Mixed-Use Project Planned in Milwaukee

Brought to you by

 A local developer is proposing $104 million, 20-story project - including a hotel, condominiums, offices and shops  for an empty block in downtown Milwaukee's Park East redevelopment area

Ruvin Development Inc. wants to build the mixed-use project on a site bordered by N. Old World 3rd St., N. 4th St., W. Juneau Ave. and W. McKinley Ave. The project would be among the largest downtown developments currently proposed.

The block is empty except for the Sydney Hih building, which Ruvin Development bought last year with plans of incorporating it into the development. The project also would include the former Gipfel Brewery, which Ruvin would move to the development site from 423-427 W. Juneau Ave.

Ruvin Development's proposal is the latest to surface for the 16 acres of vacant parcels owned by Milwaukee County in the Park East area. The redevelopment area encompasses 64 acres on downtown's northern edge. The county-owned lots, made available when the Park East Freeway stub was razed, are perhaps the most visible sites.

Bringing it all together

Ruvin Development's offer to buy the block for $2.9 million is being recommended for approval by county officials to the County Board. The board's Committee on Economic and Community Development is scheduled to review the proposal Monday.

That recommendation says the development would include a 175-room hotel, 70 condos, 55,000 square feet of offices and 31,000 square feet of retail space.

The development also would have a 330-car parking structure and a public plaza.

Most of the development would come in the form of new construction, Robert Ruvin, Ruvin Development president, said Thursday.

Ruvin said the Sydney Hih building, 300 W. Juneau Ave., would be converted into street-level retail space and upper-floor offices. The Gipfel building, he said, would be moved to the block and renovated into restaurant or retail space.

Ruvin said the continued strength of the downtown housing market is among the factors that makes the project feasible. He said he's already made preliminary financing arrangements, and said the location is a good one for a mixed-use development.

"The proximity to the Bradley Center really brings all that together," said Ruvin, who declined further comment until Monday's committee meeting.

Ruvin Development's other investments include last year's $21.5 million purchase of the 169-unit Blatz Apartments, 270 E. Highland Ave., which are being converted into condos. Ruvin Development is doing that conversion project in a partnership with Fiduciary Real Estate Development Inc.

The project planned for the Sydney Hih block is among three developments pending for the county-owned parcels in the Park East area. Construction has not yet started on the other two projects.

That lack of construction activity is not surprising, given the complicated nature of what's been proposed, said William Drew, former city development commissioner. The developers are likely going through the process of securing their financing, which usually takes longer than expected, he said.

"People are trying to get their arms around what's going to happen down there," said Drew, who served under former Mayor Henry Maier.

Hotels cropping up downtown

Ruvin Development's project also is among several new downtown hotel proposals that have surfaced recently.

The demand for downtown hotel rooms, especially among business travelers, has been steadily increasing for years, said Greg Hanis, a hotel industry consultant.

But even with that strengthening downtown hotel market, it's likely that perhaps just two or three of the proposed hotels will actually end up getting built, said Hanis, who operates Hospitality Marketers International Inc. of Pewaukee.

The proposed hotels include a 120-room Staybridge Suites extended stay hotel, which would be at the southeast corner of N. Water St. and E. Juneau Ave. The project is being proposed by Development Opportunity Corp. of Fort Myers, Fla.

The city Redevelopment Authority on Thursday granted a purchase option for some city-owned lots at the site that would be combined with a privately owned parcel for the development. That 12-story building would include 30 condos, 10,000 square feet of street-level restaurant and retail space, and two levels of indoor parking.

Other proposed hotels include local developer Doug Weas' plans for a 150-room Renaissance ClubSport by Marriott, part of an 18-story mixed-use project, at the southeast corner of N. Broadway and E. St. Paul Ave., in the Historic Third Ward.

Also, Chicago developer Richard Curto wants to build a 125-room boutique hotel and a 140-room hotel catering to business travelers as part of his mixed-use development east of N. Water St. and north of E. Ogden Ave., in the Park East area. Curto's proposed development, known as Park East Square, would include about 120 apartments, 270 condos and over 215,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space.

Curto's firm, RSC & Associates, would buy four acres of former freeway land from the county.

The other development planned for county-owned land within the Park East area is a 44,000-square-foot office building proposed by Brookfield-based MLG Development Inc. for a small parcel bordered by N. Water, N. Edison and E. Knapp streets.

The Park East area also has projects on privately owned parcels, including the 160-unit Terraces at River Bluff condos under development south of E. Ogden Ave., between N. Broadway and N. Milwaukee St.

Also, Mandel Group Inc. plans to begin construction this fall on the first phase of The North End, a housing development that would replace the former Pfister & Vogel tannery. The North End would eventually have 395 condos, 88 apartments and 20,000 to 25,000 square feet of street-level retail space.