Really? And completely remove and then rebuild/replace another landmarked building? That’s not a facadectomy, that’s just offensive. Why are they doing this? So the Overture can host more weddings that can have a better view of the capitol? Rich people are funny. When you have that much money you seem to just lose touch with reality and think you can buy anything you want. I don’t know, this sounds like a boondoggle. This is going to require some bk comments.
I attended the neighborhood meeting about the 100 block of State Street last night and I felt like I was in some kind of bizarro world. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised, anything goes after the Edgewater. But I did kind of expect them to at least appear to be respecting the neighborhood, neighboring and affected businesses and historic buildings.
PRESENTATION
Introductions by Alder and Neighborhood
Alder Mike Verveer started off with welcoming comments and introductions. He said this was the first of a few public meetings that CNI will be holding to discuss project by Jerry Frautchi and Pleasant Rowland. The Landmarks Commission was meeting at the same time, during this same meeting. He said the city will engage in a meaningful process, the project will go through lots of committees. He explained that Capitol Nieghborhood Inc (CNI) usually sets up a steering committee, its a smaller group of downtown stakeholders that works with developers on the proposal. He introduces Pete Ostlind, Ostlind will chair steering committee and facilitate the meeting.
Ostlind says usually they go around and introduce themselves, but there is a large number of people there and so hel just has people raise their hands about who lives downtown. About 80% of the room seemed to raise their hands. Then the rest were from all over, even out of town. He explains that when there is a development Capitol Neighborhoods starts with a large meeting, then a smaller group of 5 – 10 people are on a steering committee to work with development team in depth, they have 2 – 5 meetings which they will do in the next 6 – 8 weeks, then they have another large neighborhood meeting. Sometimes that is a presentation by a development team and steering committee, the steering committee will then get input and put together a sense of where the neighborhood is, that is written and they take it to the commissions in the formal city process. They ask for people interested to volunteer, if people are interested they should contact Mike Verveer, Scott Kolar or Ostlind. Tonight is a chance to learn about proposal, gather information and suggest areas of interest that the steering committee should look into or suggest things to the development team. This is less of a time for statements of opinion, it is more gathering information. As much as historic preservation is an issue, that is not the issue for tonight, they hope to have discussion on other issues. From a neighborhood perspective, they need to be prepared for other commissions too besides Landmarks, they need to look at tit in its entirety. He explains this is different than other proposals we have worked with, usually they are PUDs, those come with requirements and city commissions to go through, this proposal is within zoning requirements in the C4 district. It is also in the State Street design zone, so it will go to the Urban Design Commission. There are two landmarked buildings so it will go to Landmarks. There is also a conditional use for occupancy so it goes to plan commission, so there are many public hearings where it will be reviewed.
Presentation by Development Team
George Austin, represents the Block 100 Foundation, he thanks everyone for coming, he says the purpose is to present the proposal for the 100 block of N Fairchild and State Street. He says the project builds on the past and looks to future. He says we need to think of it in that context, this is a rare opportunity. He says for the last 30 years the city has invested in State Street with the State Street mall, the Civic Center and Overture, the central library, and soon the new museum complex for Vets and the Historical Society. This project will do three things, it will maintain the architectural character, keep the fine grain and transform N. Fairchild with new vibrant use to compliment library and other civic buildings, and finally support community by permanently endowing Overture with income from the building to sustain it.
Ok, that was the official explanation. I’m not sure this project does all that. I guess I wasn’t all that wow’d by the project and don’t really see what the city is gaining as a result. And, when I heard why others were supporting the project, I became more and more skeptical of the need for this project.
Austin explains who all the players are and some of the details.
Block 100 Foundation – Sponsor and owner – its a new private foundation by Jerry Frautchi and Pleasant Rowland to develop, own and operate the project, they will own it in perpetuity.
Potter Lawson is the architect.
Reed Hilderbrand (from Boston) is the landscape architect, he has a portfolio of small garden spaces throughout the United States.
Findorff is the builder, they have been here over 100 years.
