Content referencing Northpoint - Page 2
How Art Deco Changed the City
Even today, it remains the style that best epitomizes American urbanity.
Jul 30th, 2014 by Christopher Hillard
The Legacy of Frank Lloyd Wright
His impact on Milwaukee, and connection to other architects and cities. First of a series.
Jul 2nd, 2014 by Christopher Hillard
Downer Classic Bike Races
Part of the 11-day Tour of America's Dairyland, Saturday's all day-affair attracted fans of bicycles, beer and festivals.
Jun 30th, 2014 by Jeramey Jannene
Times Square Pizzeria Will Move
But will stay in Walker's Point, in new place accommodating 100 diners.
Jun 30th, 2014 by Mac Writt
Randy Bryant & Cecelia Gore’s Elegant Mansion
Built for a sea-farer, with a splendid harbor view and four fireplaces, it commands a spot on Lafayette Place.
Feb 17th, 2014 by Michael Horne
Frederick Vogel IV’s Historic East Side Mansion
The MIAD instructor and Vogel heir continues his old Milwaukee family's tradition of owning mansions in the neighborhood.
Jan 20th, 2014 by Michael Horne
Katy Glodosky
"Milwaukee is a true melting pot. There are so many different cultural influences you can see."
Jan 13th, 2014 by Newaukee
Does Downer Avenue Need a Tax Subsidy?
Developer Joel Lee claims the buzzing retail strip needs help from the city.
Jan 9th, 2014 by Bruce Murphy
Gwen Moore “Educates” Ted Cruz
Speaking at St. John's on the Lake, she talks about her conversation with Cruz, earmarks and voter ID.
Jan 2nd, 2014 by Michael Horne
New Cooperative Offers Health Insurance
Milwaukee's Common Ground creates one of 24 non-profit plans funded with loans from Obamacare.
Dec 26th, 2013 by Brendan O’Brien
The Three Mansions of Michael White
The Rite-Hite CEO is a trustee of the River Hills village board. But he also owns homes in Milwaukee and Arizona.
Sep 29th, 2013 by Michael Horne
Andy Nunemaker’s Dream Mansion
With 26 rooms, a pool and huge coach house, the entrepreneur and philanthropist Andy Nunemaker has plenty of room for company.
Jun 7th, 2013 by Michael Horne
Does Williamsburg Still Matter? Preservation and Storytelling in the 21st Century
Free Lecture by Jeff Klee, Architectural Historian – Colonial Williamsburg Foundation
Jun 7th, 2013 by Villa Terrace Museum & Gardens
Abele and Other Pols Push Gay Rights
Gay activist Daniel Choi comes to Milwaukee three days before his trial for protesting "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."
Mar 27th, 2013 by Michael Horne
Jim Wiechmann’s Gothic Mansion
The real estate tycoon and owner of Stevens Point Brewery has one of the grandest mansions in town.
Mar 8th, 2013 by Michael Horne
Polar Bear Plunge
A photo salute to the hardy souls who braved the lake on New Year's Day.
Jan 7th, 2013 by Sinead Eby
Neighborhood Meeting Tonight
Meeting on the proposed location for a new Pizza Man restaurant.
Dec 5th, 2012 by Nik Kovac
Cafe Sopra Mare at Villa Terrace
Kurt Von Eckroth entertains the crowd at Villa Terrace
Jul 26th, 2012 by Grace Fuhr
2012 ISCorp Downer Classic
The Downer Avenue Classic brought professional cycling to Milwaukee's East Side for a day of fun and excitement.
Jul 2nd, 2012 by Dave Reid
15th Annual Mayor’s Design Award Winners Announced (Photo Gallery)
The winners of the 15th annual Mayor's Design Awards have been announced with projects ranging from a high-rise housing tower to a complete street redesign taking home awards.
May 30th, 2012 by Jeramey Jannene
Cafe Hollander Opens Milwaukee’s Third On-street Bike Corral
Last week marked the installation of another on-street bike corral in Milwaukee. The newest on-street bike corral is located at Cafe Hollander on Milwaukee's East Side.
