Milwaukee considers 12-story, 200-unit Harbor District apartment plans

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By TOM DAYKIN

USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

A 12-story, 200-unit apartment building is planned for a riverfront Harbor District site where other developments have faltered.

This project is being proposed by a firm that recently completed a large apartment community in Milwaukee‘s Historic Third Ward.

Known as The Everett, it would be built by Kaeding Development Group at 234 S. Water St. – a 32,600-square-foot site now used for boat storage on the Milwaukee River.

The building would have eight floors of apartments above four floors of parking, with 198 spaces, according to plans filed with the Department of City Development.

One of those parking floors would be partly underground, with the street-level second floor including the building’s lobby and amenity space.

The plans include a RiverWalk and constructing a stub end of East Oregon Street and sidewalks at the south end of the site. A 12th floor outdoor lounge would include seating, grills, and fire pits, with another outdoor lounge featuring a swimming pool.

The proposal, which needs Common Council approval, is to be reviewed by the Plan Commission on June 8.

Kaeding Development in 2025 opened the 261-unit Evoni apartments, 615 E. Corcoran Ave. That’s a 10-minute walk from the South Water Street site.

That site is within an area where the city will improve streets, sidewalks, and bike lanes under a $12 million spending plan. Those funds will come from property tax revenue generated by newer neighborhood commercial developments.

Other nearby projects include a five-story, 30,000-square-foot office building being developed at 350 S. Water St.

Also, a former anchor for the historic railroad swing bridge, at 404 S. Water St., could be converted into a small public park.

The site since 2009 has been the subject of four large development proposals, mainly featuring apartments or condominiums. None have come to fruition.

The most recent of those proposals was the 11-story, 133-unit Admiral’s Wharf apartments, which the council approved in 2019.

The Milwaukee Redevelopment Authority board in 2020 authorized a $1.5 million loan to help pay for the site’s environmental cleanup.