Broader Vision for Third Ward
More development planned east of N. Jefferson St.
By TOM DAYKIN
tdaykin@journalsentinel.com
Posted: April 12, 2005
Milwaukee's booming Historic Third Ward - which continues to draw new housing, offices, boutiques and restaurants - will likely see more development near the Italian Community Center and Maier Festival Park, city officials say.
Milwaukee has unveiled long-range plans for development in the Historic Third Ward, including the Marine Terminal Lofts on N. Broadway, shown on Tuesday. The plans include more residential development nearby, as well as offices, boutiques and restaurants.
Open House
The Third Ward Neighborhood Comprehensive Plan will be the subject of a public open house from 4 to 5:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Italian Community Center, 631 E. Chicago St.
Development
A long-term neighborhood plan proposed by the Department of City Development envisions dozens of new buildings throughout the Third Ward east of N. Jefferson St. Much of that area now has parking lots and buildings used for manufacturing and warehousing.
The proposal seeks to accommodate new construction, said Mike Maierle, the Department of City Development's long-range planner, while also preserving the historic nature of the neighborhood, where some turn-of-the-century industrial buildings have been converted to condos and other new uses.
"It's a jewel right now," Mayor Tom Barrett said. "We're going to continue to make it shine."
The changes won't happen overnight, Maierle said. The commercial and residential development will require continued private investment.
But new buildings are still going up in the Third Ward, especially along the Milwaukee River and west of Jefferson St., he said.
"Reality catches up with a plan faster than you think sometimes," Maierle said.
Said Barrett, "This is an area that is drawing a lot of attention from outside the city."
Framework of opportunities
Developers who have already seen portions of the plan say it creates a sound framework for the Third Ward's future growth.
"I was pretty excited by a lot of opportunities presented by the plan," said Robert Monnat, chief operating officer at Mandel Group Inc.
Mandel Group is developing the 84-condo Marine Terminal Lofts, a renovation of the former Stearns Building, 120 N. Broadway. Just a few blocks south is the 80-unit Harbor Front project, under development by Renner Architects at 601 E. Erie St.
The plan expects additional residential development nearby, with some happening on parking lots and industrial sites, such as Charter Wire's factory at 114 N. Jackson St.
The idea is not to force out industry, Maierle said, but to prepare for manufacturers that sell their increasingly valuable Third Ward properties and relocate to modern business parks. The latest to leave is Beck Carton Corp., which last month announced it will move from 311 E. Chicago St. to a more efficient building in the Franklin Business Park.
The city's vision for the Third Ward faces some challenges, Monnat said.
He said the city needs a plan for keeping manufacturers within Milwaukee after they leave the Third Ward. Maierle said the city hopes to keep those businesses by steering them to new business parks being developed in the Menomonee Valley, the underused Tower Automotive Inc. complex and other sites.
Also, Monnat said the development of parking lots means some of those spaces will have to be replaced.
Maierle said the area just north of the Italian Community Center, 631 E. Chicago St., could be a future parking structure. That could accommodate events at the center's banquet hall, Summerfest and other parking needs, he said.
Road projects
Among other things, the plan lays the groundwork for future development in the neighborhood's eastern portion by calling for three new road projects.
One would convert E. Polk St., which connects N. Harbor Drive near Maier Festival Park to E. Erie St. near the Milwaukee River, from a bleak industrial service road into a tree-lined boulevard, with adjacent park-like open space.
Harbor Drive would receive similar improvements, running from just south of the Milwaukee Art Museum to the end of Maier Festival Park. The improved street, along with commercial developments on its edge, would provide a buffer between the Summerfest grounds and new residential developments west of Harbor Drive.
The plan also proposes carving up the parking lots at the Italian Community Center with a new street grid, making those parcels more accessible.
That would tie in with the center's long-contemplated plan to eventually develop the 12-acre lots, between Jackson St. and Harbor Drive, into housing, offices, shops and restaurants.
Both those street projects and the privately financed developments depend on the continued demand for residential and commercial space within the Third Ward, said Einar Tangen, a neighborhood property owner and chairman of the Historic Third Ward Business Improvement District.
Still, Tangen can remember a time when the Third Ward's development was focused on N. Broadway. It's only been in the past decade that much of the new retail, office and condo development has spread to places such as N. Water St., which is now packed with activity.
The neighborhood's parking lots and underused buildings, especially east of Jefferson St., are the next frontier, he said. How quickly those parcels develop depends to a great degree on the overall real estate cycle.
"If things go boom boom, it'll continue apace," Tangen said.
