Several major developments in recent years have increased the population and vibrancy of East North Avenue, a commercial corridor at the heart of Milwaukee’s East Side neighborhood.
Now, three more major residential projects are in the works for the East North Avenue area, which could further increase the population of the area and boost businesses in the neighborhood.
HD Development Group, led by Todd Davies, recently began site work for construction of a 122-unit apartment building at 1150 E. North Ave., which will be called 1150 North. Once the site work is complete there will be a brief pause before construction of the building begins, Davies said. Construction of the building will take about a year. He declined to comment on the financing status for the project. Most to all of the apartments will be rented at market rates, but details have yet to be determined, Davies said.
Town of Brookfield-based HSI Properties plans to build a 99-unit market rate apartment building, called The Standard @ East Library, at the site of the East Library at 1910 E. North Ave. The project will include a new 17,000-square-foot space for the library and 3,000 square feet of retail space. HSI is seeking a loan guarantee for the project from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s 221(d)(4) program. Construction could begin in early spring of 2013 and be complete in 12-15 months. The five-story building will replace the existing one-story library building.
Milwaukee-based Joseph Property Development LLC and Milwaukee-based Boulder Venture LLC are planning a redevelopment project at the former Prospect Mall site, located just off North Avenue, west of the Prospect Avenue and Ivanhoe Place intersection. The project will have 52 market rate apartments and 10,000 square feet of retail space. The existing building will be gutted to create the retail space and indoor parking space. Four levels of apartments will be built on top of the existing building. Boulder Venture will own the retail space and Joseph will own the apartments. Construction is expected to begin by next spring. It will take about one year to complete the project.
Joseph and Boulder Venture are “very close” to getting financing locked in for the project, said Robert Joseph, founder of Joseph Property Development.
The developers for these projects say their apartments will be leased by people, particularly young professionals, who want to live in the dense, pedestrian-friendly, active North Avenue corridor.
“There is no other place like it in Milwaukee,” said Ryan Schultz, principal and owner of HSI Properties. “It’s a unique neighborhood. There’s nothing to compare it to.”
North Avenue has appeal because the area offers a wide variety of stores, restaurants, bars, a movie theater and Bradford Beach all within walking distance, said Joseph.
“I have always liked locations that have a great pedestrian feel,” he said. “That’s what living in a city is all about.”
North Avenue has had a large collection of bars and restaurants for years and the Oriental Theatre has been a neighborhood mainstay since 1927.
The neighborhood added three significant national retailers prior to the Great Recession with Whole Foods opening in 2006, Urban Outfitters in 2007 and American Apparel in 2008. The addition of more residential units to the neighborhood should boost those retailers and could help attract more to the area.
“There’s a lot of density there, so retailers like the neighborhood,” Joseph said.
The population density of the neighborhood has increased significantly with the addition of three student residence halls by the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in recent years.
Redevelopment of the Kenilworth building at Prospect Avenue and Kenilworth Place, completed in 2006, created residences for about 330 UWM students. RiverView Residence Hall, completed in 2008 along North Avenue on the west side of the Milwaukee River, provides residences for 475 students. Cambridge Commons, completed in 2010 along North Avenue just east of the Milwaukee River, provides residences for 700 students.
“The fact UWM has embraced North Avenue is fantastic,” said Davies, whose project site is just west of RiverView. “They’re making a significant investment in the area.”
The other most significant recent investment in the North Avenue corridor was the $417 million hospital built by Columbia St. Mary’s at 2301 N. Lake Dr., which consolidated its St. Mary’s and Columbia hospital operations. The hospital is a major employer for the area, and many of those employees are renting the new apartments in the neighborhood, developers say.
“The hospital has made an impact,” Joseph said.
North Avenue area apartment developers are hoping to replicate the success of Latitude Apartments, a 90-unit apartment complex built at 1857 E. Kenilworth Place, which was completed in 2010 and fully leased in about a year.
Apartments in the North Avenue area appeal to young professionals, “who still want to be in a vibrant location,” Schultz said.
But pre-retirement empty nesters are also interested in the area, Davies said.
“Our target market is people that want to be downtown,” he said. “People who like the urban experience.”
Despite the significant amount of development that has occurred along or near East North Avenue in recent years, several vacant or underutilized sites remain in the area providing ample development opportunities. One of the most prominent is the former Pizza Man site northeast of North and Oakland avenues. The site has been vacant since the Pizza Man building was destroyed by fire in 2010.
