Park East swap could ease county opposition to MSOE proposal

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By Marie Rohde

The Milwaukee School of Engineering‘s proposal for a parking garage and athletic field in the Park East corridor could gain favor if the county gets new land to replace what it loses to the project.

“It’s about more than MSOE being willing to pay the asking price or more for the property,” Milwaukee County Supervisor Theo Lipscomb said Thursday. “This is the last mega block available for development in downtown Milwaukee. What I’ve heard so far ignores the potential that property has for development.”

MSOE President Hermann Viets said Wednesday the school is willing to pay the same price — $2,725,000 — a hotel developer paid for a similar parcel in 2007 despite the decline in real estate values.

Nik Kovac, the city alderman who represents the district, said he shares many of Lipscomb’s concerns but generally favors the proposal. Kovac said the city’s plan for the Park East site calls for a 10-story building on what would be the MSOE property and another 10-story building next door.

He said letting MSOE’s project into the mix means the city would need to rearrange those plans and possibly combine the two 10-story buildings into one structure.

“But would a 20-story building on an adjacent site work?” Kovac asked. “Those are questions we need to keep asking.”

He said the city plan for the site has a four-story minimum for buildings, and 10- and 20-story buildings are acceptable.

“We should not act out of desperation, but we should be realistic,” Kovac said. “There is nothing else out there, and we need to ask ourselves if this will be a catalytic development.”

There are no plans on the table for adjacent buildings to MSOE’s targeted property, Lipscomb said, adding that the county will relinquish its right to have a say in what is developed in the entire corridor if the county approves the parking garage and soccer field.

He compared the proposal to Marquette University’s request several years ago to close off Wisconsin Avenue for the campus. The Milwaukee County Board, Lipscomb said, was closely divided on the request but voted against it.

“MSOE, like Marquette, is good for the city,” Lipscomb said. “But that does not mean that everything they ask for is good for the city.

“I think that in retrospect, there is general agreement that closing off Wisconsin Avenue was a bad idea. The same may hold for this proposal.”

Lipscomb and other county officials were caught by surprise by news accounts of the MSOE proposal.

Nothing has formally been proposed to the county, Lipscomb said, adding there had been some informal discussions months ago.

“I read about it online at 3 a.m. after our budget deliberations,” he said, “and I sent Viets an e-mail saying, ‘This story wouldn’t be about the parking structure on our land, would it?'”

Jeff Fleming, a spokesman for the city’s Department of City Development, restated the city’s support for the proposal, saying it is an important investment for the school but also a catalyst for future development.

Earlier, Viets characterized the development as a $10 million gift to the city. About 500 of the 780 parking spaces would be available for private use. Those parking spaces, he said, would spur other development in the corridor. Viets said government often has to pay for parking to encourage development.

Still, Lipscomb said, the county will not be pressured into accepting development even though the property has been on the market since 2003.

“We have been taking the hits for the lack of development during a down economy,” he said. “If we jump at this, are people going to say that if we had just held out, we could have gotten what we wanted?

“I think we need to hold out for a better plan.”