Near West Side Partners, city agree to price for 2 lots
A nonprofit group seeking to draw a big office building to Milwaukee’s near west side will pay just over $40,000 for city-owned lots — ending a dispute over the sale price.
Near West Side Partners Inc. is buying the parcels to help assemble a development site on the block bordered by W. Wisconsin Ave., W. Michigan St., N. 27th St. and N. 28th St. The Common Council on Tuesday approved that sale on a 14-0 vote.
That site is a key part of the city’s new development strategy for the N. 27th St. business corridor, which runs between W. Highland Blvd. and W. St. Paul Ave.
Near West Side Partners is seeking two high-profile prospects for the site: a $65 million, 163,400-square-foot state office building, and a Medical College of Wisconsin office building with up to 150,000 square feet and an undisclosed cost.
Mayor Tom Barrett’s administration initially proposed selling the two parcels, at 2719 W. Wisconsin Ave. and 625 N. 27th St., for $1.
Ald. Robert Bauman, whose district includes the site, objected. He proposed selling them for the value of their land, which is $83,200.
Bauman said the city should get the higher price because Near West Side Partners has paid market prices for other parcels on the block. He said that includes over $600,000 for a neighborhood grocery store, at 2701-2703 W. Wisconsin Ave., that has an assessed value of $121,000.
Near West Side Partners is financially supported by Marquette University, Aurora Health Care Inc., HarleyDavidson Inc., MillerCoors LLC and Potawatomi Business Development Corp.
City Development Commissioner Rocky Marcoux acknowledged that it was unusual for the city to sell parcels for $1 without having a specific development proposal.
But Near West Side Partners would be paying to demolish the block’s buildings and do an environmental cleanup, costing an estimated $2.5 million. That includes work on the city-owned parcels.
That demolition and cleanup is needed to market the site for development, said Keith Stanley, the group’s executive director.
Cleaning up the site also would help developer Rick Wiegand’s plans to convert the nearby former Wisconsin Avenue School, 2708 W. Wisconsin Ave., into Ambassador Suites, a 23-suite extended-stay hotel.
The Common Council’s Zoning, Neighborhoods and Development Committee last week voted 3-1 to change the sale proposal to $83,200. Stanley said that price would make pursuing the block’s development “nearly impossible.”
But a compromise, supported by Bauman, set the sale price at $40,001 for the lots, which total 22,000 square feet.
Bauman told council members that one city parcel, a parking lot, is being sold for $40,000, which reflects its fair market value.
The other parcel, which has a vacant billiards hall, is selling for $1. Bauman said that price reflects the fact that the city will not be paying for the building’s demolition and environmental cleanup.
Near West Side Partners issued a statement saying the agreement with Bauman and the Department of City Development “will enable us to move forward with the purchase of the city-owned parcels and position us to bring a significant, catalytic development to the Near West Side.”