AVA Civic Enterprises, is George Austin, he’s self-employed, he explains his business which appeared to be a commercial on his business but then he disclosed that he also works for THRIVE, Wisconsin institutes for Discovery, he is planning for the Judge Doyle Square and now the Block 100 Foundation. Note: This is not a great track record work working with the community and their concerns
Location – 100 N Fairchild and State Street
Budget – $10M construction budget, privately funded, no city assistance.
13,400 sq. feet is area, 40,000 sq. feet in 2 and 4 story buildings for total project.
Assessed value currently is $3.85M, they expect it to increase, they city assessor will decide to what, it will add to tax roll and they will remain on tax roll, this will be on the tax roll even the foundation is tax exempt. I’m curious about this, are they volunteering or required to pay taxes? I should have asked but forgot about it by the time they got to questions.
This will create 75 construction jobs, 125 new employees in the buildings. New? Or relocated?
Austin shows the site, properties not involved on this block are owned by Dan and Maria Milstad, they are neighbors but not in the project, 117 and 119 is Freda’s , 121- 123 is Eye contact, 125 is Castle and Doyle building which is Sangria, 127 – 129 is Vics popcorn and the old Game Haven, then there is the Shubert building and the other building to be removed. The State Street buildings will be reconstructed. The first few times they said this, I didn’t think I quite understood this, but they are going to take the buildings down, then put them back, so they will not just be a facadectomy, but a rebuild.
Austin briefly reviews the process, he says this is a C4 commercial district, there are height regulations, buildings have to be a minimum of 2 stories and maximum of 4. This project complies with that. It will require a conditional use so he says it will have to go to Urban Design Commission. He says there are urban design guidelines so it will have to go to the plan commission for a public hearing and approval, there is a conditional use for outdoor eating and a demolition permit. He totally screwed that up. It goes to the UDC because of the urban design guidelines, it goes to the plan commission for a conditional use and demolition. Sounds like perhaps this will not go to the council as a result. But, I’m not clear, as this was a terrible explanation. I’ll have to look into all the standards and see if I can figure it out.
He explains there are 2 landmarked buildings, the Shubert building and the Castle and Doyle building, so they need a Certificate of Appropriateness. Landmarks will have to review activities and landmarks makes a recommendation to plan commission. Also a bad explanation. A Certificate of Appropriateness is not just a recommendation to Plan Commission, it has to be awarded or appealed to the Common Council. For those of you new, George Austin used to be the Director of the City Planning Department, he should know better and not be screwing up these explanations. It’s a bit disconcerting. I can’t tell if he is trying to confuse things, or just being sloppy. If its the latter, Frautchi should get his money back that he is paying this guy. Unless this is what Frautchi wants? . Austin says this is in a downtown fire district, there is a very special capitol fire district requirements, that is not a public approval but important piece of review. Interesting. I wonder if they are expecting issues with this? Otherwise, why mention it?
Austin says that there will also be the Downtown Plan. That has plans for State Street and historic preservation, but perhaps that will not be soon due to this morning’s article in the State Journal.
He reviews the buildings again, says there are 7 apartments, some office uses, explains uses on Fairchild, shows the ugly back of state street businesses, shows picture of downtown library. He says it is 13,000 sq. ft., and he will explain what is trying to be achieved by program.
On the ground floor along State Street it will remain retail and restaurant, they will keep entrances to stores the same as today, so you can walk the street and window shop just like today. They want to make it feel like it does today, they will keep the scale and fine grain nature of the buildings. There are big changes on n Fairchild, they will open it up mid-block with a front yard, 3900 sq. feet, small garden. It is the front door for retail use, a restaurant, shows the layout of the tables, looks like mostly a long line of window seating facing the garden. There is also outdoor seating. You can enter from State Street to N Fairchild, entrance to Frida’s will be open to the restaurant as well as Fairchild.
On the 2nd floor, currently it is part office and some housing. This would all be office, same floor plate as first floor, it will be handicap accessible, they will do energy upgrades, exiting will be improved, there will be flexibility to rent the space, could be smaller users or one large user. There are windows on the garden, light and activity seen as important for the project.
