The Madison Urban Design Commission rejected a proposal for the construction of a nine-story multiuse apartment building on the 400 block of West Washington Avenue at a meeting Wednesday.
Because the UDC did not approve the project, it is indefinitely postponed and removed from the city's agenda. According to Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4, the building would have needed approval from two city committees — the UDC and the plan commission — before the Common Council even considered it.
"Because the Urban Design Commission voted it down, it didn't even make it to the plan commission," Verveer said.
Verveer, whose district includes the 400 block of West Washington Avenue, said the building was supposed to be the home of Capitol Fitness center, several offices and apartments. Verveer said there is nothing wrong with the project itself, but it does not fit in the Bassett neighborhood.
"I very much support the concept of the fitness center and the offices with the apartments," Verveer said. "However, it's just in the wrong location. It would stick out like a sore thumb."
According to Verveer, Bassett Neighborhood Committee members who spoke against the project also expressed concern about the design's aesthetics.
"All their arguments centered on the height and massing of the building," Verveer said. "The facility is too tall for a street which has nothing but two- and three-story Victorian homes."
University of Wisconsin senior Ted Koehler, who lives on the 400 block of West Washington Avenue, said he had mixed feelings about the project, but would have rejected the proposal as well.
"West Washington is a unique street," Koehler said. "I think a development like that would upset the dynamic of the street."
Because the commission overwhelmingly opposed and rejected the project, Verveer said the developer would have to reapply with the city and start the process all over again. The proposed project does have potential in Madison, though, he added.
"I hope [the developer] will move the project to another location or scales back the project at its current location so it fits in better with the rest of the street," Verveer said.
