Deed restrictions muddy O’Donnell Park sale

Two deed restrictions on Milwaukee County’s O’Donnell Park could complicate the $12.7 million sale of the property to Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co.

Milwaukee-based Northwestern Mutual, which is scheduled to start construction in September of a 32-story office tower nearby, has proposed buying the property, which includes a 1,332-spot parking garage and an overlying park plaza. If Northwestern bought O’Donnell Park, the company would reserve for its employees the majority of parking spaces during weekdays but keep the park plaza open to the public, according to a report prepared for the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors, which must approve the sale. The entire parking structure would be open to the public during nonwork hours.

But, according to that report, there are two deed restrictions on the property that mandate the land be used as a public park, raising questions about whether a sale to Northwestern Mutual would be legal.

Jeff Fleming, spokesman for Milwaukee’s Department of City Development, said city and county leaders have met with Northwestern Mutual representatives to discuss the deed restrictions, which the city placed on two parcels before selling them to the county in 1940 and 1991. Milwaukee County built O’Donnell Park on those parcels in 1993.

The 1940 deed restriction requires the land be kept open as a public park. The 1991 deed restriction bars a sale to a private entity. If either restriction is breached, according to the county report, the city regains ownership of the land.

Betsy Hoylman, spokeswoman for Northwestern Mutual, said the company plans to maintain the plaza as a public park but said she was not familiar with the deed restrictions and did not know how they could affect the potential sale.

Legally, only the city can remove the deed restrictions from the property. Fleming declined to comment on the city’s discussions with Northwestern and the county, on a timeline for decisions related to the deed restrictions or what those decisions could be.

“There is a straightforward hurdle that needs to be overcome,” Fleming said, “and it is likely we’ll be able to work through that issue.”

That process could include a compromise, said county Supervisor Gerry Broderick, chairman of the County Board’s Parks, Energy and Environment Committee. If redeveloping the O’Donnell property is not part of Northwestern Mutual’s plans, he said, the company should be open to a long-term lease rather than a sale.

That way, Broderick said, Northwestern Mutual would have the parking it needs for employees in the new office tower, and the county would be assured that O’Donnell would remain a park.

If a sale violated the deed restrictions, they could be removed, the plaza and garage could be demolished, and private development eventually could go up on the property, said county Supervisor John Weishan Jr., adding that he questions the wisdom of the county’s considering only one proposal for the property.

“Those restrictions are only as good until another city council or county board comes along and changes them,” he said.

Either way, a sale of O’Donnell Park is not worth a fight, county Supervisor Mark Borkowski said. The plaza is mostly concrete, he said, and easily overlooked.

“Quite frankly,” he said, “I don’t consider it parkland.”

Selling O’Donnell Park to Northwestern Mutual, Borkowski said, would let the county avoid expected repair costs and pocket an estimated $5 million to reinvest in other parks. Any concerns about development on the site should not stand in the way of a good deal, he said.

“I will personally ride herd,” Borkowski said, “on any colleagues that want to be obstructionists with this project and this plan.”

The plan could survive with the compromise, Broderick said, adding that he shared his idea with Northwestern Mutual but has not heard back. That, he said, makes him wonder if the company is planning to one day build on the O’Donnell property.

“If it’s the purchase of the land that is absolutely paramount to them,” Broderick said, “it seems to suggest another agenda.” Follow @bkevit