Depending on which news sources you follow, Milwaukee is going through either a “renaissance” or a “reinvention.” Or maybe it’s a “reboot” or a “reimagining.” However you want to define it, it’s safe to say that Milwaukee is currently building a lot of new and wonderful things.
• Of the 8,000 new apartment towers apparently coming to the East Side, the proposed Renaissance Place tower at 1490 N. Farwell Ave. is one of them. If/when approved, the 25-story, 310-unit tower would occupy a spot currently occupied by a dreaded surface parking lot, on the corner of Farwell and Curtis. An adjoining event space—Renaissance Place, natch—will be kept and updated. “At Renaissance Place, we propose to renovate the existing structure and attract an expert partner to program the space and transform it into a neighborhood asset, used more than just on the weekends,” reads a statement from New Land Enterprises. [Milwaukee Business Journal]
• Neighbors, of course, have concerns about parking. [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]
• Bear Development wants to build a 91-unit affordable apartment building at 100 E. National Ave.—a.k.a. the corner of 1st and National. Among other projects, Bear is the master developer of the upcoming Iron District. [Urban Milwaukee]
• Developers want to knock down the old Big Daddy’s BBQ and Soul Food at 2730 N. Humboldt Blvd.—along with two adjacent homes—and build a 39-unit “mix of market-rate condominiums, combined with affordable units provided in part through a housing cooperative and other communal features.” [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]
• Milwaukee School of Engineering will convert its historic Arts & Crafts duplex at 308 E. Juneau Ave. into the new Patricia E. Kern Conservatory of Music. “Along with our expanded athletics programs, campus life and co-curricular offerings, music and performing arts top the list of interests that students want to pursue as part of their collegiate experience,” said MSOE Vice President of Student Affairs and Campus Equality Seandra Mitchell in a press release. [OnMilwaukee]
• While the “Will they knock it down or not?” saga of the long-dead Northridge Mall continues, next-door Menards plans to build some outdoor storage units, “in part to stop illegal truck parking.” [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]
• It’s Monday, which means it’s time for Milwaukee to possibly have the Tallest Mass Timber Building In The World. AGAIN. Yep, the so-called Edison apartment tower coming to 1005 N. Edison St. along the Milwaukee River was originally pitched as a 15-story, 220-unit mass timber behemoth. But revised plans call for 28 stories, which would make it three stories taller than the current Tallest Mass Timber Building In The World, the Ascent (700 E. Kilbourn Ave.). Unfortunately, Milwaukee’s days as mass timber world champion may be coming to a close: Urban Milwaukee reports that “a new building in Sydney, Australia is already under construction and would claim the distinction [of Tallest Mass Timber Building In The World].” [Urban Milwaukee]
• A housing community for veterans, Vets Place Central, at 3330 W. Wells St., is planning a $19 million expansion. “The development plans call for a four-story addition to the three-story building, and extensive renovations to the existing site,” reports the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “That would create space for 81 veterans—all of whom would have private rooms.” [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]
• Reminder: Fiserv Inc still plans to move its headquarters in Brookfield to downtown Milwaukee. Fiserv plans to move into the HUB640 building at 640 Vel R. Phillips Ave.—a.k.a. the west corner of the former Shops of Grand Avenue complex. Also, if Fiserv creates more than 257 jobs in the next five years, it’ll get a cool $7 million in state tax credits. [Milwaukee Business Journal]
• And a final reminder: That big $500 million Northwestern Mutual project in downtown Milwaukee will indeed be big. [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]
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