Madison City Council OKs big housing developments on South and East sides | Local Government
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After a year of negotiations, setbacks and revisions, the Madison City Council on Tuesday approved a 12-story redevelopment with housing, commercial space and parking that would demolish the Coliseum Bar but preserve the historic Wonder Bar next door on a site near the Alliant Energy Center.
The proposal by McGrath Property Group, which will provide 192 apartments, 13,500 square feet of commercial space and more than 200 parking spaces in a three-floor garage, is the fourth iteration of a project for the site at the corner of East Olin Avenue and John Nolen Drive on the South Side. The council voted unanimously to approve a required rezoning, the last main nod needed.
Also Tuesday, the council unanimously approved the placement of new streets and rezonings as part of the ambitious Oscar Mayer Special Area Plan on the North Side, a move that will allow a developer to offer a $150 million roughly 550-unit low-cost housing project near a prized wetland that’s the first private proposal under the city’s plan.
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The council also approved a required rezoning for Threshold Development’s five-story housing and commercial redevelopment that will replace four smaller structures at the corner of Cottage Grove Road and Monona Drive, and passed a plan to move to hybrid, in-person and online council meetings starting on July 12. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the council hasn’t met in person since March 17, 2020.
Wonder Bar saved
In April 2021, McGrath offered a controversial, 18-story project with 291 apartments, 12,500 square feet of commercial space and parking that would have razed the Coliseum Bar, 232 E. Olin Ave., and the Wonder Bar, 222 E. Olin Ave. The building would likely have been the city’s third-tallest and the tallest with a residential component.
But the Plan Commission blocked it and McGrath in mid-November offered a 12-story plan with the Wonder Bar moved elsewhere on the 1.5-acre site. In December, McGrath cited rising costs and informally described a much smaller project — likely four or five stories — over two levels of parking that would have allowed the Wonder Bar to stay put.
But McGrath returned to the 12-story project, a height that complies with a recently approved South Madison Plan. The new proposal calls for demolishing the Coliseum Bar for the 12-story building with 192 apartments with a range from studios to three-bedroom units, 13,500 square feet of commercial space, many amenities, and 202 covered and 23 surface parking stalls and bicycle parking.
The Wonder Bar, emblematic of the outposts Chicago gangsters established as roadhouses along highways on the outskirts of cities or in rural areas in the 1930s for bootlegging, will be preserved in its present location and eventually updated as needed when a new tenant is found for the building, Lance McGrath said.
“It always feels great to get a project approved,” McGrath said Tuesday. “This one was especially challenging and it took several design iterations to get to this point but we are very pleased with this outstanding project that seems to satisfy most concerns.”
McGrath hopes to start construction in September with occupancy in the spring of 2024.
Maximizes housing, open space
Meanwhile, the council opened the door to the first big private development under the Oscar Mayer Special Area Plan. Lincoln Avenue Capital of Santa Monica, California, is proposing two six-story buildings, one with 250 apartments for seniors and the other with 300 units for families, on the former Hartmeyer property near a large natural area with wetlands, trees and open space adjacent to Roth Street and west of the former Oscar Mayer meat processing plant.
City staff had disagreed with the developer, Ald. Syed Abbas, 12th District, neighborhood groups, and environmentalists over where the city should place new streets in the area, which could influence the number of housing units and how much open space near the development site is preserved.
An original location supported by four city agencies and the Transportation Policy and Planning Board, would have extended Roth Street toward Coolidge Street to create an east-west connection between Packers and Sherman avenues, and merged Huxley and Ruskin streets to create a north-south connection between Aberg and Commercial avenues. The new streets would cross like an X near the redevelopment site.
An alternative, endorsed by the Plan Commission, eliminates the X and makes the connections with two T intersections and is backed by Abbas, the Sherman Neighborhood Association, Friends of Hartmeyer Natural Area, and the Four Lakes Group of the Sierra Club.
The alternative placement would maximize the amount of housing in the proposed development, preserve more open space and trees sooner and place the road slightly further from open space, while still allowing the Roth Street railroad crossing to be relocated to the south on the new east-west street connection — a key move to creating better access across the larger Oscar Mayer planning area, they said.
The council voted unanimously for the alternative street placement and related rezoning of property, including land for a conservation district, consistent with the land use recommendations in the special area plan. Lincoln Avenue Capital is expected to submit a land use application based on the decisions.
“It’s a win-win for everybody,” said consultant Melissa Huggins, speaking for Lincoln Avenue Capital.
$20 million redevelopment
The council also voted unanimously to approve Threshold Development Group’s stalled, roughly $20 million housing project at the busy corner of Monona Drive and Cottage Grove Road on the city’s East Side.
Threshold intends to demolish the former Jade Monkey bar building and Exhaust Pros muffler shop, a tattoo shop, all vacant, and the popular Java Cat Coffee shop to make way for a five-story structure offering 69 apartments, a UW Credit Union branch, Java Cat in a new space and underground parking.
In late 2020, the developer won city permission to raze the roughly 26,300-square-foot Lakeside Shopping Center, the Jade Monkey — which relocated nearby — and muffler shop to make way for a $40 million redevelopment with two, four-story buildings that would have delivered 188 apartments, 20,350 square feet of commercial space and parking.
But the project stalled when Threshold was unable to secure the shopping center because the lone remaining tenant at the time, Nerdhaven Arcade, has a long-term lease with the current shopping center owner and the tenant declined a buyout. Since then, the shopping center on the 200 block of Cottage Grove Road has been refilling with tenants, including the return of an Ace Hardware.
Hybrid council meetings
After more than two years of online meetings, the council voted unanimously to approve hybrid, in-person and online meetings at the City-County Building starting on July 12 and continuing at least through Sept. 6.
- Follow CDC and Public Health Madison and Dane County recommendations.
- The mayor, council president and vice president, clerks, council chief of staff and city attorney should be in-person.
- Staff should be able to participate online at discretion of the mayor.
- The public can be in-person or online.
- Keep the council quorum the same, 14 members, and count it from alders in room and joining online, with a strong desire to have members in-person with mask wearing an option.
- Some seats wouldn’t be available to the public in the council chambers but there would be an overflow room.
Photos: Creating the mural at Ella Apartments on East Washington Avenue
Ella Apartments mural

