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THE BLUEPRINT:
LG Group LLC proposes 49 three-story townhomes
Development site at 1333-1339 N. Milwaukee St.
Site purchased in 2022 for $5 million
Previous plan for 197 apartments was delayed
By Tom Daykin
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
A developer has preliminary plans to build nearly 50 townhouses on downtown Milwaukee‘s northern edge – changing a long-delayed apartment proposal.
Chicago-based LG Group LLC is proposing 49 three-story townhomes for 1333-1339 N. Milwaukee St., according to plans filed with the city Department of Neighborhood Services.
Those documents show the townhomes laid out in four rows on the 1.3-acre parcel, which is south of East Ogden Avenue between North Milwaukee Street and North Broadway.
The townhomes, which include attached garages, are each around 1,900 to 2,000 square feet, according to the plans.
The development is to be privately financed.
An LG Group representative didn’t immediately respond to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s request for more information about the development.
An investment group affiliated with LG Development bought the site in 2022 for $5 million. The firm filed preliminary plans with the city for a six-story building with 197 apartments.
LG Development in 2023 did site preparation work on part of the sloped lot. But the firm didn’t proceed with its plans for the 197-unit apartment community.
The firm’s switch to townhomes led the city’s design review team to seek LG Group’s justification for allowing significantly less density than called for within the Park East Redevelopment Plan, according to public records.
The firm’s response focused on “the implicit greater number of occupants given the unit size. This understanding is very helpful,” according to a letter from the design review team to LG Group.
That letter also called for further design improvement before plans are submitted to the Board of Zoning Appeals.
The development site is near the locations of two other delayed housing proposals.
Just to the east, Travaux Inc., a city Housing Authority affiliate, has plans to develop The Caroline, a 32-story tower with up to 350 market-rate and affordable apartments, at 1325 N. Jefferson St.
The Common Council in 2019 granted zoning approval, but that came with a five-year expiration date. An authority representative says there are no immediate plans to advance The Caroline, but the concept hasn’t been abandoned.
Also, The Avenir apartment community, at 1437 N. Jefferson St., has plans to expand just northeast of the proposed townhomes.
Kirkland, Washington-based Weidner Investment Services Inc., which operates The Avenir, has delayed that construction start.