Mandel proceeds with Walker’s Point development
Mandel Group Inc. is proceeding with conceptual plans for a Walker’s Point office, hotel and apartment development after buying the last parcel needed for the project site.
The $130 million development, near the intersection of South Water and East Florida streets, would continue the redevelopment of Walker’s Point.
That neighborhood south of downtown has seen an apartment boom in recent years, along with restaurants, office buildings and stores.
Mandel’s development also falls within the new Harbor District, an area that city officials hope will see a longterm transformation from former heavy industrial sites to light industrial, housing and other new uses.
The mixed-use project’s timing isn’t set. The firm hasn’t yet completed detailed building and infrastructure plans, which will be created with input from city officials, neighborhood groups and others.
Mandel said it will move its headquarters to the new site from its current downtown location. But another tenant is needed for a 60,000-square-foot office building to obtain financing.
Meanwhile, Mandel Group executives have already talked with various hotel developers about the project, said Ian Martin, vice president of development. The downtown area continues to see new hotels under construction. But there are no hotels in Walker’s Point and the Harbor District.
Finally, the firm typically proceeds with apartments as long as it believes the market demand is strong enough for new construction.
“We control our own fate, to some extent, on the apartments,” Martin said.
Mandel’s initial plans for the Walker’s Point site, announced in 2016, were mainly focused on office space.
Two riverfront office projects would feature around 100,000 square feet and 60,000 square feet, along with streetlevel retail space.
The updated conceptual proposal, with the hotel, apartments and a central parking structure, is proceeding after the firm this week bought the last parcel it needed for the 4.25-acre project site.
A Mandel affiliate paid $3.25 million for a 2.25-acre riverfront site at 318 S. Water St., according to state real estate records. That site was sold by Kurth Corp., which once operated a grain elevator there. That massive structure will be demolished.
The rest of the development site, on East Florida Street, was previously purchased from Wisconsin Cold Storage Co. That warehouse complex also will be eventually razed.
The Walker’s Point project would include a RiverWalk.
Tom Daykin can be emailed at tdaykin@jrn.com and followed on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.