3rd floor, there are different building heights, they will have a green roof on the two story buildings. Views from 3rd and 4th floor offices as part of garden, they hope to have a geothermal field for heating and cooling. They will seek a “third party certification” of the building. He clearly didn’t say LEED certified and I’m wondering why.
4th floor – Freda’s is currently 4 stories, it will remain. They will add 4th floor to Eye Contact building, so they have a more usable and leasable floorplate. The fourth floor will be stepped back on State St. They are not changing the façade of the building, there will be a dramatic presentation on Fairchild, but not overshadow sidewalk on State St, this is about great spaces, he shows an artist rendering of the building.
Doug Hirsch (architect from Potter Lawson) talks about existing façade, the Castle and Doyle building will be reconstructed exactly the same as it is, I’m guessing that this is not going to happen, there are always complications and it doesn’t come out the same for some good reason or another. The building will be rebuilt on corner with brick.
He shows slides of the buildings they had digitalized so they could show the detail. He shows the 1934, Leath furniture building, has been re-faced, there is less detail, they will bring some of detail from 1934 building. They will reuse pieces they can of the limestone, they will bring back the limestone on the base and infill with metal. This is the office lobby and restaurant in the Freda’s building, they will make the entrances barrier free or handicap accessible.
Eye contact building, they show a 1915 building, say it hasn’t changed much, a few details, façade different than side, they would follow the way it looks today, new windows, saving some of the brick details, addition is stepped back so there is a 3 story feel.
Castle and Doyle façade will be saved, use is still retail, all of the terracotta tiles will be taken off and reused, then placed back on the building, they will save the leaded glass, they will put that back. In 1915 this was a fire station, Castle and Doyle re-faced it when they bought it. It will be accessible, right now there are steps, some of the materials are deteriorating. There will be new stone at the base and energy efficient glass.
127 State – corner building. They show a 1915 photo, they say it was altered over time, there are small apartments with low ceilings, to make it function they are aligning the floor with Castle and Doyle building, there will be a taller ceiling in the retail space and only one upper level, currently 3 floors, this would make it function better. There will be more glass with awnings.
Says these are preliminary for the drawings on Fairchild. This is the back of the Castle and Doyle building, it has been modified and repaired, it has different brick. They want to make it so yu , turn the corner with the State Street and it has similar brick and detailing, they will add a picture window so there is a storefront at the corner, replicating rear of Castle and Doyle building.
Shows garden from Fairchild, they will create garden and bring activity on to area. They will maintain the two story height, it opens view of capitol, the facades match angle of State Street with the dramatic 4 story element.
They shows a garden space, there are steps to take you up to entrance to restaurant, there is transparency with the restaurant so activity flows out with outdoor seating, has an accessible route from Mifflin Street.
Austin reviews the project time line. Right now Oct 1 – Dec 1 – they are going anywhere any time to talk about the project and work with neighborhood.
At end of November they will file applications for the approvals, they think they can to to Jan 9 or 23 plan commission meetings. He says there will be many conditions of approval so Feb – April they will be meeting those and start construction in the spring and it will be completed by the end of summer 2014, 1+ year of construction and they hope to open the same time as the library.
They talk about construction staging, they say maintaining traffic is important, they will block off the parking on N Fairchild and the loading zone. They don’t want to repeat problems with State Street reconstruction, they want to make sure that people don’t stop going up State Street, they will stay in the sidewalk, there will be a covered walkway with signage and it will be well lighted, the same with E Mifflin, there will be a covered walkway to the piano bar.
Austin ends by talking about the John Nolan plan, he says the 400 block of State State Street was similar in the plan, Nolan proposed it be a public park with civic and public buildings surrounding it. He has a sketch in the 1911 plan, this is not what they are trying to recreate there, but the civic buildings were developed on 100 block of State Street. This is an anchor for the community, those uses are moving from 400 block to 100 block, they have a nod to Nolan in their plan.
COMMUNITY QUESTIONS AND COMMENTS
Mary Kolar asks them to clarify there will be no TIF money, no city money.
Austin says you don’t often hear it downtown, but there is not any TIF or public assistance.
Michael Bridgeman asks for clarity on the on the buildings being demolished and rebuilt. They will be deconstructed, demolished and rebuilt to look like they did once upon a time, is that accurate?
