale of water outside of the Great Lakes Basin it follows the requirements set for within the Great Lakes Compact.New Berlin is seeking to obtain the additional water source to support the middle third of the city, to large extent because of high levels of the radium existing in their water and the depletion of their aquifer. During the discussion it was brought up, that if New Berlin isn’t able to purchase water from the City of Milwaukee that New Berlin may spend $4 million on an upgrade to their facilities or pursue purchasing water from Oak Creek. Both of these options were potentially more expensive for New Berlin than purchasing from the City of Milwaukee but Jack F. Chiovatero, the Mayor of New Berlin, indicated the pressing need by stating that “I wouldn’t be sitting in front off you if I didn’t have the radium issue”.Alderman Robert Bauman repeatedly made the point that New Berlin fails to meet the City of Milwaukee’s guidelines for water sales. These guidelines are based on access to mass transit and affordable housing within the community wishing to purchase water. Further he pointed out that this resolution does not reflect the original authorization to negotiate as passed by the Common Council in December 2007. In addition to Alderman Bauman’s vocal opposition various organizations such as the Good Jobs & Livable Neighborhoods Coalition, the Metropolitan Milwaukee Fair Housing Council, and the ACLU spoke out in opposition to the water sale. This opposition stems from the idea that sending water to sprawling communities without adequate housing or transit options makes access to the new jobs, that this transaction will support, near impossble for low-income residents of Milwaukee to access. In addition to those concerns Bill Holahan, the Chairman of the UWM Department of Economics stated that “over the next 20 years the expansion out there will swamp the $1.5 million” and that “economic value of the water is probably not reflected in the $1.5 million”. Despite these issues and concerns the resolution was approved and sent to a special meeting of the Finance & Personnel Committee held prior to July 30th’s Common Council Meeting.The other contentious item was the […]
Jul 30th, 2008 by Dave Reid
