Good things to come from wait for Mayfair Collection apartments

When HSA Commercial Real Estate proposed a project for a city-owned site in Wauwatosa, the developer was faced with the difficult task of delivering desirable residential units in a struggling area.

The city’s master plan reinforced Wauwatosa’s desire for a large-scale residential development in the triangle bordered by U.S. Highway 45, Burleigh Street and a golf course. But the site was not suited for residential development, said Tim Blum, HSA executive vice president and managing director of retail.

“There’s nothing there,” he said. “There was a million square feet of outdated, obsolete warehouse facility.”

Blum said his response was to set his sights on building up the area’s attractions before trying to draw in residents.

“The site was very unattractive and very unappealing to any residential developer,” he said.

The first phase of what became The Mayfair Collection entailed demolishing warehouse buildings and gutting and remodeling others to yield 270,000 square feet of leasable space. Blum said HSA then worked to attract top-tier retailers, restaurants and other attractions.

“If you’re in the market for a luxury apartment,” he said, “what is it that would interest you? Would you like to live next to a national restaurant chain, or would you like to live next to a Joe Bartolotta?”

Retailers that signed on during the development’s first phase include Nordstrom Rack and Saks OFF 5th, contributing to the “upscale urban” surroundings Blum said he is working to establish. The second phase of the project, scheduled for completion in February, will be anchored by a Bartolotta restaurant, a Whole Foods store and a Hilton-branded hotel. However, HSA will not follow through on the city government’s initial demand to build residential units — not at least until the third phase of the project.

“That’s what the city finally realized,” Blum said. “You had to create the amenity package, and not just any amenity package. You had to create the kind of brand people are excited about.”

Persuading city officials to wait until the third phase, which is tentatively scheduled to start by the end of 2015, was not easy, Blum said. The residential phase of the project is to entail a series of mid-rise luxury apartment buildings put up over five to 10 years. The initial portion of the residential phase, he said, is expected to include about 250 units. A total of 1,400 units are planned for the project’s third phase.

Blum said HSA never could have agreed to build those units without first taking the time to establish surroundings that will be attractive to future residents and then obtaining the blessing of Wauwatosa city officials.

“To their credit, they trusted us,” he said.

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