Madison-based
Willow Partners has filed paperwork with the city to begin what will likely be the most complicated part of the development firm’s plans to construct a 25-story apartment tower at 1550 N. Prospect Ave. on Milwaukee's East Side, where the Goll Mansion now sits.
To make room for the apartment tower, the firm plans to move the historic Goll Mansion 36 feet closer to the street – a process that will involve several different elements, chief among them the careful deconstruction of the existing foundation beneath the 125-year-old home built by merchant Frederick T. Goll, and his wife, Eleanor.
Discussing the move on Friday, Christ Houden, Jr. – whose farther Chris Houden originally pitched the project in 2017 – said the contractor hired for the job, Heritage Movers, will start off by prepping the mansion’s current foundation.
“They demolish the non-load bearing walls, you take out the piping, electrical and gas, and then the moving company will puts stringers – basically put I-beams underneath the basement ceiling to create a grid that can support the load of the building,” Houden, Jr. explained.
Once that process is complete, the contractor will cut the “ankle” of the building – essentially the foundation walls – and put hydraulics beneath the grid to raise the house off the ground, which will allow temporary cribbing to be placed underneath the grid, giving workers the space to fully demolish the old foundation.
As the old foundation is demolished, crews will then work on excavating and pouring the foundation for the mansion’s new home, roughly 12 yards away.
“Then they’ll take a hydraulic press on rails and move the building to its resting location above the new foundation, then they take the mansion down, pull the beams out, and basically fasten the new foundation to the mansion,” Houden, Jr. said.
Nothing new
While a delicate and detailed procedure, the process is nothing new for the firm, which has moved seven historic buildings as part of development projects over the last 10 years or so, including the relocation of Wauwatosa’s historic log cabin in 2019.
The cabin was relocated from its location at 2515 N. Wauwatosa Ave., to the 600 block of North Avenue, to make way for the developer’s 27-unit Gallatin apartment complex. As part of a proposal to redevelop the site, Houden offered to donate the historic building. The building is now the home of Galbraith Carnahan Architects.
While the Wauwatosa log cabin is much smaller than Goll Mansion, that move was far more cumbersome, as it involved moving the cabin from on site to another location 10 blocks away. The firm also moved three historic homes to make way for its 700 East apartments in Madison, including one home that was larger than the Goll Mansion, Houden, Jr. said.
What makes the Goll Mansion move easier is that it will essentially be staying on the same lot, making a fully linear move. There will be no need to move the building from the left or to the right – just forward.
“That is the main reason I wanted to redesign the tower. With the new design, we just have to move it once, instead of four times,” Houden, Jr. said. “Once the building is up, we can move it in a matter of days.”
Preservation
But before crews can begin demolishing the existing foundation, or placing the grid system beneath the building, there is a lot of prep work that will need to happen, and that is the kind of work that is happening right now, he said.
“There is a lot of behind the scenes work to do as well in these old buildings, like asbestos abatement,” Houden said. “The demolition and the prep work for the beam placement and cribbing can take some serious time, as well, because we need to make sure there is no damage done to the building.”
While some developers might shy away from such projects, Houden, Jr. said historic preservation is something Willow Partners enjoys.
“With this project, we are able to effectively subsidize the rehabilitation of the Goll Mansion. Otherwise, there is no other real way to renovate or revive this awesome historic building,” he said. “It is a net benefit to the city. But it is also a net benefit to us, so we get to be a part of (the building’s story). It’s something we believe is important.”
Apartment tower
Although he’s not exactly sure how long the entire Goll Mansion move might take, it should be done by sometime in August.
The firm is planning to break ground on the apartment tower itself on Sept. 1.
“It is looking good,” Houden, Jr., said of the project, adding that the firm has a “number of parties” interested in helping to finance the building.
[caption id="attachment_557866" align="aligncenter" width="950"]
Rendering of the Goll Mansion after it is moved 36 feet closer to Prospect Avenue to make way for a planned 25-story apartment tower, developed by Madison-based Willow Partners. (Rendering courtesy of SCB)[/caption]
