It's been 11 months since Madison-based development firm Neutral was selected to redevelop downtown Milwaukee's Marcus Performing Arts Center parking structure, located at 1001 N. Water St., into a $700 million, multi-building (including one 55 stories tall), mixed-use project, and negotiations between the city and developer still haven't started.
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Robert Bauman[/caption]
Progress has largely been held up by downtown Milwaukee Ald. Robert Bauman, chairman of the Common Council's Zoning, Neighborhoods & Development Committee (ZND), who from the start has questioned the project's feasibility and developer's ability to pull off the project, which includes office space, retail space, hotel rooms and up to 750 residential units.
When Neutral was selected by the city's Department of City Development (DCD) following a request for proposals (RFP) last summer, the relatively new firm had not completed any development projects. Since then, it has finished an apartment project in Madison and on Monday held a groundbreaking ceremony for its first Milwaukee project, a 31-story mass timber apartment tower just west of the Marcus Performing Arts Center parking structure site.
When asked Monday if Neutral's recent successes had shifted his opinion on the Marcus Center project, Bauman said, "Not really."
Bauman's concerns remain largely the same as when Neutral's project was selected last year.
He continues to question whether there’s sufficient demand for 750 new housing units, especially if they’re primarily market-rate apartments. He also raised concerns about the project’s phased timeline, noting the city’s experience with other large developments that failed to fully materialize. As an example, Bauman pointed to the Harley-Davidson Museum project, which was originally supposed to include 100,000 square feet of office space that was never built.
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Nate Helbach[/caption]
Still, Neutral CEO Nate Helbach said he's confident the developer and city can come to an agreement. He said that conversations are still ongoing and progress is still being made, albeit slowly.
"I think the city wanted to see the (Edison) break ground, and they want to see momentum here before they trust us to do a large project like Marcus Center, because it's quadruple the size of this project," Helbach said Monday. "I think it's going to be a negotiating process with the city where we go back and forth and build trust and build the relationship further to be able to have us continue on the Marcus Center."
The RFP selection process itself has also drawn scrutiny. Bauman noted that only two other proposals were submitted, both smaller in scope. For a downtown site of this size — more than two acres — he expected stronger competition, possibly from major national or local firms like Hines, Northwestern Mutual or Mandel Group.
“For a site as prominent as this is, I’m shocked you would not have had more proposals,” he said.
Bauman has floated the idea of scrapping Neutral's plan and issuing a new request for proposals (RFP), potentially splitting the site into smaller parcels. While the decision to issue a new RFP would ultimately fall to DCD, Bauman said the Common Council could direct the department to take that step.
"Some say that when you pick a (project from an) RFP, you're supposed to be committed to going forward," Bauman said. "I don't read it that way. We reserve our right to say we changed our mind."
"We responded to the RFP that was published and were the awardee of that original RFP, so we believe the best path forward is probably moving forward with the original RFP and not going back out, but that's something we're discussing," Helbach said of Bauman's idea to issue a new RFP.
Last year, Bauman proposed a resolution directing DCD to hire an independent consultant to analyze the feasibility of all three submissions the city received for the site, but Bauman hasn't scheduled for that resolution to be heard by ZND.
"That would cost money, so I'm reluctant to pull that trigger," Bauman said Monday.
More articles about Neutral's development plans for the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts parking structure site:
