Category Archives: Development

October 17, 2014 · 10:23 pm

More Details On The Proposed St. Adalbert’s Project

Update: Here is a frequently asked questions document.

More than 200 people attended Monday’s public information meeting for the proposed St. Adalbert’s apartments, and that was the first of a number of opportunities for residents to learn more about the project and have their voices heard.

Indeed, that is my promise: continued open and honest communication as we move through the process.

Monday’s meeting was more about learning about the development and developer, getting questions answered about project details. It lasted about 90 minutes.

  • You can see the presentation Gorman & Co. gave here.
  • And look for a more detailed Q&A document, with answers to questions raised at Monday’s meeting, to be posted soon on that same page.

So, what’s next? The South Milwaukee Plan Commission will consider the project at its Oct. 27 meeting, when it may make a formal recommendation to the full city council on the rezoning request by Gorman. The council would then take up the issue and potentially schedule an official public hearing. After that hearing, a final vote by the council may not happen until early 2015.

As we go through the process, I also want to share a message I shared at Monday’s meeting — about what the city can and can’t consider in deciding on this project.

By law, there are strict limits as to what we can consider when it comes to a request for rezoning, as Gorman & Co. is seeking. For example, under zoning law (Wis. Stats. 62.23(7)), the common council can regulate the:

  • Height of a building;
  • Number of stories and size of buildings and other structures;
  • The percentage of lot that may be occupied;
  • The size of yards and other open spaces;
  • The density of population;
  • And the location and use of buildings, structures and land.

In deciding this, the statutes are also clear as to what we can’t consider in making our decision. We cannot consider who lives there, how much money they earn or where they earn that money (as long as it’s a lawful occupation). In other words, whether the development is for rich or poor or middle-income residents is not, and can not, be a consideration in zoning matters.

Furthermore, we must uphold South Milwaukee’s commitment to fair, non-discriminatory housing. This city ordinance reads in part: “It is the declared policy of this City that all persons shall have an equal opportunity for housing regardless of sex, race, color, sexual orientation, disability, religion, national origin, marital status, family status, lawful source of income, age or ancestry.”

Simply, we can’t discriminate. Nor should we. Not just because it’s against the law. It’s also the right thing to do.

I think those parameters are important to know as the debate picks up in coming weeks.

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October 5, 2014 · 7:27 pm

Downtown Momentum

I am excited about downtown South Milwaukee, and where it’s headed.

Here are a few reasons why.

For starters, I am proud to announce that three new destination retail businesses are planning to open downtown in coming weeks – exactly the kind of businesses we need more of in our city center.

  • One, MKE City Sippers, is a new upscale coffee shop opening at 911 Milwaukee Ave., between I Can’t Resist Kids Resale and Dowling Community Acupuncture. Owned by Nicole Maxey, a young professional excited about the prospects of our city center, it will serve Anodyne Coffee (terrific, if you haven’t been to their stores in Bay View and Walker’s Point), gourmet lattes, fair trade loose leaf Rishi tea, Dang! Butterscotch Root Beer, cupcakes and other locally baked goods. MKE City Sippers — pictured below — will also be offering free wifi, books to read, fun coffee mugs and tea infusers, unique gift items and more. They are hoping to open the week of October 27. Check out their Facebook page in the meantime.
  • The former Voice Journal/Graphic/Kelly Driving School building is also getting new life as a retail storefront for Troy Kinunen. Troy is the owner of Mears Online Auctions, located in the beautifully redone St. Mary’s Hall in town. His storefront at 723 Milwaukee will feature a unique mix of old-fashioned candy, novelties and collectibles. Troy just received approval from the Plan Commission to move ahead with a complete overhaul of the building, including construction of a second-floor condo and storage space to go along with the retail storefront. He expects to open Dec. 1.
  • And, finally, the former South Milwaukee Carpet/Garden Theater won’t stay closed for long. While the carpet store at 1007 Milwaukee closed this summer with the retirement of the Lugauers, their son, Gordon, who grew up above the carpet shop, has purchased the building. His plans? To open a third location for his Board Game Barrister business, joining existing locations at the Greenfield Towne Center and Bayshore Town Center. Tentative opening date is Oct. 27.

Please join me in welcoming all three of these businesses to town — and join me in patronizing them. I’ll keep you posted as their grand openings draw near … and pledge to keep working my hardest to attract just these types of businesses to our fair city.

That’s just the start when it comes to downtown. Hopefully you’ve already seen some of the other efforts underway to improve our city center. For example, hundreds, if not thousands, of people are rediscovering downtown South Milwaukee through special events.