Aug 2nd, 2011 by Dave Reid
Coming to the East Side – More Residents and Customers
Milwaukee's East Side residents and business owners are likely to see the results of such infill development over the course of the next year as a number of new buildings open.
Jul 30th, 2010 by Jeramey Jannene
What a View!
Ever wondered what it would be like to be up in a tower crane? Just what kind of view you would get from up there?
Jan 27th, 2010 by Dave Reid
St. Johns on the Lake Under Construction
On October 15th, Saint John's on the Lake broke ground on "The Expansion", a new 21-story, $83 million tower along Prospect Avenue.
Oct 26th, 2009 by Jeramey Jannene
The 200 Empty Units in Park Lafayette Are Not The End of Milwaukee Development
Yesterday it was announced that prominent East Side development Park Lafayette is being foreclosed on by Anglamated Bank of New York, the primary lender on the project. Not surprising to those who have seen the massive towers, Anglamated Bank is claiming they are owed nearly $100 million by Renaissant Lafayette LLC, an affiliate of Renaissant Development Group. Renaissant Development Group is led by prominent Chicago developer Warren Barr. Park Lafayette was Barr's first entry into the Milwaukee market. While the foreclosure is certainly bad news for Barr and the bank, it's not necessarily all bad news for Milwaukee.
Oct 8th, 2009 by Jeramey Jannene
Can’t Beat Milwaukee in the Summer
Normally we would greet you on Monday with an urban advocacy piece, but we were a little too busy enjoying all that urban Milwaukee had to offer this weekend. While normally just one of these events would pass as a big entertainment attraction across every other Wisconsin city, urban Milwaukee had at least eight organized and noteworthy events going on this weekend.
Jul 27th, 2009 by Jeramey Jannene
Downer Avenue Development Project Heats Up Again
This past Monday night a public meeting was held to discuss possible streetscape improvements to Downer Avenue.
May 6th, 2009 by Dave Reid
Milwaukee’s War on Fun
It was just a few years ago when Milwaukee was named the #2 Party City in America, and although that might seem like a funny or insignificant title it was actually a well deserved and beneficial honor.
Feb 1st, 2009 by Dave Reid
BreakWater Fiasco
A column in Milwaukee Magazine criticizing the design of Renner Architect's soon-to-be completed BreakWater Condominiums spurred a response from Renner's firm that was in very poor form.
Jan 29th, 2009 by Jeramey Jannene
Photos From the Top of the Downer Avenue Parking Garage
A view from atop the Downer Ave. Parking Garage
Jan 1st, 2009 by Dave Reid
Commission Approves Color Change for Downer Garage
The high profile Sydney Hih building and Downer Avenue redevelopment project were the main items on the agenda for this commission meeting. The initial item regarded the proposed interim historic designation for the Sydney Hih building. The developer requested it to be held over and as it had been previously presented the developer had no immediate intention to demolish the building. Although SandraMcSweeney questioned how many times it could be held over and whether or not there was a limit, it was held again.
Oct 14th, 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
UWM Picks Our Three Favorite Dorm Sites As Finalists
The University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee Real Estate Foundation announced the final three sites (narrowed from a field of eight) for the new 500 to 700 bed dorm to be built.
Aug 15th, 2008 by Jeramey Jannene
Committtee Approves North End’s Job Training Plan
Dick Lincoln from the Mandel Group presented resolution 071618 which is the job training program portion of The North End development that receives funding from TIF No. 48. He explained that it would be “a little bit different than traditional workforce development” in that in focuses more on mentoring and coaching of emerging businesses to “take them to the next level.” Specifically, the program will help emerging business develop business and management skills so these firms can enter into larger contracts and participate in The North End project. This resolution was approved by the committee and will go before the full Common Council. Resolution 080209 changed the operating plan and structure of Business Improvement District No. 41 which represents the Downer Avenue business district. The changes would enlarged the board from five to seven members and it would adjust various line items within the proposed operating plan to allow the BID greater flexibility in their future operations. Although this resolution seems inoucous enough it gives the appearance as though these changes are connected to New Lan Enterprises’ controvsional re-development efforts on Downer Avenue. It appears this way because while Alderman Nik Kovac has worked to expand BID No. 41 both Boris Gokhman and Joel Lee have had their appointments to BID No. 41 held in committee. This resolution was approved by the committee and will go before the full Common Council.