Hirsh says the Leath building will be taken down and reconstructed with new materials except what we can save, like the limestone. The Castle and Doyle façade, they have talked with specialists in terra cotta restoration, they said the best way to do the project is take off and put back on the materials, they can make terra cotta tiles if some are missing today, otherwise the same tiles will be put back on, and corner building demolished and reconstructed.
Jim Sewell works in preservation, he has never seen a project where it is deconstructed and reconstructed, in any projects involved they keep the original façade in place and build behind it. From historic preservation viewpoint he is not thrilled about new facades or old facades in new buildings. To deconstruct and reconstruct is waste of resources. He has also never seen a reconstruction where materials are significantly different, the methods of construction and type of materials might be a kind of, sort of, maybe, approximation of what was there, but it is not accurate reconstruction.
Rosemary Lee says a facadectomy is not historic preservation. What if they damage tiles in storage. What about dollar loss to businesses that are not part of project, will they be reimbursed if income goes down because people don’t want to go into restaurant with construction noise, if they lose money due to construction, are you prepared to make them whole, if shoes are damaged will you pay them.
Austin appreciates the comments, they want to be good neighbors, they will minimize disruption, this is a 2 and 4 story building, modest in scale, and think they can be good neighbors.
Lee is terribly concerned, she likes to go to the Capitol Tap Haus for a burger and beer, but she won’t go in there, she will go to Coopers, where she does not have to listen to construction noise, small business people should not have to lose money.
Austin says can manage it in a way that won’t create that problem.
Bob Klebba says this is a bad analogy [but very much in the Halloween spirit} but its like if this was a cemetery and we moved the bodies and left the headstones. This is not a historic preservation, don’t believe that deconstructing the facades will be true to what we want to preserve. What interests do the property owners and investors have, besides to beautify the city? They are making an investment of $10M and its $3.5M valued now, this space isn’t big enough to justify this. Rents would be too high to rent out the space, in particular for the retail space. This will move away from locally owned independent retailers who need lower rent for properties to keep business vs. large chain store that is corporate funded. Businesses like the Gap or Starbucks that can afford it, this development will chase away local business and bring in corporate chains.
Austin says that goal of Jerry and Pleasant is same as we have – a healthy vibrant place that will go beyond our lifetimes. We may not agree on how to get there, that’s ok, but they are interested in opportunity to change N Fairchild in a way that creates an inviting place, to branch off from State Street. Not fire escapes, back doors, and a canyon. That is not an inviting street to welcome you, we want to try to create that. That is the primary purpose they are doing, want to maintain character of State Street while doing that and create revenue stream for Overture. On the retail spaces, they agree, they don’t want to create corporate feel. If you look at the plans there are small storefronts, they will keep the Castle and Doyle building, the flatiron building is a distinct storefront, restaurant will face out. Their goals are the same as yours, continue to keep it the way you want it and keep local owned buildings on State Street.
Usher at Overture says he wears a suit and seats people and for $60, $75 and $85 shows and they look at a back alley. He thinks this is a great project. He doesn’t want the “hysterical society” to get in the way like the Edgewater, he hopes it moves on, this is a great idea, its the best thing that could ever happen to first block of State Street.
The owner of Vic’s says their businesses is suffering from construction, they have to move, they have been there 30 years, it will cost them 10s of thousands of dollars to find a place they can afford. She wants to know if they can come back? What about the businesses there, can they come back? WOW! Of all the meetings they had, they didn’t meet with the affected businesses? Wouldn’t that be one of the first meetings you would have? I guess they don’t matter.
Austin says they have done no work in terms of leasing the spaces, first things first, they are trying to see if it can move forward. But yes, we want to engage in discussion to see if that is possible.Yup, you’re not a priority.
