After several years and setbacks, construction will begin on the Greenwich Park Apartments on Milwaukee’s East Side.
The 54-unit apartment building will be located in what is currently a City of Milwaukee and US Bank surface parking lot at 2353 N. Farwell Ave.
The city pulled a $9.6 million building permit in September for the site. Bedrock Construction is listed as the contractor.
Chicago-based Mercy Housing Lakefront Inc. is proposing the two-phase project. The first phase will include the six-story, 56-unit building with 100 parking space. The second phase will include a second six-story building with up to 44 units and parking.
The building will be a mix of affordable and market-rate apartments.
Mercy Housing choose the location because of its proximity to Columbia St. Mary’s and hopes to provide hospital employees with an affordable, walk-to-work housing option, according to the company’s website. Mercy Housing has also developed The Johnston Center Residences on Milwaukee’s Southside at 13th Street and Windlake Avenue, a 91-unit supportive housing unit.
The Greenwich project has gone through several design changes to accommodate both aesthetic requests from neighborhood residents and changes to the initial plan that turned it into a two-phase project. The development was also postponed because  it did not initially receive affordable housing tax credits from the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority. WHEDA later awarded the project tax credits.
“We’re excited this project is moving forward because people want to live on North Avenue but can’t afford the units,” said Milwaukee Alderman Nik Kovac, who represents the neighborhood where the project will be built. “This will be a mix of market rate and subsidized housing.”
The Greenwich housing project is the latest in a series of new developments in the neighborhood. Â In September, Milwaukee-based developer Robert Joseph announced plans for a six-story mixed-use building at the former Qdoba restaurant at the corner of North Prospect Avenue and East Ivanhoe Place.
That development will include an 80-unit apartment building on five floors. Â Joseph has also redeveloped the Prospect Mall property, 2217 N. Prospect Ave., into a 52-unit apartment building called The Overlook on Prospect and turned the former Pizza Man restaurant at 1800 E. North Ave. into apartments.
“We have a lot of development on North Avenue and the surround area and we are very excited about it,” Kovac said. “We’ve always been surrounded by a neighborhood, but now it’s really turning into a neighborhood itself – not just an entertainment destination anymore.”
