Bob Schultz, the developer who has proposed the mixed-use Rivianna project along the Milwaukee River just south of the Historic Third Ward, said he feels like the "Rodney Dangerfield of developers in Milwaukee." Schultz believes he ought to get a little more respect for proposing a $100 million development, which would feature three towers, each 16 stories high, with a total of 165 condominiums and a 60-room boutique hotel. The project was recently recommended for approval by the Common Council’s Zoning, Neighborhoods and Development Committee, despite objections from some residents in the neighborhood. The Common Council will review the proposed re-zoning for the project during its meeting today.
During the committee meeting, Ald. Robert Bauman, whose district includes the Marine Terminal Lofts residents but not the Rivianna site, said he was told by a Department of City Development official that the Rivianna project probably would not obtain financing. Schultz is not seeking financial assistance from the city for the project. Later, Bauman told SBT that the comment about the financing for Rivianna was made by Richard "Rocky" Marcoux, commissioner of the DCD. DCD spokeswoman Andrea Rowe Richards said the department declined to comment for this story.
"It’s destructive," Schultz said of the comments questioning his project’s financing. "For some reason, the opposition to (the project) has risen to a new height of sophistication, and it’s not based on logic." Schultz said he made several design changes to the building to appease concerns of area residents that oppose the project. Plans for a helipad and a fountain were dropped because of noise concerns. The base that the three towers will sit on was lowered to allow more sunlight to pass through. The number of condominiums and the size of the hotel was reduced.
The three-tower design for the building will allow more sunlight and will block views less than a shorter, block-shaped nine-story building would have, Schultz said. Despite the changes, several neighborhood residents still expressed opposition to the project. "It seems they were focused on one thing, defeating this project," Schultz said. Bauman said he considers the committee’s endorsement of the Rivianna project, "a horrible mistake."
"I think there is a serious issue with the height," Bauman said. A high-rise building on the site does not fit in well with the shorter buildings on the other side of the river, he said. "The constituency of the height of the buildings on that end of the river, I think it works," Bauman said. "I think the density for that site has to be thought about long and hard." The city should establish a vision for future development along the south side of the river between Lake Michigan and Water Street, Bauman said.
However, several others have expressed support for the development, including some business owners in the neighborhood. As for the financing of the project, Schultz said he received a verbal commitment from one lender, whom he declined to name, that would finance the entire project without any condominium pre-sales. Schultz said that deal has not been finalized and he is talking to other potential lenders as well. "I have met with multiple sources on the equity and debt side that have expressed a general, solid interest in the project," he said.
Schultz plans to provide some community benefits with the project, which would include affordable housing units, union labor and minority workers. The community benefits have helped attract interest from some lenders, he said. "There are capital markets out there that want to invest in projects that show a high degree of social responsibility," he said. However, Schultz’s plans for a dramatic development, without subsidy and with community benefits, make critics skeptical that it can work.
"I frankly think that this development was put forth as a joke," Bauman said. "A helipad, waterfalls – you can’t do everything they claim they are doing – parking, a riverwalk, community benefits, no subsidy. It is not possible. The numbers just don’t add up. There is not a single reputable developer in this city that has spoken up for this project. I think the DCD has done the community a disservice for even bringing this project forward. It is a horrible mistake." Schultz was a co-developer in the redevelopment of the former Teweles Seed Co. building at 222 S. Third St., Milwaukee, into housing and is a co-developer in the 80-unit River Renaissance condominium development that is under construction at Water and Erie streets in the Third Ward.
The Teweles project presented major financial challenges, Schultz said. Overcoming those challenges earned the respect of the capital markets, he says. "The capital markets respect people that respect other people’s money," Schultz said. "I’m much further ahead with financing than I was with Teweles or River Renaissance. I had a very difficult time with Teweles. It would have been very easy to just fold up and go home. But I weathered that storm to get River Renaissance going." With a strong show of support from businesses in the neighborhood, Schultz said he is determined to make the Rivianna project a success. "I feel a sense of responsibility," he said. "Now, I have to deliver." To learn more about Rivianna go to: www.rivianna.com
