New Land Enterprises has purchased the East Side properties where it plans to construct a 25-story, high-end apartment tower.
Plans for the project – dubbed Renaissance Place – first surfaced in mid-January and call for constructing a 310-unit building on a roughly 1-acre parcel at the southeast corner of North Farwell Avenue and East Curtis Place.
The parcels currently serve as parking lots for the Mexican consulate at 1443 N. Prospect Ave. and the now-shuttered
Renaissance Place event venue at 1451 N. Prospect Ave.
The buildings and the parking lots behind them – where the actual tower would be constructed – were owned by limited liability companies affiliated with Milwaukee investor Gary Taxman.
New Land Enterprises purchased the parcels for $3.4 million, according to state records.
The two existing buildings would remain in place under the development plan, New Land managing director Tim Gokhman has said. While the consulate’s lease at the smaller building, would continue, New Land will be looking for a partner to take on Renaissance Place as a reimagined events space or find some other complimentary use for the building.
The Neoclassical/Beaux Arts building was constructed in 1907 as a home for the First Church of Christ Scientists, according to the Wisconsin Historical Society. The consulate building next door was constructed by the church in 1950 to serve as a school. The congregation disbanded in the 1980s.
“At Renaissance Place, we propose to renovate the existing structure and attract an expert partner to program the space and transform it into a neighborhood asset, used more than just on the weekends,” Gokhman said in the Wednesday’s press statement.
The project
Plans revealed about the project earlier this month stated that the development will include, 195 one-bedroom units, 33 studio apartments, 49 two-bedroom units, and 33 two-bedroom units with dens. Amenities would include a rooftop terrace and pool, with an indoor/outdoor club, fitness center, golf simulator, co-working space, pet grooming area, car washing station, and secure bicycle storage.
The structure would include seven floors of parking with 440 heated, enclosed spaces, and 26 covered spaces.
New Land is working with a traffic engineer, according to the press announcement, to help ensure the project doesn’t create congestion issues on the already busy, one-way streets of Farwell and Prospect avenues.
Korb + Associates Architects is designing the building, which will be made from concrete like many other high-rise apartments in the city.
The proposed building would be located less than two blocks from the 25-story
Goll Mansion apartment tower planned for 1550 N. Prospect Avenue. A revamped design of that building recently won approval from the city’s Zoning, Neighborhoods and Development (ZND) Committee.
New Land is still in the process of the revising the final project proposal, gathering input from neighborhood residents as well as city staff. It hopes to begin construction on the tower by the end of the year.
