Tall & Urban News

A 25-story apartment tower with over 350 units would be way too large for Wauwatosa's west side, according to neighborhood residents and city officials opposing the project.

The luxury high-rise, planned for 1.5 acres (0.6 hectares) at the southwest corner of West Blue Mound and North Mayfair roads, would be Wauwatosa's tallest building.

The city Plan Commission voted 6-0 Monday night, 10 November, 2020 to recommend against granting a zoning variance that would allow the tower to be built. The Common Council is to review that recommendation at a Dec. 15 2020 public hearing.

The high-rise would exacerbate traffic congestion, cast shadows on nearby homes and not complement a neighborhood made up largely of single-family houses, opponents said at the Plan Commission meeting.

"This is unbelievably huge," said nearby resident Jean Marie Weber. "It doesn't fit in the neighborhood."

Plan Commission members agreed with that sentiment.

"It's a total violation," said Ald. Nancy Welch, a commission member who also represents the neighborhood on the Common Council.

Mayor Dennis McBride, who chairs the commission, said he hopes developer John 'Johnny V' Vassallo will consider a downsized proposal that could win support from city officials.

Vassallo is seeking a density variance in order to build 354 apartments—most either studios or one-bedroom units. 

Vassallo, who operates Mo's Irish Pub just across the street from the proposed project site, said he needs a large number of apartments to finance the tower's amenities.

Those would include a weight room, swimming pool, grill area, cabanas, pet walking and relief station, movie theater, individual workspace and conference rooms. There also would be more than 400 enclosed parking stalls on the building's first six floors.

The apartments would have monthly rents starting at around US$1,400. With city approval, construction could begin in spring 2021, with the tower completed by 2023.

"It'll be a great place to live, work and play," Vassallo told Plan Commission members.

He said the US$50 million development would generate property tax revenue for the city and its school district, while also providing hundreds of construction jobs.

A traffic impact study conducted for the project indicated that increased trips to and from the site by building residents could be accommodated by its location at the corner of two multi-lane streets (that are actually portions of U.S. and state highways) just a few blocks north of I-94.

But dozens of homeowners told the commission they fear the tower's shadows and traffic impact would hurt their property values.

Several speakers questioned the validity of a study that measured traffic counts during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Opponents also said the tower—which some compared to apartment high-rises in downtown Milwaukee—would amount to an eyesore for their suburban neighborhood.

The were joined in that opposition by Ursula Twombly, a retired architect and Wauwatosa resident who doesn't live in the neighborhood.

Twombly said she supports more density in Wauwatosa. But that translates to apartment buildings with 10 to 12 stories—not 25 stories, she said.

Other opponents said they'd welcome a smaller development at the site, which includes a former Edwardo's restaurant and other commercial space.

Neighborhood resident Holly Gore said other newer Wauwatosa apartment buildings, including State Street Station, The 2100 and The Reserve at Mayfair, have been successfully developed as mid-rise projects.

"We would support that kind of building," Gore said.

The high-rise would be around seven blocks west of where a higher-end apartment tower is under construction at St. Camillus Health System Inc.'s senior living campus.

That 15-story building, with 168 units for older people who can live independently, is to be completed in 2021.

For more on this story, go to Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.