The Historic Third Ward Architectural Review Board gave final approval Wednesday, 16 March, 2022 to a plan to construct a 31-story apartment tower at the intersection of N. Water St. and E. St. Paul Ave. The building, proposed by international development firm Hines, would replace a surface parking lot with a high-end apartment building. The number of units in the building matches the 0.79-acre (0.31-hectare) site’s current address, 333 N. Water St.
After first securing approval in 2021 for the building, Hines had come back to the board in February 2022 with a building that was wider and a floor shorter. The changes, which included increasing the number of units, were a response to the challenges of growing construction costs and market demand.
The design review board granted conceptual approval to the revised project, but required the development team to reappear to address 10 issues, including the positioning of certain balconies, the design of an attached parking structure and the materials that would be used on the façade. Architect Devon Patterson, of Chicago-based Solomon Cordwell Buenz, walked the board through the revisions, which included a number of subtle changes.
Multiple commercial stalls remain on the first floor. A 5,120-square-foot commercial space would be located along the riverwalk, with an outdoor patio. It would be connected to a 1,760-square-foot (163-square-meter) space at the tower’s northeast corner, facing the Milwaukee Public Market. A 4,870-square-foot (452-square-meter) street-facing space would be located at the southeastern corner of the building.
For more on this story, go to Urban Milwaukee.