Bassett group hears condo proposal

by Darryl Schnell

Tuesday, September 13, 2005 00:00

The Bassett Neighborhood Committee discussed initial building plans for downtown condominiums at their meeting Monday night.

The proposed site for the condominiums is adjacent to the Findorff building on the 300 block of Bedford Street. Developer Tom Miller said this condominium development is just one of a series of similar projects to be built by the Alexander Company.

"As usual, I'm very eager to get up and running with this project," Miller said. "I think it will be a beneficial project for the neighborhood."

There are currently five vacant homes on the proposed site. According to Miller, some of them are in ill repair.

"I'm willing to do what is necessary to get on with the development," Miller said. "If that means demolition, fine, but if that means relocation of the houses so that they can be used somewhere else, that's fine too."

Miller said working with the community is one of the top priorities for this project. The committee seemed supportive of the plan, he added.

"The Bassett Neighborhood Committee was very open to the initial suggestion for the project," Miller said. "I'm looking forward to working with them on this condominium development."

Committee Chair Peter Oslind said it is too early to tell whether Miller will have support from the community on the project.

"This is the first the Bassett Neighborhood has heard of the project, so there's no way to tell," Oslind said. "Generally, the neighborhood supports projects that bring more families to the community though."

The Bassett Neighborhood is familiar with Miller and his work, as Miller was the developer for the Alexander Company's Capitol West apartment complex on West Washington Avenue.

Oslind said the community's relationship with Miller was not as smooth as it should have been when he built the Capitol West complex.

"We were generally supportive of Tom's Capitol West project," Oslind said. "However, it was a very difficult process to come to a compromise about the apartments."

According to Oslind, the neighborhood committee had small disagreements with Miller and brought them to the City of Madison Plan Commission. He said the commission approved 15 of their 21 recommended changes.

"The good thing about that is if we do have a problem with a project, the neighborhood committee has enough influence with city committees to get them to possibly make some changes," Oslind said. "Like all development projects, we'll keep our eyes on it as Tom makes progress."

Miller said he hopes to make enough progress to file for re-zoning for the development by the end of the year.

"We're going to be deliberate to make sure we gain approval from the necessary bodies, including this neighborhood committee," he said. "We'll be open to suggestions and any other input from the neighborhood."

Miller added that after receiving approval for re-zoning, final approval for the project could take anywhere from "a few months to a few years."

"The approval process is complicated," Miller said. "The project must be approved by several committees before it reaches the common council, who may not approve it. If they don't, then the process starts all over again."