Wauwatosa’s village center is filling up.
Within weeks, two multifamily projects less than a block away from each other, and totaling 310 units, have made their way through the municipal government.
In April, Three Leaf Partners, the Milwaukee-based development firm co-founded by Milwaukee Bucks player Pat Connaughton, proposed a 153-unit apartment building at the site of the now-closed St. Bernard Congregation and Wauwatosa Catholic School, near the intersection of Wauwatosa and Hardwood avenues. Then, in May, Milwaukee-based development firm Mandel Group received initial approvals for a postponed proposal to build 157 apartment units at the Blanchard Street public parking lot at 7470 Blanchard St.
The two developments could open at around the same time, which would make quite an impact on the historic village center. While city officials say they welcome the added housing and business patrons, many neighbors aren’t fans of the density and are urging the city to pump the brakes.
“In City Hall there’s a sign that says, ‘Wauwatosa: city of homes.’ Make a note of it on your way out,” one resident said to city officials and a representative of Mandel Group at a recent public hearing. “It’s not the city of homes anymore. It’s the city of ugly, brown, rectangular apartment buildings.”
Developers see a strong neighborhood
Three Leaf’s approximately $46 million, three-story apartment building would include mostly one-bedroom units, with some junior one-bedroom and two-bedroom units as well. The building would include one level of underground parking, plus surface parking spaces and amenities.
“The location of this project is phenomenal,” said Jordan Michalkiewicz, vice president of development and acquisition for Three Leaf. “It’s surrounded by all the amenities and shops and retail that a tenant would like.”
Three Leaf is hoping to break ground on the project late this year, but plans have been held up by Wauwatosa’s Design Review Board, which asked the developers to revise their plans after more than 100 residents expressed opposition to the project in April. Three Leaf then submitted revised plans to the board addressing some neighbor concerns, such as adding more community space. As of press time, Three Leaf was still awaiting a decision from the DRB.
Similarly, at a public meeting for Mandel’s project, dozens of residents spoke out against the project in a nearly three-hour public comment session. Still, the city’s Plan Commission gave the proposal initial approval, though it will still need to get the green light from other city entities.
The $37.4 million project would replace a city-owned parking lot with a five-story building. The project would provide 189 parking spaces for residents and replace the existing lot’s 98 public spaces at a one-to-one ratio. Like Three Leaf’s project, the current Mandel Group proposal includes mostly studios and one-bedroom units, with some two- and three-bedroom units.
With dozens of shops, restaurants and service providers in the neighborhood, both development firms noted the village area’s walkability and bikeability – as well as its proximity to jobs and general desirability – as reasons they pursued their respective projects.
Officials, analysts see a city that needs housing
Aside from State Street Station, a 148-unit mixed-use project built in 2017, and Harmonee Square, a 30-unit apartment building built in 2018, there have been very few residences added in the Wauwatosa village area in recent years. Housing is the city’s primary focus for the village center and beyond, said Wauwatosa development director Paulette Enders, adding that attracting and retaining businesses are also focuses.
“It’s all forms of housing: market rate, affordable housing, special needs housing, having more variety of housing throughout the city,” Enders said.
New housing is something that’s needed in Wauwatosa to address affordability issues, city officials and real estate analysts said. The city’s current multifamily vacancy rate is about 5.5%, which is low, according to Gard Pecor, a senior market analyst with CoStar. But the city’s vacancy rate had been trending closer to 3.5% and only rose recently when the 258-unit 2929 on Mayfair building – located on Highway 100 about 3 miles from the village – opened late last year. Further, Wauwatosa’s rents are trending at about $1,500 per month compared to about $1,400 in the overall Milwaukee metro, according to Pecor.
“Wauwatosa is a very in-demand neighborhood to live – it’s got great school districts, a historic village center,” Pecor said. “We’re in a housing crisis across the market and Wauwatosa’s no different.”
However, space for new housing in the village center is running low. Mandel’s project site is the last large surface parking lot in the village center available and large sites, like that of Three Leaf’s project, don’t come available often.
“It’s not one or the other, the two projects just need to be able to work together in the village,” Enders said.
