The Madison-based developer whose plans for a 27-story apartment tower on the Goll Mansion site on Milwaukee’s East Side were rejected by the Common Council earlier this year has purchased the property anyways, according to state records.
Madison-based Goll Mansion LLC, which is affiliated with developer Chris Houden, purchased the 118-year-old, 9,000-square-foot mansion at 1550 N. Prospect Ave. from Milwaukee-based Interesting Prospect LLC, for $1.625 million, according to state records.
Bill Nasgovitz, chairman of Heartland Advisors, purchased the Goll Mansion in 2012 from Associated Bank for $835,000. A year later, he partnered with Christopher Adams, principal of Dominion Properties, who purchased half the interest in the property in March 2014. Adams is the registered agent for Interesting Prospect LLC.
Houden, with Palisade Properties Management LLC, wanted to move the Goll Mansion closer to the street to make room for development of a 192-unit, $55 million, 360,000-square-foot apartment tower.
The proposed apartment tower development needed the support of a supermajority of the Common Council because residents of the 1522 Prospect On the Lake condo building, located next door to the Goll Mansion, submitted a protest petition. City statue requires a supermajority vote when 20 percent of the owners of property within 100 feet of the site oppose a project.
For a supermajority the proposal needed 12 approvals on the Common Council, instead of the typical eight, but only received 10. Aldermen Cavalier Johnson, Robert Bauman, Mark Borkowski, Jose Perez and Tony Zielinski voted against the development.
The sale of the property could mean that Houden believes he can still move forward with some development plan for the property. He could not be reached for comment. A spokesman for Houden said he had no update on plans for the site and a spokesman for the Department of City Development said city officials have received no update.
