NEWS
Developers lay out apartment ideas
Looking for a print version?
Simply choose ‘Print’ on your computer and a printer-friendly document will be generated.
Also by Amelia Vorpahl:
- Developers lay out apartment ideas (December 4, 2007)
- 140-year-old tree to be cut down by city (November 28, 2007)
- Committee hears details for Institute of Discovery (November 27, 2007)
- Catholic group tries for funds once more (November 19, 2007)
- SSFC puts stamp on largest budget (November 16, 2007)
Related Stories:
- Building commission rejects 9-story proposal (October 20, 2005)
- New apartments for West Wash? (November 20, 2007)
- Plan commission rejects West Washington proposal (November 22, 2005)
- Gorham houses to be demolished to make room for new high-rise apartment building (October 13, 2003)
- Officials ask for input on complex (December 13, 2006)
by Amelia Vorpahl
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
A proposal for the construction of a new 14-story apartment
building on West Johnson Street was discussed at a plan commission meeting
Monday night.
The 162-unit building would be built on the corner of West
Johnson and Mills streets, and would involve the removal of two homes currently
there, one at 1022 West Johnson St., and the other at 309 N. Mills St.
A study is being conducted by a housing research group to
determine the possibility of moving the homes to available lots instead of
demolishing them. However, plans are still tentative, due to problems with land
availability.
Bill White, an attorney for the Ten Twenty-Two, LLC
development group, part of the difficulty in possibly moving the homes is that
many people do not want to share their property.
"It's extremely difficult because property owners, including
the city of Madison, are quite jealous about what they have, and are not
particularly interested to give up what plans they may have to accommodate
another property," White said.
White said although this project involves the removal of
these two homes, the city of Madison should look forward to opportunities to
modernize.
"I think that we (Madison) have an obligation to reinvent
ourselves. I do not think that we need to push all of our new development
away," he said. "I do not think that we need to say the house where the son of
a mayor once lived is more important."
White added the building would include efficiencies all the
way to four bedrooms, however, it would not necessarily be solely for students.
"One of the things we're going to be looking at is the idea
of perhaps not student housing, but a little higher grade for researchers who
may come in from around the country," he said.
White stressed the importance of keeping buildings
modernized and up to fire standards, citing the examples of the recent fires in
the campus area.
"As we preserve the outside of buildings, we also have to be
aware that there is an inside to these buildings, and it's our obligation to
preserve [them]," White said.
The proposed apartment building would include underground
parking, as well as parking availability for bicycles and mopeds. Randy Bruce
of Knothe and Bruce Architects, LLC also mentioned the accessibility of private
study rooms for student, as well as business meetings.
Bruce also talked about the building's architectural design,
saying they designed the building to be split into a base, a middle section and
the top.
"We created a base around the edge of this building, which
is four stories in height, and had four stories tied in architecturally with
the streetscape," Bruce said. "We'd like to see a cohesive streetscape and
landscape design all the way down University (Avenue) to Johnson Street."
One issue Bruce stressed about the construction plans was
keeping the visibility of the bell tower connected to the Lutheran Church near
the proposed site.
"It is a beautiful bell tower, so early on we looked at
where was this bell tower visible and what impacts would we have on that," Bruce
said.
Anonymous (December 4, 2007 @ 8:40am):
what does this headline have to do with the story?
Anonymous (December 4, 2007 @ 11:29am):
so what does Dane brew pub selling its own beer have to do with a proposal for a new apartment complex???????????????????????????
Anonymous (December 4, 2007 @ 12:21pm):
right headline, wrong story.
Steven Lawrence (December 4, 2007 @ 4:58pm):
The print edition got it right.
Add a comment
We welcome your thoughts, but please keep your feedback thoughtful, on-topic and respectful. Offensive language, personal attacks, or irrelevant comments may be deleted.
Login...
Not registered? Sign up now.
It's quick, free, and the email address you provide will not be sold or solicited.
