Milwaukee Condo & Real Estate Scene

JS Online: Smaller Park East plan finding favor: County panel sees it as community friendly

Tom Daykin of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes about the county board's position of a parcel of land which was created by the Park East Redevelopment project. The Board is currently reviewing two proposals submitted by developers for a single parcel which is bordered by North Old World Third Street, North Fourth Street, West Juneau Avenue, and West McKinley Avenue.

One proposal calls for a $104 million development featuring a 175-room hotel, 70 condos, over 50,000 square feet of office space, over 30,000 square feet of retail space, and a 330-car parking structure. This proposal is estimated to generate $2 million in annual property tax revenue and will create 500 construction jobs.

The second proposal calls for a $34 million development featuring a 202-room hotel, 14,000 square feet of office space, 9,000 square feet of retail space, 400-car parking structure, and a gas station/convenience store. This proposal is estimated to generate a much smaller tax benefit and fewer construction jobs than the competing proposal. At this point in the Board's discussions, it appears that they are leaning toward this proposal because the developer is promising to provide a higher percentage of construction contracts to minority-owned firms.

If you were on the Board, which proposal would you favor? The cost of removing the Park East freeway was in the millions. Does it make sense for the county to use this valuable piece of property for a gas station and convenience store? Click here to read the details of these two proposals>>>

posted by David Ray @ 5:16 PM