Work on a mural on the front of Ella Apartments, 2860 E. Washington Ave., entered its third week on Sunday. Artists Bill Rebholz and Eddie Perrote expect to be done with the project on the site of the former Ella’s Deli by Memorial Day Weekend. It will become the city’s largest mural and was commissioned by New Year Investments, the developer of the 135-unit apartment building.
Ella Apartments mural

With the left third side of the mural completed, work on Sunday was focused on the center section of the creation. The project is expected to be completed by Memorial Day Weekend.
Ella Apartments mural

Near perfect weather greeted artists Bill Rebholz and Eddie Perrote on Sunday as they continued their four-week mural project at Ella Apartments.
Ella Apartments mural

Work continued Sunday on the Ella Apartments on East Washington Avenue.
Ella Apartments mural

Work continued Sunday on the Ella Apartments on East Washington Avenue.
Ella Apartments mural

Work continued Friday on the Ella Apartments on East Washington Avenue.
Ella Apartments mural

Work continued Friday on the Ella Apartments on East Washington Avenue.
Ella Apartments mural

With the brick facade already painted white, Bill Rebholz began adding gray primer on May 2 to the East Washington Avenue side of the Ella Apartments building.
Ella Apartments mural

The first day of work on May 2 on the Ella Apartments mural involved laying a coat of gray primer.
Ella Apartments mural

Shapes began to appear on May 7.
Ella Apartments mural

Shapes continued to be added on May 8.
Ella Apartments mural

Color began to pop in this image of the mural seen on May 10.
Ella Apartments mural

May 10
Ella Apartments mural

Bill Rebholz, seen here on May 11, cleans his brushes before moving onto another color.
Ella Apartments mural

Some of the brushes, seen here on May 11, used on the Ella Apartments mural.
Ella Apartments mural

Bill Rebholz cleans his brushes on May 11.
Ella Apartments mural

Bill Rebholz, who is leading the mural project at Ella Apartments, is seen here on Wednesday as he tried to fight off the oppressive heat.
Ella Apartments mural

Eddie Perrote, left, and Bill Rebholz, seen here on May 11, tried to fight off the heat during a break from paint the Ella Apartments mural.
Ella Apartments mural

May 11
Ella Apartments mural

May 11
Ella Apartments mural

May 12
Ella Apartments mural

In this image taken Thursday, a rabbit, upper left, and a person, lower center, begin to emerge on the Ella Apartments mural. The project is designed to reflect the energy and character of the Eken Park neighborhood that is bordered by East Washington Avenue.
Ella Apartments mural

May 13
Ella Apartments mural

May 13
Ella Apartments mural

Muralist Bill Rebholz created two dimensional renderings with grids to help guide him through the painting process. Rebholz also uses the windows as a roadmap when placing his images on the building’s brick facade.
Ella Apartments mural

Painters Bill Rebholz and Eddie Perrote paint a mural at Ella Apartments on East Washington Avenue in Madison, Wis., Monday, May 9, 2022. KAYLA WOLF, STATE JOURNAL
Ella Apartments mural

Bill Rebholz pours yellow paint while working on his mural at Ella Apartments. He expects to use about 50 gallons of paint and 10 different colors.
Ella Apartments mural

Painters Bill Rebholz, right, and Eddie Perrote work on a mural at Ella Apartments on East Washington Avenue in Madison, Wis., Monday, May 9, 2022. KAYLA WOLF, STATE JOURNAL
Ella Apartments mural

Painters Bill Rebholz, left, and Eddie Perrote, work on a potion of the Ella Apartments mural on May 9, just prior to the onset of a record-setting heatwave that sent temperatures into the 90s for much of last week.
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