Couture finally set to rise on lakefront
Sale of county property likely to occur April 29, construction to start soon after
The long wait for work to begin building the $122 million Couture apartment high-rise, on downtown Milwaukee’s lakefront, will likely soon be over.
Developer Rick Barrett, who launched the project four years ago, had hoped last summer to complete his purchase of the development site by the end of 2015.
He made that comment after Preserve Our Parks announced it wouldn’t appeal a judge’s ruling allowing the Couture project to proceed at the Downtown Transit Center property, 909 E. Michigan St.
In December, Teig Whaley-Smith, Milwaukee County administration director, said the sale of the county-owned property was expected to occur by the end of March.
Whaley-Smith now says the sale is scheduled to occur on April 29.
The sale has been delayed because the county is seeking a final agreement from federal officials to avoid paying the difference between the property’s appraised value and its discounted sale price. That agreement is tied to a 1988 Federal Transit Administration grant that helped finance the transit center.
The federal agency in 2012 said Milwaukee County could apply the underused transit center sale proceeds to another capital project.
Mayor Tom Barrett’s administration in 2014 expanded
the planned downtown streetcar service to include a link to the Couture’s transit concourse.
City officials said a multimodal transit concourse, which would include bus service, would help the county obtain an agreement to avoid paying over $8 million to the Federal Transit Administration. The Common Council in 2015 approved the streetcar expansion, with opponents raising doubts about that claim.
No decision has been made yet about the proposed transit center sale to Rick Barrett, an FTA spokeswoman said in a statement.
“FTA continues to be in communication with Milwaukee County about the sale of the transit center and the federal requirements that govern such transactions,” the statement says. “We expect a final decision will be made this spring.”
Whaley-Smith said he expects the agency within the next few days to approve the arrangement, allowing the county to avoid making the $8.4 million payment.
Rick Barrett had hoped to finish razing the transit center by spring before Summerfest and other events begin at nearby Maier Festival Park. He wants to begin construction by fall on the 44-story apartment tower, which would take three years to complete.
Whaley-Smith said Barrett can begin demolishing the transit center as soon he takes possession of the property in late April.
The center serves as a layover station for buses at the end of their routes. Those operations will be shifted to other downtown-area locations while the Couture is developed.
Rick Barrett, in a statement, said he’s looking forward to beginning demolition this year.
Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Christopher Foley ruled in June that a 2014 state law that established a Lake Michigan lake bed boundary east of the transit center is valid.
The ruling cleared title to the 2.2-acre transit center site so the county can sell it to Barrett Lo Visionary Development at a discounted price of $500,000.
The discount in the property’s sales price from the $8.9 million appraised value was necessary to make the project economically feasible, according to county officials.
The proposed $122 million privately financed Couture would include 302 high-end apartments, along with restaurant and retail space.
Barrett first announced plans for Couture in 2012.
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