Jun 4th, 2008 by Dave Reid
City Plan Commission Approves Downer Avenue Plan
The first item on the agenda, Resolution 070963, was the heavily debated Downer Avenue Redevelopment Phase II project. The resolution would recommend a change of zoning from General Planned Development to Detailed Planned Development and include a 7-story hotel, an 11-story residential tower, 5 town homes, and a 4-story addition to the Mulkhern building. Architect Scott Kindness indicated that the Chancery building currently retains only about 50% of its original facade and that they “plan on taking down the entire building to allow this to happen” but that they will “rebuild the 1936 version of the Chancery building”. Clearly he was referring to rebuilding the facade along the first two floors as they will add additional floors with a setback allowing the street level massing to appear similar to its original design. He also indicated the project will most likely break ground in the Spring of 2009 as both pre-sales for the condominiums and finding the operator for the hotel will take time and are dependent on approvals. Architect Matt Rinka explained that the redevelopment of the Mulkhern building would include the 4-story addition, demolishing the drive through and ramp, creation of an urban garden, and will convert the existing upper floor to medical uses. Despite multiple iterations, and numerous meetings opposition to this change in zoning was brought by local community members who have fought this project from its beginning. Alderman Michael D’Amato pointed out that that “the use is consistent with the General Planned Development, the height is consistent with the General Planned Development, and the massing is consistent with the General Planned Development” further he indicated the plan is simply receiving opposition from the same neighborhood members who opposed this project from the beginning indicating that taking further input was just a delaying tactic and at this point served no purpose. He appealed to the commission that “the anchors on Downer Avenue are dying” and that “I hope you will finally allow progress on Downer Avenue.” The Commission took his advice and recommended it for approval with the conditions that the developer works to shorten the balcony and continues to work with staff on improvements. Another item of particular interest, Resolution 071292, pitted groups of citizens with positive intentions against each other. Specifically groups representing low income housing for the homeless and mentally ill ran into opposition from green and bicyclist enthusiasts due to the site location. The property in question was a city owned lot near the Kinnickinnic River that various groups had been planning to use for bike trails and green space. Alderman Tony Zielinski appeared upset over the proposed use of land and went on to say “we are setting a dangerous precedent by developing our green space”. The commission listened to his advice and held the resolution asking the Department of City Development to work with the developer to look for another site or improve the facility’s design to work better with the trail.
Feb 12th, 2008 by Dave Reid
Contentious Downer Ave. Parking Garage Rises
New Land Enterprises‘ $55 million Downer Ave. development project is going up quickly despite pending legal action. The first phase consists of a parking garage, designed by Scott Kindness of Workshop Architects, that includes first floor retail and has undergone numerous redesigns in an attempt to better fit the neighborhood. Despite the changes some neighbors felt these concessions didn’t go far enough and filed a lawsuit against the City of Milwaukee and DAPL LLC seeking to stop construction . The results of today’s hearing is unknown at press time but it is seems New Land Enterprises and the City of Milwaukee believe this case will be dismissed as development has moved ahead at a brisk pace. Despite the contentious nature of the project the overall goal of adding density and new business to the Downer Ave. district should have the long run impact of bringing vibrancy and business back to this urban commercial district. UPDATE A second hearing will be held on 2/1/2008. Additionally the judge felt there was some wrong doing on the City’s part though as of yet didn’t issue an injunction that would of stopped construction. More details can be found in the jsonline article. Related Links Historic Preservation Commission Meeting – Monday, May 14, 2007 Resolution 061440
Jan 16th, 2008 by Dave Reid
City Plan Commission Approves Zoning for Columbia St. Mary’s
Resolution 060259 approved the Detailed Planned Development known as Columbia St. Mary’s Prospect East, Phase 1 which will move on to ZND for further approval. The resolution includes the plans for a 572 stall parking garage to support the Water Tower Medical Commons facility. Although it was approved it was done so with the understanding that before the Common Council gives final approval, issues dealing with the side facing Terrace St. will need to be resolved with the neighborhood. Additionally it included mention of three lots near the structure and the future plans to develop those lots as residential housing. A second resolution of interest was Alderman Mike D’Amato‘s request for a change in zoning from clean shaved to rough bearded. All kidding aside Alderman D’Amato appears to be looking forward to leaving public life in the near future.