Joe Lusson says Austin is an awesome sales person, if I could afford you I would hire you. This will give away what makes Madison special, if main concern is people buying tickets to expensive shows, make it all glass and metal fine, but – the secrecy and dishonestly over past 10 years is unacceptable. Now we are rushing this in December, over the holidays. That is why he is making comments now, this is an iconic block of State Street, its the most intact. You can try to rebuild terracotta, but you are losing the historic fabric, you maybe be able to put it back – but it will lose its charm. The Overture was built in downtown Madison, yes there are fire escapes, they can restore the back sides. The Madison Trust did a rendering of what it could look like. If there is a bag of garbage there, well, you’re the landlord, you own the buildings. You can restore the building at a fraction of the cost, you could improve something, not destroy what makes Madison special so people can sit and look at glass walls of Overture. Its not an inviting or public building. They tried to show the space to visitors from out of town, they were denied entrance. The rents will be expensive, small businesses will not be able to afford it, this is not where creative businesses will reside. Go back to the drawing board, do restoration. There is applause for the first time of the night, except some really sparse clapping when George Austin was introduced.
Sandi Torklidson (A Room of One’s Own) says she rents on State Street and has for 37 years, the rents are always high, its always as struggle, but we locate here cuz we have a lot of people downtown, that is give and take and small stores like Madison Sole pays as much as the Gap, there is not a difference in what we pay. This won’t drive small businesses out, we pay cuz want to be downtown, this is going to add 250 potential office workers to downtown, that is good for business, restaurants and retail. They miss when large employers left downtown, that was helpful to retail during the day. She applauds office space, condos not selling and to get good customer base we need to bring more people downtown, smaller firms that don’t want to be in big buildings. Look beyond the clichés, people rent, it’s always too high, it’s the downtown but we want to be here.
A guy asks for a clarification about if they can see the capitol from Overture ground floor, or do you need to go to the second floor now? Will we be able to see dome on first floor?
Austin says he says still can see it now, but it does open it up.
They guy says it is ugly in the lobby, maybe more weddings will come if they have a better view of the capitol.
Stuart Levitan says there is a quorum of landmarks here, 4 of us are here. He wants to make a historical point, John Nolan’s Madison model city also had a proposal for State ST to be 200 feet wide, eve brilliant geniuses make mistakes, not all of the plan was good. He says the Shubert building was built by Kronenberg, its a registered city landmark, why open space? Why not start with notion to save registered approved landmark, and retain it. He personally thinks that the other office building is also landmark eligible.
Austin says they don’t take removing a landmark lightly, it requires you to add value in what you put in its place. Hmmmm, I helped write part of the demolition ordinance, I”m pretty sure those are not the standards for demolitions of landmarks.. The Shubert building loss is made up or replaced by what they are proposing, they expect discussion to occur, if you look at Fairchild St renovation, in creating the sweeping edge, the new front for Fairchild St, to incorporate the Shubert building and keep the edge doesn’t work. They reviewed it and they will go through that in more detail, they are prepared to work to salvage elements of the building, the transom window will be reused in the project or somewhere else. They will save the stone like old MG&E stone they used for the 201 project and they recognize that Ferdinand Kronneberg was important and there are many examples of the work that need to be protected. We will honor what came before, we will recognize Kronneberg and other work on the block. A plaque in a garden that is not public does not make up for the loss of a historic building and reusing parts of it, maybe shouldn’t be good enough.
A speaker asks if they will be able to control the loiterers in the park area. I always find these questions HILARIOUS! How can you tell the difference between someone loitering in a park and someone using the park? What’s the difference? In this case, I believe it is paying customers in fancy clothes that can afford expensive meals after the Overture show.
Austin says there are lots of questions about that. You hate, in a city, to not create special spaces cuz you are afraid of one or more uses. In this case its not a park, its a front yard, a garden, its not publicly owned, its owned by the foundation, maintained by the foundation, security will be done by 201. They are very concerned about design, that has a lot to do with usable attractive space, the landscape architect will focus on spaces that are public. We have a sight incline to the building face, you can get to the front door, they will plant with perennials, the tree canopy will have lighting, that will attract but also reinforce sense of safety. They are paying a lot of attention to that, they will share more specifics as they get it designed.
Fred Mohs is not worried about the economics. Pleasant and Jerry are not in this to maximize rent, that is not a concern, but concern is tearing down landmark building. The Steensland House at Bethel Lutheran is a concern, he is worried about it being a precedent. This will get a pass no one else will get. Landmark districts exist so people have certainty . . . . missed some . . . .people want to be part of the landmark district, they have to believe that the landmark will stick and things won’t get town down, if this building is torn down it can’t lead to other demolitions of historic properties.
