A proposal to convert a long-vacant Menomonee Valley industrial building into apartments has received initial approval from city officials, but still faces an uphill battle.
Kendall Breunig, who operates Sunset Investors, wants to rehab a four-story, 60,000-square-foot building at 324 N. 15th St., south of West St. Paul Avenue, into an apartment building with commercial space on the first floor.
The plan’s zoning change was approved Monday at a Milwaukee Plan Commission meeting, but the project faces several opponents including nearby businessowners and Milwaukee’s Department of City Development.
Breunig initially planned to convert the building into an office building, but at the commission hearing, he said the building’s structural issues prevent it from being able to handle heavy loads tied to office use.
Breunig instead wants to create around 45 apartments with monthly rents of $1,500 to $2,000. Marquette University students and staff would be the primary market, he said, along with people working in the valley and downtown.
The building’s commercial tenants could include Central Bark Doggy Day Care, which will need to relocate from its current location at 333 N. 25th St. when I-94 is widened, Breunig told the commission.
The fire-damaged, vandalized building likely has three to five years before further deterioration makes it impossible to renovate, said Breunig, an engineer who’s redeveloped other historic buildings.
Local stakeholders divided on proposal
But the Milwaukee DCD says the zoning change is inconsistent with city plans for the valley.
“A housing development at this location has the potential for a variety of adverse impacts on the health and safety of residents,” a department report says, citing heavy truck traffic tied to nearby industrial businesses, for instance.
“The Menomonee Valley is one of the vibrant industrial districts in the city, and it is national model for modern manufacturing that blends outdoor recreation and entertainment,” Monica Wauck Smith, a senior planner with DCD, told the commission.
Menomonee Valley Partners, which leads redevelopment efforts in the valley, also opposes converting such properties to residential use, saying it would create conflicts with manufacturers and makes their future uncertain.
“If residential uses are allowed here, this would create the expectation that rezoning can happen anywhere,” wrote Corey Zetts, Menomonee Valley Partners executive director, to the Plan Commission.
Speaking at the hearing, Zettz said the valley’s largely industrial profile is key to providing family-supporting jobs.
Others opposing residential development include operators of two valley industrial businesses: Allied Insulation Supply Co. and Standard Electric Supply Co.
However, some of the valley’s newer, non-industrial business owners support Breunig’s proposal.
Those include owners of Plum Media Co., Third Space Brewing and Christopher Kidd and Associates architectural firm.
They told commission members that Breunig’s plan would transform a vacant eyesore which draws vandals and graffiti artists.
“The condition of that building gets worse by the minute,” Kidd said.
Supporters also said the truck traffic is a minor inconvenience and not a major safety hazard.
If the city rejects his proposal, Breunig said the building will remain for sale with buyers avoiding it in part due to the site’s environmental issues. The property is currently listed by commercial real estate firm The Barry Co.
The building was constructed around 1895 for the Geuder & Paeschke Manufacturing Co., which later became Geuder Paeschke & Frey, a metal stampings maker. It has been vacant for about 40 years.
Breunig would use historic preservation tax credits to help finance the development, which Milwaukee Preservation Alliance supports.
His other projects include the redevelopment of the historic former Pritzlaff Hardware Co. buildings, at West St. Paul and North Plankinton avenues, into apartments, offices and other new uses.
Further action on the zoning request could happen at the city’s Zoning, Neighborhoods and Development Committee in May.
