East side apartment wins committee OK

A proposed east side apartment development that was downsized in response to concerns from neighborhood residents has been endorsed by a Milwaukee Common Council committee.

Klein Development Inc.’s five-story, 96-unit building, planned for a 1acre lot at 1632-1648 N. Franklin Place, was unanimously recommended for approval Tuesday by the Zoning, Neighborhoods and Development Committee.

An earlier proposal totaled 140 units and featured a 10-story portion in the building’s middle.

The firm addressed most of the concerns of neighborhood residents by dropping the tower portion and by moving the development’s proposed 133-space parking structure entrance from N. Franklin Place to N. Arlington Place, said Ald. Nik Kovac, whose district includes the site.

Kovac also said that portion of N. Arlington Place might be changed to two-way use to improve traffic flow and safety. Both N. Arlington Place and N. Franklin Place, south of E. Brady St., are one-way streets.

He praised the design, saying it is “subtly different” from other new east side apartment buildings.

Klein Development wants to begin construction as soon as possible on the $20 million development, which would take about a year to build. The monthly rents would range from about $1,500 to $2,000.

It would be within two blocks of another new apartment development: the three-story, 23-unit Keystone on Brady, which an affiliate of Ogden & Co. is building at 1701 N. Humboldt Ave.

Keystone, at the northwest corner of N. Humboldt Ave. and E. Brady St., is to open by August.