Downsized townhouse proposal gets Milwaukee panel endorsement

The developer of Milwaukee’s Brewers Hill Commons residential project said on Monday that the construction of seven new townhouses will start this summer as long as various city approvals can be obtained in a timely manner.

The developer’s statement came during a meeting that saw the City Plan Commission give its endorsement to the latest plans for the Brewers Hill development on Milwaukee’s near-north side. Assuming those plans are later approved by members of the Common Council, the new townhouses will be built at 301 E. Brown St.

The project’s developer is Milwaukee-based Royal Capital Group. Terrell Walter, a project manager at Royal Capital, told commission members that his firm expects work to begin on the townhouse building this summer.

“We’ll go through the (approval) process, anticipating the end of July having our approvals in place, and proceeding with construction late summer,” he said.

Walter said current plans call for the townhouses to be put up for sale, although that could change if the firm officials find demand does not meet their expectations.

The townhouse development plans come as a scaled-back version of a previous proposal, which had called for 10 townhouses instead of seven. This followed a related development proposal that officials presented to the commission in May.

Those plans, which were also endorsed by the Plan Commission, called for 30 apartments to be built at 1937 N. Hubbard St., across the street from the site of the proposed townhouses. That plan itself had been scaled back from one calling for the construction of 84 apartment units.

Whitney Gould, a commission member, praised the townhouses’ design.

“I think these buildings are just beautifully proportioned,” she said moments before the commission endorsed the proposal on Monday.

Before work can begin on the latest addition to Brewers Hill Commons, the plans still have to win approval from the city’s Common Council.

Royal Capital Group, for its part, has plenty going on elsewhere to keep it busy. Last month, the developer won the Plan Commission’s endorsement for plans calling for the construction of a 90-unit apartment complex at West Juneau Street, just north of the Milwaukee Bucks’ new downtown arena. The apartments will be attached to a new parking garage that’s also being built as part of an eight-block development centered on the new arena.. Follow @alexzank