Delayed West Allis apartments to begin building in June
The long-delayed Element 84 upscale apartment development in West Allis is about to begin construction.
Element 84 will feature a pair of four-story buildings with a combined 203 apartments and 3,500 square feet of street-level commercial space.
Ogden & Co. will develop it on about 5 acres east of South 84th Street and south of West Greenfield Avenue, near State Fair Park.
The firm plans to break ground in June, said Jonathan Ross, an Ogden principal.
The first apartments will likely open by late summer of 2019, with the entire development to be completed by fall 2019, Ross said Wednesday.
The West Allis Common Council in 2016 approved the $44.1 million development, including $5 million in city financing help. Those funds will be repaid through Element 84’s property taxes.
But Ogden faced difficulties obtaining a bank loan. So, the firm last year applied for a loan guarantee from a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development program.
That program provides loan guarantees in return for fees from developers. It allows developers to obtain
loans that are repaid over 40 years, which makes the periodic payments lower.
It also covers loans that provide up to 85 percent of construction costs.
Ogden obtained the HUD guarantee in January, Ross said, and then had to revise its construction cost estimates. The firm expects to close on its financing by early June, he said.
The West Allis Community Development Authority board, at its Tuesday night meeting, extended the construction start deadline, said John Stibal, community development director.
City officials and Ogden executives say Element 84 will help draw more people to West Allis who will patronize the city’s stores, restaurants and other businesses.
They also say the project will help improve an area that now features a strip retail center and vacant lots, and help draw more growth.
“We’re excited about the project and what it could mean to West Allis,” Ross said.
Another West Allis high-end apartment and development, The Market at Six Points, is under construction south of West Greenfield Avenue and west of Six Points Crossing, near the West Allis Farmers Market.