Madison’s Urban Design Commission welcomed new and innovative designs Wednesday night, including a high rise with automated parking and an early glimpse at a new east-side music venue.
Another apartment coming to West Johnson
Embassy Owner and housing developer Les Orosz is moving forward with the development of a new high rise apartment at 433 W. Johnson St., which received a unanimous vote for initial approval by the Urban Design Commission Wednesday.
The new 12-story apartment will feature high-end amenities like hardwood floors, stainless steel appliances and a rooftop green space with a pool.
The plan for parking, however, is what Orosz believes sets this complex apartment from others in the downtown area. The proposed site on West Johnson Street will feature mechanical parking by Park Plus, a new technology that aims to provide more parking in less space.
“It’s robotic parking, like a valet parking where you drive into a bay,” Orosz said. “Lasers scan your car and it parks the car for you, it’s pretty cool. It’s new to the midwest, but it’s been around in several Asian countries and especially in New York.”
Orosz said with all of the other housing complexes going up, the demand for student housing is going down and the demand is coming from young professionals seeking places in the downtown area.
With large businesses like Epic Systems hiring more young people a few years out of college, Orosz hopes to attract new hirees to the downtown area.
“That is the largest demographic coming into the downtown area, the young professionals. They’re looking at high-quality buildings, but still keeping an eye on a good price.”
When presented before the Urban Design Commission Wednesday, the only concerns were about parking and the plaza in front of the building.
Kevin Firchow, a city planning staff member, said the main issue with parking is how the flow of cars will be affected by heavy traffic on West Johnson Street.
The design commission unanimously passed an initial approval for the design of the building, though some changes will need to be made to the plaza and a few material choices have yet to be finalized.
New music venue on East Washington Avenue
Mark Schmitz, creative director for Zebradog designs, also presented early designs for a music venue on the 1000 block of East Washington Avenue.
The venue will be part of a commercial and residential development in the area between Brearley and Ingersoll Street.
The designs Schmitz presented featured a modern, colorful building with neon lighting, which he said will “bring a pulse” to the area.
“We kind of came in relatively wanting to help make Madison better … and this would be a very significant, positive addition to Madison and for all of us,” Shmitz said.
Members of the design commission said they liked the “life” of the design, and even asked Shmitz to keep pushing the envelope and make the venue’s design even more ambitious.
Shmitz said the new design will hopefully be a start of an evolution of an otherwise bland-looking East Washington Avenue.
“It’s a renaissance of what’s going to happen in the whole corridor,” Shmitz said. “From way out past Union Corners all the way up to the square, and this is going to be one of those signature places that 15 years from now, people are always going to be talking about.”
