East-side apartment expansion on deck
Growth for community planned since 2015
The long-planned expansion of a large riverfront apartment community just north of downtown Milwaukee might start by the end of this year.
Atlantic Realty Partners Inc. in 2017 opened River House, 1785 N. Water St., with 243 units in two buildings on the former Gallun tannery site.
Atlanta-based Atlantic in 2018 sold
River House to Kirkland, Washingtonbased Weidner Apartment Homes. But Atlantic kept the adjacent vacant site.
The firm has just filed a proposal with the Department of City Development to add 14 more units to its plans for River House's second phase at 1801-1881 N. Water St.
That would create a total of 221 units in four-story buildings over an enclosed parking structure on the 2.9-acre site.
That change in plans will need Common Council approval.
Atlantic executives haven't made a final decision to proceed with the second phase, said Chief Executive Officer Richard Aaronson.
“However, we are making some small adjustments to the design which need city approval in the event we do move forward,” Aaronson told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
That work could begin in late fall, he said, with completion by early spring of 2024.
A River House expansion would come as other high-end apartment developments continue to be built in the downtown Milwaukee area despite rising construction costs fueled by inflation.
The Common Council's Zoning, Neighborhoods and Development Committee in February endorsed a proposal to spend $700,000 to help pay for a public river walk along River House's second phase.
That extension would include a public sidewalk connection to Water Street — similar to the river walk in River House's first phase.
The council in 2015 approved spending $3.9 million to help pay for the river walk in connection with River House's two phases. The city's policy is to pay for 70% of a river walk segment through property tax revenue generated by new development, with the developer paying the remaining 30%.
The estimated cost for the second phase has since increased — hence the need for the additional city cash.