Bayside plan asks $43M in public cash
Many neighbors oppose high-rise apartments
Nearly $43 million in public financing help is being proposed for a project that would feature the North Shore area’s only housing high-rise.
That cash would help build OneNorth, a Bayside mixed-use development that would be anchored by a 30story tower, with around 280 luxury apartments.
The funds would come from new property tax revenue generated by OneNorth.
Cobalt Partners LLC, led by Scott Yauck, wants to develop OneNorth on around 27 acres east of I-43 and north of West Brown Deer Road. Older offices and other commercial buildings at the site would be demolished.
Cobalt’s conceptual plans call for the tower, as well as new offices, restaurants, stores and additional apartments built around an outdoor plaza.
Those plans, as well as the public fi-
nancing proposal, would need approvals from the Village Board.
Some Bayside residents are opposed to OneNorth, saying the high-rise would be a bad fit for a community that mainly features one- and two-story homes.
Supporters say OneNorth would be in a commercial area separated from residences, and would create new property tax base for the village and public schools.
The financing proposal calls for spending up to $29.1 million for the development of OneNorth’s first phase, which would include the high-rise.
Cobalt hopes to break ground on the project in fall 2019 and complete the high-rise by spring 2021.
A second phase would bring $13.6 million in public spending.
Around half of the public spending, totaling $21.6 million in both phases, would be for buying buildings and other properties to make way for OneNorth, according to the proposal.
Another $2.1 million would help pay for demolishing buildings.
Yauck says OneNorth needs that public financing to clear obsolete buildings and make the development feasible.
Also, $8.5 million would be for “development incentives,” the plan said.
That’s a general category used to account for spending needed to encourage redevelopment projects.
Other spending categories include $4 million for new streets, sewers, water mains, sidewalks and a public plaza; $3.2 million for an underground stormwater management system; $1.8 million for site grading and related work; $1.2 million for “offsite improvements,” which would likely include upgrades to West Brown Deer Road; and $250,000 for environmental cleanup work.
OneNorth’s new property values are expected to total $195 million by 2045, according to the proposal, which was drafted by Ehlers & Associates Inc., the village’s consultant.
Those new buildings would generate property tax revenue to make the payments. That would occur through a tax increment financing district — the first such financing district for Bayside.
The plan calls for spending public money only if OneNorth is developed — a tax financing method known as “pay as you go.”
All of the project costs would be paid off by 2038, according to Ehlers.
The estimated property values include $70.4 million for the high-rise.
So far, most of the opposition to OneNorth has focused on the apartment tower.
Yauck said OneNorth cannot be developed without the high-rise, which would have monthly rents starting at around $2,000 for a one-bedroom unit.
OneNorth’s additional housing would include 10 townhouses, as well as 50 to 90 apartments in a three- to four-story building. That building would include street-level retail space.
The development’s stores, restaurants and other retail would total around 72,000 square feet. The offices would total 60,000 to 100,000 square feet.
The proposed tax district is to have its initial public hearing on Sept. 27.
Tom Daykin can be emailed at tdaykin@jrn.com and followed on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.