Developer scales back River Hills housing plan

A controversial apartment development pitched for River Hills — the wealthy Milwaukee suburb known for single-family homes on big lots — has been greatly scaled back.

Mandel Group Inc. is now proposing 154 luxury apartments, with a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom units, within five three-story buildings.

The development, known as The Farm at River Hills, would be on the 53acre Eder property, at 1600, 1620, 1700, 1820 and 1980 W. Brown Deer Road. That site now has farmland between West Brown Deer and West Greenbrook roads, west of North Spruce Road.

The firm initially proposed around 400 housing units in 2016.

However, that plan was met with strong opposition from River Hills residents.

They said the apartment project would greatly change their community’s semi-rural atmosphere, generating too much traffic and noise.

Mandel Group said its concept plans have since undergone several different versions “as we worked to incorporate input from the community, while maintaining the architectural and ecological integrity of the development.”

In its new plans filed this week with the village, the firm said, “Each revision reduced the density and increased the amount of green space.”

Mandel Group said the proposed buildings would be positioned to reduce the impact on the environment and create a large conservation area with restored prairie and woodlands.

A conservation easement would prevent future development, according to the proposal.

The firm also said the conceptual plans will continue to change in response to community input.

The development would need Village Board approval.

The Farm at River Hills would amount to a big change for that community. River Hills, with a population of around 1,600, is known for having no apartments and large homes on five-acre lots.

The development would target aging empty-nesters who want to sell their homes but stay in the North Shore area.

Mandel Group says there’s strong demand for such housing, citing the success of the firm’s new Beaumont Place apartments in Whitefish Bay. Beaumont Place leased out all of its units by the development’s summer 2015 opening, with the average resident’s age at 60.

The firm also is developing Dunwood Commons, with 105 units, at the former Dunwood Elementary School site, 217 W. Dunwood Road, Fox Point.

Meanwhile, HSI Properties LLC is targeting the same demographic with its 69-unit Arrabelle development in Cedarburg.