The owner of the Paintball Dave’s building in Milwaukee’s Historic Third Ward neighborhood wants to update and add on to the property for the addition of seven residential units and retail.
Eric Ponto, with Engberg Anderson Architects, presented plans Wednesday to the Third Ward Architectural Review Board on behalf of building owner Margaret Martin. Those plans included a vertical and northern addition to the building at 203 N. Broadway.
Paintball Dave’s closed in March after 28 years. The building is 14,400 square feet, which includes a 13,616-square-foot warehouse and 784-square-feet of retail along Broadway.
The owner is proposing four floors of residential above the retail space, while activating the retail along E. Chicago Street with large garage doors that would allow retailers to spill out onto the sidewalk.
The Architectural Review Board asked the architect to make changes after raising concerns about the two penthouse suites proposed. Board members felt the penthouses, particularly the unit that would front Broadway, overwhelmed the building.
Greg Uhen, who owns Eppstein Uhen Architects, 333 E Chicago St., was at the meeting and also spoke out against the penthouse apartments. Uhen himself recently built a penthouse on the Eppstein Uhen building.
“I know I just did my own, but that was on a much deeper building,” Uhen said. “To me this is a big mistake and sets a precedent.”
Martin was in attendance, but would not comment on future retail tenants or how the plans might be modified.
