After the recent announcement by the state Department of Natural Resources (DNR) that the Downtown Transit Center site in Milwaukee is not subject to the state’s public trust doctrine, Barrett Visionary Development owner Rick Barrett said he took immediate steps to move forward with his proposed hotel and residential tower development for the site.
“I revved up the engine,” Barrett said.
With the DNR ruling out of the way, Barrett said project architect Matt Rinka, owner of Milwaukee-based Rinka Chung Architecture Inc., will now work on detailed plans for The Couture, and will make some modifications to the preliminary design.
“We’re looking at what we can do to make the building better,” Barrett said.
The DNR ruling also allows Barrett to move forward with negotiations with potential funding sources for the $125 million project. He said the project has been getting “lots of interest” from “multiple national (funding) sources.”
Negotiations can also move forward with potential tenants, possible hotel chain affiliations and with county officials, Barrett said.
Barrett has proposed a 44-story building, called The Couture, with a 180-room hotel, 179 upscale apartments and 40,000 square feet of retail space for the site, located southwest of Michigan Street and Lincoln Memorial Drive. The site is currently occupied by the Downtown Transit Center, which provides bus storage and bus transfers for the Milwaukee County Transit System.
County officials decided that the Downtown Transit Center was not the highest and best use for the site, which is located adjacent to the lakefront near the Milwaukee Art Museum, Discovery World and the north gate of the Summerfest grounds. The county sought development proposals for the site and selected Barrett’s project. Barrett is in negotiations with Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele’s office for a purchase and development agreement for the site.
Public trust doctrine issue examined
But parks advocacy group Preserve Our Parks objected to The Couture project saying the site was originally part of Lake Michigan and is now on filled lake bed. The group said private development should not be allowed on that site because of the public trust doctrine of the state constitution, which preserves public access and use of all waterways.
Last year, DNR officials told Milwaukee County officials that the site is not subject to the public trust doctrine. After another review, prompted by Preserve Our Parks, the DNR again said the site is not subject to the public trust doctrine.
“The survey information presented by Preserve our Parks all predate statehood of Wisconsin in 1848 and do not definitely establish the exact location of the shore of Lake Michigan in the vicinity of the Milwaukee Transit Center site,” said DNR attorney Kris Hess. “The Milwaukee Transit Center site has not been demonstrated to be submerged lands.”
However, members of Preserve Our Parks still disagree with the DNR and feel the group presented the agency with information that showed the Downtown Transit Center site is on filled lake bed and should be subject to the public trust doctrine.
“The DNR rationale makes no sense,” said Charles Kamps, former president and current board member of Preserve Our Parks.
Preserve Our Parks could still file a lawsuit to challenge the DNR ruling on the matter.
“We’re not in a position to talk about that at this time,” Kamps said. “The board will have to meet and talk about it.”
Barrett expressed confidence that Preserve Our Parks would lose a legal challenge, if the group decides to fight the DNR ruling. As the matter was under DNR review in recent months, Barrett hired his own real estate and title attorneys to examine if the site was subject to the public trust doctrine. Barrett said he had “multiple attorneys” working for three months to examine the issue.
“I wanted to know what the truth was,” Barrett said. “We’ve spent an exhaustive amount of time with our attorneys to research it. We feel comfortable that the property is not subject to public trust doctrine. I have very conservative attorneys. They came away bullish that it’s not public trust doctrine. We feel comfortable that we have the truth on our side. I feel a lot more comfortable than I did three months ago.”
A lawsuit could take several months to reach a conclusion. But since there are several months of planning and negotiations ahead for The Couture, Barrett said he doubts a lawsuit would delay the project.
“I don’t feel it’s something that would derail the project or would push the project back whatsoever,” he said. “(And) I feel comfortable in winning that lawsuit.”
Even if Preserve Our Parks was successful in winning a lawsuit and establishing that the Downtown Transit Center site is subject to the public trust doctrine, it is unclear if that would completely block The Couture project.
“There are ways (the public trust doctrine) can be addressed,” said DNR spokesman Bill Coshe.
Design changes
In the meanwhile, Rinka will be working to adjust the design of the project, Barrett said.
The seven-story podium portion of the project will likely be reduced to about five stories, Barrett said. Some of the 775 parking spaces planned in the project will likely be moved underground, he said.
“The podium I think will have a much different look,” Barrett said. “We have some ideas to give it a more handsome and attractive appearance.”
In addition, the tower portion of The Couture could be moved a bit to the south (by about 10) feet and might be twisted slightly. Those adjustments would improve the views for 833 East Michigan, an 18-story office building proposed by Irgens just west of The Couture site. Barrett and Irgens have been meeting to find ways to adjust their projects to make sure that they complement each other.
Barrett has also been meeting with retail real estate brokers who have made some suggestions about how to improve the retail portion of the project. The design will be tweaked to make the first floor retail space more approachable and more prominent, Barrett said.
Barrett, who recently completed construction of The Moderne, a new 30-story residential tower downtown, said he hopes to get approval from county officials for the Downtown Transit Center site purchase and development plans for The Couture by the end of this year. He hopes to begin demolition of the Downtown Transit Center next summer and hopes to begin construction of The Couture next winter. Construction is expected to take about 28 months to complete.
“We’ve got a lot of work to do, obviously,” Barrett said. “But early indications are very positive.”
