Mandel plans 24-story apartment tower on East Side

Mandel Group, Inc. is planning to build a $100 million, 24-story apartment tower on the northeast corner of Prospect and Ogden avenues on Milwaukee’s East Side.

The complex, to be called, Portfolio, will include 235 apartments. Construction is expected to begin in the spring of 2017.

Mandel Group is working with city officials on design, but can build by right based on existing zoning for the site, so it does not need city approval to begin construction.

Once complete in 2019, Portfolio will finalize the East Pointe mixed-use development Mandel Group started in 1988. Mandel has owned the 1-acre site at 1350 N. Prospect Ave. that Portfolio will be built on since 1990.

Phillip Aiello, Mandel’s senior vice president of development, who is leading the project, said there are a number of reasons to move forward with the project now.

“The economy is in a better place, which makes this more viable,” Aiello said. “We also believe a lot of the apartments built recently have been geared toward millennials and the baby boomer market has been underserved in the past apartment cycle.”

Unlike Mandel Group’s other downtown Milwaukee apartment development, The North End, which is currently on its fourth phase, Portfolio will target well-to-do empty-nesters.

Portfolio will include a mix of studio, one‐bedroom, two‐bedroom, and three‐bedroom apartments, all with a view of Lake Michigan on floors six through 24. Whereas 75 percent of the North End apartments are studio and one-bedroom apartments, 75 percent of the apartments in Portfolio will be two and three-bedrooms.

Three bedroom apartments will be up to 1,300 square feet. Rents will range from $1,700 for a studio apartment to $5,300 a month for the three bedroom, plus den.

Parking will be available, for an additional monthly charge, on an underground floor and floors one through four. The fifth floor will include an outdoor pool deck, fire‐pit, and lounge overlooking Lake Michigan, club room area with internet cafe, billiard room, fully‐equipped fitness/wellness center with yoga studio, golf‐simulator, pet spa, and dog‐run.

“We believe we will draw people who no longer want to take care of a home and want a lifestyle that offers more flexibility,” Aiello said. “We are not just building a building. We really care about creating an environment so empty nesters can care less about their home and more about enjoying their life.”

Two other apartment towers are in the works for the east side of Milwaukee. If all three come to fruition, nearly 600 new apartments could be built within the next five years.

Madison-based Palisade Properties Management LLC proposed a $55 million, 26-story, 202-unit apartment tower on the site of the historic Goll Mansion, 1550 N. Prospect Ave. in February. City officials had concerns about the density of the apartment tower and sent the group back to the drawing board.

A spokesperson for the group said the proposal is currently being worked on and will be brought back for approval.

James Wiechmann, who operates Wiechmann Enterprises, is planning a 13-story, $33 million mixed-use project at 1832 N. Farwell Ave. and 1840 N. Farwell Ave.

The project will include 153 residential units and 10,000-square-feet of commercial and office space on four floors. Wiechmann plans to start demolition of the four-story office building at 1840 N. Farwell Ave. this month, and will begin construction of the new tower in June.

Milwaukee chef and restaurateur Justin Carlisle is planning to open a restaurant on the first floor of the tower.

The restaurant will be different from Carlisle’s acclaimed fine dining restaurant, Ardent, located at 1751 N. Farwell Ave. Carlisle is planning a casual restaurant that will be open for dinner and a cafe/deli for the 1,500 to 2,000-square-foot space at 1832 N. Farwell Ave.

“We don’t really have anything else figured out yet,” Carlisle said. “We’re still pushing two years out.”