Downtown apartment building gets approval
A nine-story building with 251 upscale apartments planned for a highprofile downtown Milwaukee site has received a preliminary city approval.
The $35 million Nova development, which would include 2,400 square feet of street-level commercial space, a third-floor outdoor pool deck and a 300space parking structure, is proposed for a 1.3-acre parcel at 1237 N. Van Buren St.
New Land Enterprises LLP plans to break ground on Nova in July, with completion by May 2023, said Tim Gokhman, New Land managing director.
The Plan Commission on Monday recommended zoning approval for the development. It also needs Common Council approval.
Nova’s design varies from eight to nine stories because of the site’s slope, said Jason Korb, project architect. The L-shaped building would wrap around a U.S. Postal Service facility at 606 E. Juneau Ave. The building would activate the street with such features as the corner commercial space.
New Land Hopes to fill it with a coffee shop or café that includes outdoor seating.
The design also calls for eight townhouse-style units with terraces and private entrances directly on North Van Buren Street, Korb told the Plan Commission.
The units would range from one- to three-bedrooms, Gokhman told the commission. Monthly rents would range from below $1,400 to around $4,000.
Nova grew from its initial planned size of an eight-story building with around 220 apartments in part because Milwaukee lags other Midwestern cities in creating buildings with higher density, Gokhman said.
The development site, west of North Van Buren Street and north of East Juneau Avenue, includes vacant buildings that last housed a fitness center and restaurant, and a large parking lot. Those buildings will be deconstructed, with as much of their material being recycled as possible.
New Land holds a purchase contract on the property.
That contract was signed before the site was sold in October for $2.1 million to Kosmos Metro LLC, an investment group led by John Vassallo.
New Land’s purchase right continues under Vassallo’s ownership.
However, if New Land doesn’t complete its plans to buy the site, Vassallo has conceptual plans to develop an apartment high-rise similar to one he’s proposed in Wauwatosa.
New Land’s developments include The Ascent, a 25-story, 259-unit apartment high-rise under construction at 700 E. Kilbourn Ave. — just a few blocks south of the Nova site.
The Ascent, which is being constructed with an unusual technique known as mass timber or cross-laminated timber, is scheduled for completion in summer 2022.