Mandel Group's Harlow & Hem apartment proposal in Wauwatosa is again moving forward

About four years since discussions started, Mandel Group, Inc. and the city of Wauwatosa have reached an agreement that paves the way for the developer to turn a city-owned parking lot in a key location into a 157-unit apartment building.

Milwaukee-based Mandel Group will buy the parcel behind Draft and Vessel, the current site of the Blanchard Street parking lot, for $200,000 to build its proposed Harlow & Hem apartment building, according to an offer to purchase signed by both parties.

The project at 7470 Blanchard St. in the Wauwatosa Village is close to another proposed apartment project at the St. Bernard Congregation, which was recently sold to developer Three Leaf Partners. Three Leaf Partners will revise the project's designs at the recommendations of hundreds of residents, many of whom oppose the development entirely, and the city's Design Review Board.

Mandel Group's first proposal for Harlow & Hem property came four years ago

Wauwatosa chose Mandel Group's original proposal for Harlow & Hem in 2020, which included four townhomes and 89 apartments, some of which would have been affordable housing. But developers later put the development plans on hold due to increased project costs and delays in the real estate market.

Mandel Group then revised the design, eliminating the townhomes and raising the number of apartment units to 130. The current design ― discussed in the latest Wauwatosa Community Development Authority meetings ― calls for 157 apartments.

The group can close the sale and start construction April 1, 2025, as long as they obtain all necessary permits, licenses and approvals from the city and Milwaukee County, according to the offer to purchase.

That's after the CDA on Tuesday approved a vacant building offer to purchase with an addendum that details obligations Mandel Group must fulfill as the buyer and a timeline for the sale of the property.

Phillip Aiello, president and chief operating officer of Mandel Group, signed the document Tuesday and Paulette Enders, Wauwatosa development director, signed on behalf of the city Wednesday.

In order to break ground, Mandel's plans now must go through the PUD, or planned unit development, approval process.

That means this development would go through more public meetings with opportunities for public comment than an apartment development planned for the neighboring St. Bernard Congregation site.

The current plans for Harlow & Hem call for 157 apartment units

Mandel Group's preliminary PUD submittal for Harlow &_Hem calls for 157 apartment units on five levels. The building would have studios, one bedroom, two bedroom and some three-bedroom units available, according to the latest plans from Continuum Architects + Planners, the consulting architect on the project.

Some units would have patios, and other proposed amenities include common rooms and a fitness center. The building's architectural site plan shows a "green roof" turf on the first level that would cover the entry to the parking garage on Wauwatosa Avenue.

Wauwatosa, like other communities nationwide, needs more affordable housing, according to a local housing study.

How affordable the apartments would be and how much it would cost Mandel to build them with its revised plans are questions that remain to be answered in public meetings. Requests to fund the project with tax increment financing will have to go through Financial Affairs and the Common Council, Enders said.

Mandel's Aiello said in the CDA meeting Tuesday that the latest plans added more studios and one-bedroom units than included in the previous designs because those are the preferred housing options they're seeing in the marketplace.

He also said financing and the location itself are what led his team to scrap the townhouses they originally proposed.

“With all the complexities of this site and topography changes, we just couldn’t build them feasibly," Aiello said. "They came at too much of an opportunity cost of building the other apartments."

The latest plan for the building would provide a total of 190 private parking spaces and 99 public parking spots. The public parking on the current site would be replaced one to one, according to members of the CDA.

Residents who have spoken up in public meetings regarding the Harlow & Hem development and the apartments planned for the nearby St. Bernard's site have brought up the need for more public parking in the Village. The city is conducting a parking survey that collected online responses until Nov. 27.

How did the plans for the Harlow & Hem development in the Wauwatosa Village change over time?

Tuesday's CDA meeting was "the culmination" of past meetings and work that led Mandel and the City to move forward on a development that's been halted by delays and challenges in the real estate development market, Mark Hammond, a CDA member said in the meeting.

The Mandel Group first submitted a redevelopment proposal for the Blanchard Street parking lot in December 2020, after the city issued a request for proposals for the lot in fall 2020. The CDA in early 2021 voted to choose Mandel Group's proposal and approved plans to conduct negotiations on selling the parcel to Mandel Group.

Mandel's initial proposal for Harlow & Hem called for 89 apartments within a three- to four-story building and four two-story townhomes that would be condos along Harlow Avenue. But developers later paused the development plans and revised the design due to increased project costs and new project managers re-evaluating the project, according to a CDA meeting.

Those revised plans eliminated the townhomes and instead proposed 130 apartment units, 26 of which would be reserved for workforce housing units, in two separate four and five-story buildings.

Other Wauwatosa developments seeking affordable housing also faced challenges, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.

Mandel Group presented the current proposal with 157 units to the CDA on Feb. 29 with public comment and again at CDA meetings April 4 and 23.

What comes next for the proposed Harlow & Hem?

Now, Mandel Group will start the PUD process to meet the development deadlines outlined in the offer to purchase.

That will include going before the Common Council, completing a neighborhood meeting and appearing at the Plan Commission meeting May 13 at 6 p.m.

"There are going to be many levels of approvals for the buyer to go through," Mayor Dennis McBride said in the CDA meeting.

Mandel Group can extend the deadlines three times for a month each at a cost of $50,000. Delays by the City or the CDA won't result in costs for the development group.

Mandel Group also must provide monthly updates to city staff and ongoing updates with property owners adjacent to the site and the Village of Wauwatosa Business Improvement District throughout design and construction, according to the offer.

An estimated timeline of when the development will appear before Wauwatosa public meetings can be found on the Engage Wauwatosa website.

Contact the reporter at bfogarty@gannett.com

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Mandel Group apartment proposal for Wauwatosa moving forward