>A new apartment building, Aberdeen Apartments, is currently under construction in the place where the Badger Pantry once stood on West Gorham Street.

Landlords Wayne and Pat Dishaw have owned the property and the building that were Badger Pantry for the past 27 years.

The Dishaws, in partnership with their son Darrick, decided to develop the property into an apartment building marketed for University of Wisconsin students.

“We’ve been renting to students since 1967,” Wayne Dishaw explained. “I like renting to students.”

Dishaw and his wife Pat have owned properties all over campus since 1967, but they decided in the last 10 years to start selling their properties in order to concentrate on their plan of Aberdeen Apartments.

Dishaw said he didn’t receive much opposition to tearing down the former Badger Pantry.

“I think everyone was willing to admit that the Badger Pantry’s time had come,” he said. “We got a lot of cooperation from the people at City Hall.”

City Council president Mike Verveer is the alder for District 4, where the building will be located. Verveer held a neighborhood meeting concerning the Aberdeen last spring. He said that the overall feeling was that the project was positive; it received no opposition. There was some concern over parking plans for the apartment complex, however.

“The main concern about the project was the lack of sufficient parking,” Verveer said.

The parking areas that do exist include one level of parking below the building at a price of $150 per month. There will also be parking along the drive aisle at a price of $100 per month.

Verveer said putting in another underground level of parking would have cost about $30,000 per stall, making it too expensive.

Verveer listed other fears ranging from resident concern over the fact that another 12-story building is being constructed on Gorham and the shadows it may cast over residents. Verveer said working with the Dishaws went well for both the city and the residents.

“They received full support,” Verveer said.

The city did require that the Dishaws construct the better portion of a drive aisle alongside their property.

“We put that in from Gorham to the back of our lot,” Wayne Dishaw said.

“In order to build this [complex], that’s what we had to do,” Pat Dishaw added.

Wayne Dishaw went on to say that whoever develops the lot behind them would have to connect the aisle to Gorham Street. The aisle would add convenience to driving around the building, which is located between two one-way streets.

Dishaw said the price of rent for his apartments would be comparable to those of the Palisades and the Embassy apartment buildings.

“We’re trying to be very competitive,” he said.

According to Verveer, this competition is a plus for students.

“One positive is it gives students additional housing choices,” Verveer said. “The increased competition has forced rents to finally stabilize.”

The complex will have 12 floors of living space and will contain 77 contemporary, fully furnished apartments divided into 14 different floor plans with from one to four bedrooms. Dishaw put emphasis on the superiority of the layouts of his units.

“The man who designed our building specializes in designing for students,” Dishaw said.

Leather furniture as well as three different color schemes created by an interior designer will give the units a high-class feeling.

“It’s going to be on the upscale side,” Wayne Dishaw said.

Retail space is available on the first floor of the building, and, as of yet, it has not been filled.

“We will hold out until we get something that’s useful to the people who live in the building,” Wayne Dishaw said.

He speculated that a deli or something else pertaining to food might be considered.

Dishaw’s office will also be located on the first floor in order to make him more accessible to his tenants.

So far, they have had “quite a few” applicants and many walk-ins checking out the future apartment complex.

“We get about five or six different groups a day,” Wayne Dishaw said.