  • The South Milwaukee Downtown Market continues to rock and roll, and this summer its 11th Avenue location got a new look with a new road and streetscaping project. (The plantings just went in last week.)
  • The first two Guardian Credit Union Movies in the Market have also been a hit, both drawing hundreds of attendees following the farmers’ markets. The third outdoor movie, “Hocus Pocus,” is showing following the market’s season-ending Fall Family Festival this Thursday, Oct. 9. And Guardian — a proud downtown business of its own — has already committed to doing three more downtown movies in 2015!
  • We’re also bringing Rocketober to downtown South Milwaukee on Saturday, Oct. 25, with a special trick-or-treating scavenger hunt just for merchants in our city center. More details to come.
  • Christmas will also be special downtown, with events like the tree lighting and parade and a new “shop local” event being planned by the South Shore Chamber of Commerce. (Stay tuned for details on this one.) The South Milwaukee Community and Business Association has also led the charge in replacing more than 60 street decorations, purchasing new LED light fixtures, among other changes.

We’ve also made progress in more proactively enforcing our building codes. Hopefully you’re seeing a difference, one building at a time. A new window her, a paint job there, or maybe removal of an ugly awning. We have lots more work to do in this area, and we’re doing it, putting a laser focus on making sure our downtown building owners live up to the baseline of our city ordinances. Too many of them haven’t been.

And as we do this – all of this – we’re making strong progress toward the long-term work we need to do downtown as well. That starts with our long-overdue downtown plan.

There are lots of moving parts here, including the potential hiring of a citywide economic development director, formation of a downtown South Milwaukee advisory committee, and selection of a third-party consultant to aid us in the planning process. The economic development director position and planning consultant are both funded in the first executive budget I’ve been a part of as mayor, finalized late last week.

So, lots going on. Excited? I am. Much more to come!

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September 30, 2014 · 9:58 pm

Information Meeting Set For Proposed St. Adalbert’s Development

A public information meeting has been scheduled around the 37-unit affordable apartment complex proposed for the former St. Adalbert’s school, gymnasium and rectory.

The meeting is set for 6 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 13, at City Hall.

It will include a presentation from Gorman & Co., which is asking the city to rezone more than two acres of land near 16th and Manitoba for the project. Representatives from the company will also take questions.

You can see the letter we’re sending to residents in the neighborhood near St. Adalbert’s here. Here is Milwaukee Journal Sentinel coverage of the proposal. And here is Gorman’s website, with information on the other workforce housing developments they’ve done across the country, including several in the Milwaukee area.

My ask: Please become familiar with the details of the proposed development and developer before making up minds. Get the facts, and questions answered, at the Oct. 13 meeting. Then let’s have an open debate.

I look forward to it.

My promise: No matter your position on this issue, you will have a chance to be heard, be it through this public information meeting, a potential formal public hearing and at future meetings of the Plan Commission and City Council. I’ll keep you posted on all of these opportunities.

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August 18, 2014 · 6:40 pm

AMF South Park Is Officially For Sale

Closed without warning in June, AMF South Park Lanes is for sale.

The listed price on the seven-acre property is $950,000. Check out the listing brochure from The Boerke Co. here, and here is a story from the Business Journal.

All three recently closed AMF properties around Milwaukee are for sale.

I’m wondering: What would you like to see there?

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July 28, 2014 · 11:11 am

Development Update: Burger King Planned Near Walmart

Update: We scheduled a public hearing on the proposed Burger King for the August 25 Plan Commission meeting, when the 16th Avenue project will also get more discussion. The commission recommended approval of the Columbia Avenue project, with conditions. 

Monday’s (tonight’s) Plan Commission agenda includes several new development projects worth noting …

  • Plans have been submitted for a new Burger King restaurant as an outlot to Walmart at 222 N. Chicago Ave. Discussion about the project’s conditional use permit — and the potential to set a public hearing on the project — is on tonight’s agenda.
  • The Plan Commission is also discussing plans for a new “twin duplex” apartment complex on currently vacant land at the corner of 16th and College Avenues. The plans are for a mix of two- and three-bedroom units.
  • Also, South Milwaukee’s EK Construction wants to purchase and improve the property on the northeast corner of 11th and Columbia Avenues. The plan is to create a storage yard for snowplows and other outdoor equipment and expand/improve the existing building on the site, with a screen fence and improved landscaping around the property. If you’ve driven by there recently, you’d see how much of a facelift that corner could use. And it’s good to a see a local business like EK Construction interested in expanding.

I’ll keep you posted on these developments, and please do attend our meetings. Public hearings on the apartment complex and Columbia Avenue project are set for Monday night. The meeting starts at 6:30 p.m.

Here is an agenda, which also includes continued discussion of the downtown plan I promised during the campaign — one I think we still need as badly as ever.

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June 18, 2014 · 3:24 pm

Good News On Grant Park Plaza

It’s good to see some positive momentum at Grant Park Plaza.

Two new tenants are coming to the center in coming months.