Jan 8th, 2008 by Dave Reid
Committee Approves Minor Modification to Downer Avenue Redevelopment Plan
Just a couple of quick items of note from today’s ZND meeting. File number 070873 was a report on the redevelopment of the 440th Airlift Wing’s land. The consulting firm, RKG Associates, provided three proposed alternatives noting that they all include the airport’s plan of building a new runway in the future. Basically the plans break down as aviation re-use for entire site, split aviation with commercial, and non-airport use. Comments allude to the fact that the most likely outcome will be the aviation re-use for the entire site. File number 070964 was approved and authorized a “minor” modification to the DPD known as the Downer Avenue Redevelopment. Unfortunately this file isn’t truly minor as it is response to a lawsuit brought against the city claiming the city shouldn’t of issued a building permit and that the city didn’t take the state’s historic recommendations into consideration. Oddly, the changes to the DPD came about in attempt to further “appease” the neighbors. And I believe Alderman Willie Wade summed it up by saying “basically we are in this position because we were trying to be accommodating.” File number 070844 was approved and authorized the sale of a city owned vacant lot at 530 West Florida St to Rider Hotel, LLC. It will be sold for $1 as it has environmental challenges and will be capped to create a parking lot for the $23 million Iron Horse Hotel. File number 070935 was approved and authorizes the Land Disposition Report which basically allows HSI Development Partners, LLC. to acquire the land and construct a building for Derse, Inc. Derse, Inc. was founded in Milwaukee and originally made signs for Miller, Schlitz, and Pabst. They now specializes in tradeshow exhibits and have expanded throughout the U.S. and internationally. Mike D’Amato commented saying, “Now that you’ve expanded everywhere else let’s talk about Milwaukee,” and he’s right on point as this project bring 125 jobs back into the city.
Nov 6th, 2007 by Dave Reid
Park Lafayette
Park Lafayette is the first project for developer Warren Barr, of Renaissant Development Group LLC, in Milwaukee and it is worth stopping in the sales center to see the level of quality he delivers. Not only can your tour the two bedroom model but you can also check the view from every unit in the building. The project itself has approximately 292 households per acre which should only add to the Eastside’s already buzzing vibrancy. And although not affordable units per se the majority of the units in the building start in the 200’s allowing for a wider range of buyers to enter the market than many of the other developments in Milwaukee currently. To follow this development I’ve started a flickr set, Park Lafayette that I will update with new pictures to keep track of the progress. Articles Condo towers win funds The high-rise guy Department of City Development Documentation Detailed Planned Development:Renaissant’s Park Lafayette
Oct 24th, 2007 by Dave Reid
Downer Ave. Development Breaks Ground
The controversial Downer Ave area development that includes an 11-story high rise hotel/condo building and a parking garage on Downer Ave has finally broken ground. The neighborhood was polarized on this issue and certain residents were outraged to say the least but overall this is a good development for the area. The added foot traffic that the new medical offices, hotel guests and condo residents will bring should bring needed vitality back to the street. Further the renovations of the historic buildings are long over due and the work already done looks great. To follow what’s going on I’ve started a flickr set, Downer Ave. New Land Enterprise Development, that I will update with new pictures to keep track of the progress. Related Articles New tenants signed to Downer Ave. project A round peg sometimes does fit in a square hole New Land Enterprises reveals possible future plans for Downer Avenue
Sep 25th, 2007 by Dave Reid
Voting With The Mayor
Mayor Barrett’s office announced Monday that he would vote at City Hall at 1 p.m. Tuesday.
Oct 25th, 2004 by Michael Horne
