Muskego project delayed due to unapproved changes
A Muskego apartment development’s opening is being delayed after building inspectors found unapproved design changes.
And that has city officials facing questions on how to handle the situation, which they say is unprecedented for the Waukesha County community.
MSP Real Estate Group Inc. is developing Heritage Senior Living Muskego at S64 W13780 Janesville Road.
The development firm, based in Mendota Heights, Minnesota, received Plan Commission approval in September 2016 for the two-story, 108-unit development, with a building permit issued in May 2017.
The project is largely complete, with a mix of apartments for older people who can live independently, as well as people who need assisted living and memory care services.
But, during final city inspections, “it was discovered that the amount of certain materials shown on the approved building plans did not match the building that was built on site,” according to a Plan Commission report.
Specifically, the amount of masonry on the building was reduced on most of its facades.
MSP Real Estate and its architectural firm, Dimension IV Madison Design Group, decided those changes were needed to balance the design and strengthen the importance of the design elements.
Also, the failure to seek city approval for those changes was an inadvertent error, Mark Hammond, MSP Real Estate vice president of development, said in an email to Adam Trzebiatowski, city planner. Hammond characterized the changes as minor. The proportion of masonry on the building dropped from 52 percent to 50 percent, and resulted in a better appearance, he said.
Some of the reductions are not “extremely significant,” according to Trzebiatowski’s report to the Plan Commission.
But “they most likely resulted in a significant savings for the developer,” his report said.
A developer changing a project’s design without first seeking city approval is unprecedented for Muskego, Trzebiatowski wrote.
“The City was very surprised when this issue was discovered upon the Planning Division occupancy inspections,” the report said.
“This situation is a concern to the City for numerous reasons, including, but not limited to, what type of precedent might be set, how did this affect the cost/ bottom line of the project, why a change was made without City review, how we prevent this from occurring in the future, and what happens if the Plan Commission does not accept the unapproved alterations,” it said.
The commission is to consider granting approval to the changes at its Thursday meeting.
If commissioners do not approve, “then they will need to determine what they are going to require the developer to do to rectify the issue,” Trzebiatowski wrote.
MSP operates several other Heritage Senior Living facilities, including apartments in New Berlin, Elm Grove, Hartland, Greenfield, Menomonee Falls, Waukesha, Port Washington and West Allis.
MSP also is seeking city approval for a proposed senior housing development in Wauwatosa.