The biggest name is Planet Fitness. The national fitness club has signed a 10.5-year lease for a vacant 18,308 square-foot space in the northern half of the center, near Pick ‘n Save. The club could open as early as September, following more than $600,000 in improvements coming to the center with the buildout of the new space.

To help fund those improvements, the South Milwaukee City Council approved disbursing $250,000 in tax incremental financing and other funds held in escrow per the development agreement with the center owners — funds that would come available only when the center reached an 80% occupancy rate. The addition of Planet Fitness brings it past that threshold.

The council also approved the sale of the Advanced Auto Parts lot to the Crowne Group Inc., a real estate investment company. It’s a deal similar to what’s occurred with other parcels at Grant Park Plaza.

Additionally, the center has a letter of intent from CSL Plasma to open in 10,000 to 12,000 square feet adjacent to Walgreens next spring. Stay tuned for more details on that tenant. CSL has locations nationwide, including in Racine and Beloit. Learn more on its website.

The addition of the plasma center will push mall occupancy past 90% — not bad for a strip center these days.

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April 27, 2014 · 12:52 pm

Downtown News: Welcome Two New Businesses From Cudahy

Fancy PawsGraveyardSome encouraging news downtown … and we’re just getting started!

First, let’s welcome two new businesses, both moving from downtown Cudahy after more than a decade there. I had a chance to meet both merchants on Saturday.

  • Fancy Paws, a dog grooming business, is already open on the corner of 12th and Milwaukee Avenue. Owner Donna Mae Straseski offers grooming for all breeds, large and small, and supplies. Above, she is holding Bailey, fresh from a bath.
  • Graveyard Records & Move Maniacs, which bills itself as the “Midwest’s largest horror collectibles store,” is also moving to downtown South Milwaukee, and is expected to open in late May, early June. When you talk about unique destination retail, this is it. Really cool stuff that I guarantee you can’t get at Walmart, Kohl’s, Target or Southridge Mall. Owner Dave Curtis is pictured above outside the store at 1013 Milwaukee Ave., formerly home to Kelvin Schroeder Jewelers.

Please join me in welcoming these two new stores to South Milwaukee!

And two more notes …

South Milwaukee Carpet, located in the former Garden Theater building, is closing after more than 30 years in business. Bonnee and Gary are holding their retirement sale now, and I wish them well. Also, Tai Ping Chinese Restaurant has closed, but will reopen under new ownership, according to a sign at the restaurant.

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September 9, 2013 · 5:54 am

Growing Locally: Sorce Martial Arts Invests In Downtown South Milwaukee

We need more businesses like Sorce Martial Arts in downtown South Milwaukee.

The studio has announced an expansion and remodeling project made possible by the Sorces purchasing the building they call home at 926 Milwaukee Ave. Learn more in this news release, and on the studio’s Facebook page.

From the release …

Sorce Martial Arts opened its doors in 2004 with about 1,600 square feet of training space and 50 students. In 2007, the school grew to more than 120 students and was expanded to approximately 3,300 square feet. The latest expansion will nearly double the training space to serve the school’s current enrollment of approximately 220 students, two full-time and three part-time employees. Completion of the renovation is expected later this year.

Thanks to the Sorces for choosing to expand in South Milwaukee, and let’s hope they have many more years of success at 10th and Milwaukee Avenues.

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August 29, 2013 · 10:17 pm

Local Hotel? Big Development Planned For Lake Parkway-Area Land In Cudahy

A major hotel and retail development could be coming to Cudahy.

Check out the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel story here on the project, which could be coming south of Layton Avenue along the Lake Parkway and Pennsylvania Avenue. From it:

Local development firm Cobalt Partners LLC was to present information about the project during a closed session of the Cudahy Community Development Authority’s Tuesday night board meeting. State law allows government agencies to conduct closed sessions to discuss real estate negotiations, but any action must be taken in open session.

Details about the proposed development are expected to be publicly disclosed during a Plan Commission meeting in October, said Brian Biernat, city economic development director.

The closed session at the authority’s meeting was to provide some sense of direction for a possible revision of the city’s development agreement with Cobalt, he said.

That revised agreement, which would eventually need Common Council approval, would likely propose additional city spending on the project beyond what had initially been planned, Biernat said.

The city’s development agreement with Cobalt calls for spending $3 million to help finance a development that would be valued at $18 million, Biernat said.

Cobalt, led by Scott Yauck, now is planning a larger project that would be valued at $42 million, Biernat said.

