Milwaukee-based Cobalt Partners LLC has made a name for itself taking on large-scale developments in Milwaukee's suburbs, often involving the transformation of vacant or underused sites into landmark mixed-use districts.
Its latest ambition targets Fox Point. Conceptual plans filed with the village show they involve the relocation of the Department of Public Works and Village Hall and in their place developing a pocket neighborhood.
The new neighborhood would consist of single-family homes and possibly senior housing, centered around community green space to "create a strong sense of community and connectivity," according to the developer.
The proposed development site totals 8 acres along North Santa Monica Boulevard, southeast of where it meets East Community Place.
Conceptual plans show several examples of what can be built there. Options include 21 single-family lots and 28 units of senior housing, 30 single-family lots or 36 single-family lots.
Cobalt is scheduled to present its concept to the Village Board on Tuesday evening. Board members will not take a formal vote, other than possibly to refer the plans to the appropriate village committees or staff, according to
agenda records.
Scott Botcher, Fox Point village manager, said he and the developer have been in talks about the project off and on for some time. He said Scott Yauck, chief executive officer of Cobalt, reached out sometime after the village completed an analysis of its facility needs about three years ago.
The village analysis concluded that the existing DPW space was not large enough for the amount of equipment and size of equipment the department owned.
"Scott and I had been chewing on this back and forth for an extending period, and it got to the point where it was time (for a public presentation)," Botcher said.
Some options show all the houses facing west, with green space between them and the street. Others show houses laid out to create individual pockets of green space.
All the driveways would be accessed by an alley that would run the length of the property alongside existing Chicago & Northwestern Transportation Co. railroad tracks. The senior housing options would include additional surface parking.
[gallery size="full" td_select_gallery_slide="slide" ids="539234,539235,539236,539237"]
To make way for the project, the village would have to move its various operations out of its existing building. The proposal would have the village DPW, and possibly Village Hall, to a 4-acre site northeast of North Port Washington and West Bradley roads. Village Hall could move into a different existing building as well, such as the police station, according to the concept.
The site was formerly an automotive service center and restaurant. Village officials rejected plans to reopen the service center as a gas station about a year ago, said Botcher.
The existing public pool would also move to a new site nearby, south of North Lombardy and North Bell roads and just north of Stormonth School. A concept shows a roughly 2,000-square-foot lap pool and an interactive splashpad on the site, along with expanding the existing shelter there.
[caption id="attachment_539238" align="alignnone" width="1280"]
Conceptual design of new Fox Point public pool facilities. Credit: Iconica and Ayres Associates.[/caption]
Yauck has resided in Fox Point for 27 years. He said the project could increase the village's tax base by more than $20 million.
"I have been a long-term resident of the village and know that we need additional housing and believe this would be a great location along Santa Monica (Boulevard)," Yauck said in an email. "The department of public works building is also at the end of its useful life as is the pool and this seems like the perfect opportunity to implement a comprehensive approach to solving a number of issues."
Other communities where pocket neighborhoods have been proposed include
Brookfield,
Thiensville,
Mequon and
Cedarburg.
