Residents blast proposed luxury tower in Wauwatosa

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Responding to outcry from Wauwatosa residents, a local committee on Monday unanimously rejected a developer’s plans to build a 25-story luxury apartment tower — a project that would have been the tallest building in the city.

The project developer, John Vassallo, proposed putting up a 354-unit, market-rate apartment complex on a site at the corner of West Blue Mound and North Mayfair roads. If carried out, he said, his plans would have created hundreds, if not as many 1,000, construction jobs.

But residents, during a public hearing, overwhelmingly expressed opposition to the project. Many complained of the likely effects the construction would have on the surrounding residential neighborhood. Others disputed a traffic study conducted amid the pandemic or simply contended the tower would be too tall.

“While every effort has been spent to try to push this building down everyone’s throat, there have been very little attention to trying to protect the interests of the residents,” said Wauwatosa Alderwoman Nancy Welch.  “With that aside, this building has no business being approved. It is a total violation. It does not belong here.”

The Wauwatosa Plan Commission ultimately voted 6-0 to reject a zoning variance needed for the project. But plans aren’t necessarily dead. The city’s full common council will take up the project during a public hearing scheduled for December.

Vassallo, during the meeting Monday, said a recent market study found the area chosen for the project has high demand for market-rate housing. He said that to pay for all the features he’d envisioned for the project, such as a movie theater and swimming pool, he need to offer more than 350 housing units.

The tower is aimed at young professionals or empty-nesters looking to move into smaller accommodations. Rents for the proposed units were to start at about $1,400 a month.

Vassallo said the project wouldn’t need to rely on public incentives such as Tax Increment Financing to proceed, and could be built with the help of hundreds of union construction workers. CD Smith Construction is the general contractor on the project and Kahler Slater the designer.

Ground could be broken on the $50 million project next spring if the needed city approvals are forthcoming.

“We feel this is a once-in-a-century opportunity when interest rates and construction costs match up for a market-rate deal to make this deal financially viable without the need for community bonding,” Vassallo said.

Residents, however, raised various concerns. As Rich Severson, vice president of CD Smith, explained the contractor’s preconstruction plans for the site, someone on the virtual hearing interjected with an expletive.

Meanwhile Lauren Wosilait, a Wauwatosa resident, said the project would be “horrendous” for people living nearby. She said the jobsite hasn’t got enough parking for the hundreds of workers needed to build the tower. And she said she was concerned that heavy equipment would be driving through nearby residential streets.

“The developer would be putting port-a-potties and a large dumpster next to a single-family home, which I think is unacceptable,” Wosilait said.

Other speakers questioned a recent traffic study that suggested the area chosen for the project, because of its proximity to the multi-lane West Blue Mound and North Mayfair roads, could accommodate additional traffic. The study, one speaker pointed out, was conducted during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, when many people were driving less than usual.

Residents also expressed concern about the shadows that would be cast by the 25-story tower and any additional foot traffic that would come through the neighborhood and its effect on the environment. Several speakers said a smaller tower — of 10 stories, perhaps — would be a better fit.

Ursula Twombley, a retired architect, echoed that sentiment, saying a 25-story tower wouldn’t be suited to the neighborhood. A market-rate tower, meanwhile, might come at the expense of developing more affordable housing in the city.

“From an equity and inclusion viewpoint, I’m concerned that adding another 350 units of luxury housing would take away from affordable and mixed-use housing that we need in Wauwatosa,” she said. Follow @natebeck9