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August 21, 2013 · 10:06 pm

South Milwaukee City Council Roundup: Audit, New Bars, Lakefront Park, Dunkin’ Donuts & More

It was a full agenda at Tuesday’s South Milwaukee City Council meeting. Among the items …

  • Audit. The council heard from Baker Tilly Virchow Krause on their audit of our 2012 financials. It was pretty routine, with no significant issues reported, as they continued to endorse what we’re doing and how we’re doing it when it comes to being responsible stewards of taxpayer money. If you’d like a copy of the audit, stop by City Hall.
  • New Bars. The council also approved licenses for two new bars: Cafe Sport Apollonia at 1213 N. Chicago Ave. (near De Rango’s Pizzeria) and Milwaukee Lounge, 1009 Milwaukee Ave. (the former Liquid Hideout and Mitchell’s Field).
  • Lakefront Park. The council approved awarding a $59,000 professional services contract to AECOM Technical Services Inc. for development of a plan for reuse of the former Northwest Barrel site property along the lakefront. Learn more about the opportunity for this land in my previous post. I look forward to seeing what AECOM comes up with as options for this site, both for its potential public use and its role in stormwater management.
  • Menomonee Avenue Project. The council voted to deny planned unit development zoning necessary for construction of a proposed 16-unit apartment complex on city-owned land at 909 Menomonee Ave. I’ll keep you posted on future development proposals for the site.
  • Dunkin’ Donuts. The council approved the conditional use permit for construction of the Dunkin’ Donuts planned for 3103 S. Chicago Ave. (at the corner of Drexel and South Chicago, as an outlot of the existing Aldi-anchored strip mall). Construction is expected to begin soon, and the company hopes to have the building complete yet this year. Learn more in my previous post. Welcome to South Milwaukee!

All votes were unanimous.

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July 31, 2013 · 9:34 pm

South Milwaukee Dunkin’ Donuts Project Moves Ahead

South Milwaukee is getting closer to getting a double-D.

The Plan Commission on Monday discussed the proposed Dunkin’ Donuts location at Chicago Avenue and Drexel Boulevard and recommended approval of the conditional use permit necessary for the project to the South Milwaukee City Council.

I expect the council will consider this at our next meeting on Tuesday, August 6.

Company officials said they’d like to begin construction on the 1,900 square-foot store (with drive-through) as soon as possible.

The store is planned for an outlot to the existing Aldi’s, Dollar Tree and Little Caesar’s Pizza. There are five other Dunkin’ Donuts within 10 miles of South Milwaukee, but the closest is on Layton Avenue near the airport.

What do you think of this project? Post your comments below!

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May 20, 2013 · 11:01 am

New Apartment Plan For 9th Avenue Site

The Business Journal has the story … and the South Milwaukee Plan Commission and City Council will take up the issue at meetings this week.

From the article …

Developer Heitzer Inc., Oconomowoc, has proposed 16 townhouse-style apartment units in South Milwaukee on a 1.5 acre former manufacturing site.

Mike Heitzer, who also has built townhouses in Oak Creek, said he expects to rent the three-bedroom townhouses for $1,100 a month. They are proposed at 909 Menomonee Ave., a vacant site the city owns.

“I don’t think there is a lot that has been built down there, and I think there’s a need for it,” Heitzer said.

Heitzer is seeking city approval for the development plan, and said he wants to start construction as soon as possible if approved.

You will recall another project had been proposed here last year, but the one under consideration now is from a different developer.

I’ll keep you posted.

Here is the Plan Commission agenda, and here is the council agenda.

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April 4, 2013 · 10:05 pm

Plan Commission Update: St. Adalbert’s, Dunkin’ Donuts

It looks like the “for sale” sign will stay in front of the former St. Adalbert’s for the time being.

New Day Church, which had approached the South Milwaukee Plan Commission with plans for the property, has backed out due to project funding issues, and a public hearing set for last week’s Plan Commission meeting was cancelled.

I’ll keep you posted when I hear more.

Meanwhile, a public hearing for a proposed Dunkin’ Donuts adjacent to Aldi on South Chicago Avenue has been rescheduled for the commission’s April meeting, at the request of the developer.

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March 23, 2013 · 6:06 pm

Farewell, Lenny’s

Lenny's

Here’s the scene at 15th and Rawson, if you haven’t driven by that corner lately … I’ll keep you posted about future plans for what used to be Lenny’s, the service station that closed years ago.

 

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March 15, 2013 · 5:02 pm

What’s Up With The Van Beck’s Parcel, Anyway?

As an alderman for the district across the street from the large, vacant plot of land on the southwest corner of Nicholson and College Avenues in Oak Creek, I’ve been wondering what’s up there … especially after plans for a new postal facility were put on hold a couple of years ago.

This WISN piece gets to the bottom of it. Sort of.

It calls the postal project “a dead end” and includes comments from Oak Creek Mayor Steve Scaffidi calling for answers.

Scaffidi said the city lost out on the promised jobs and on tax revenue because the Postal Service pays no property taxes.

He wants the post office to either build on the land, which is unlikely, or sell it.

“We’re going to aggressively go after that. We will push the post office to make a decision,” Scaffidi said. “I will say that we will develop that site. Now, what that is? Developers are working on that.”

I’ll keep you posted.

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