East Corcoran Street in Milwaukee's Historic Third Ward would be extended from its current terminus at Jackson Street under plans for a 258-unit apartment complex at 129 N. Memorial Drive that gained a conditional certificate of appropriateness from the Third Ward Architectural Review Board on Wednesday.
Minnesota-based Kaeding Development Group pitched the development, which would sit on a three-acre parking lot site, west of the Summerfest grounds, that is owned by the Italian Community Center. The project would have a bevy of residents amenities, including an outdoor swimming pool.
In plans presented to board members on Wednesday, designs showed a structure spanning three blocks, designed to appear as if it was three separate buildings, with different colors of brick, and steel panels.
“As you are walking down the street it will feel like three separate buildings, like you are walking down a block, not (past) a super building,” said developer Carl Kaeding.
Board members were largely pleased with updated plans, although longtime architect James Piwoni said he wanted to see more variation in the brick colors to keep the development from look like a “housing project.”
Piwoni and board chairman Alderman Robert Bauman, also expressed concerns with the look of a stack of balconies on the southeast corner of the five-story building.
“The corner looks like a balcony in search of a building,” Piwoni said.
Board members also expressed interest in having better screening for a parking garage situated on the western side of the building, facing the Milwaukee Ballet’s building.
All in all, board member and architect Greg Patin said he felt like architects Ramlow/Stein’s updated plans far better suited the neighborhood than what was originally proposed.
“Now we have a building that feels like it belongs in Third Ward,” he said.
Developers hope to break ground on the project before the end of the year.