Another speaker says that something bothers him about the lower level, the drawing looks like a Led Zepplin cover album. It was drawn to sell the project, they needs something less stylized and something looks like real buildings.
Austin says that is next in process as they engage with neighborhoods and city boards and commissions, these are artists renderings and the perspective makes it look bigger, it is 4 stories now and will be when it is done.
Tim Kamps is a violinist with the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, he has lots of disposable income, he works in Overture, he commends Jerry and Pleasant, this will add a great deal to the block. He is worried about operations, will the surpluses go to Overture, he wants more detail. NOTE/CORRECTION! He said he is a working professional musician, he spends a large portion of his disposable income in downtown Madison, he does not have lots of it! That certainly makes more sense! I was kinda wondering . . . .
Austin says the Block 100 Foundation will own and operate the properties, intent is to operate like any business, there will be income from the businesses and restaurant, there will also be operating expenses but net income. Because the project done by them there is no financing, there is no debt service and that would add a lot of burden, so they have a level of flexibility that most developers don’t have. That is good news, it is an opportunity for new operating income, it will have ups and downs and tenants will come in and out, intent is that throw off real dollars that through the charitable mission will go to Overture Center for the Arts and not anything else. Oh, now I get the game we are playing here! City reduces Overture payment, they propose a project that should not get approved but alders feel bad so they approve a project they wouldn’t approve because it will make up for the less payments to Overture. Good deal if you can get it!
David Waugh – lived in Madison most of life, not far from downtown, what makes Madison special is State Street, concerned about precedent of removing historic buildings, historic buildings are important, it is what interests him, loves new too, concerned about precedent with other historic buildings, what is the square footage gain – when he looks at it, looks like people with nice building want to know down buildings to see capital, no excitement in the project, in the proposal, not exciting us in why do this major thing, when look at picture say want to knock down buildings to see capitol out big glass wall, tis very upsetting and, well, very upsetting actually
Sam Britenbach says that not withstanding historic preservation, they should use the Shubert building as an anchor on the Mifflin like the entrance to the new restaurant space from the State Street side. If all that effort is going to rebuild the Leath building and building on the corner, look at Schubert building and keeping it intact. It would be worthy of architectural review.
Good suggestion we will do that says Austin.
Woman asks if the Foundation owns the buildings already.
They say yes.
She says when she first heard about it the project was still mixed use retail but now offices instead of apartments. Her first thought was that she sees a lot of empty office space, it’s a solution to a problem we don’t have, whereas especially rental in downtown area is more of a premium. She is not recommending rentals, its not practical, just sad to be having and encouraging offices, doesn’t seem that it’s that necessary at this point.
Joe Lusson loves that there are apartments on State Street, it gives it vitality, don’t push them out for sake of pushing them out, it helps keep streets quieter, keeps bars under control if people living there, keep apartments if need to.
Bert Stitt says that this block is important to the City of Madison, some things are going on here that we are not talking about, and we should talk about them, one of them is that somehow or another the community is being disregarded. With an organization that can invest this much money in this small space, a little money put into advance public engagement would greatly help a situation like this. I heard Austin say they want this to be a healthy and beautiful spot, that’s true, but there is another thing people want, and Frautchi does not want, that is historic integrity of the area. This is not incompatible, its workable if they are willing to sit down and work through them, what we have been given here is a piece of property accumulated over a period of time, while we knew it was going to happen, why did they say they would not do something 8 years ago. It was rumored, but it was not honest, you were not forthcoming, it was not honest and transparent. We know properties were being bought and no one was saying who out loud, that does not contribute to a healthy community. Now a plan is being put together behind closed doors, there was no community charrette and they suggested that this plan must be brought forward to series of civic bodies for approval during holiday period. Frautchi and George Austin too, frankly, have done the community a disservice by orchestrating this this way. I hope you will rethink it, its too important to devolve into another Edgewater conversation. They did the same thing, they cooked it up behind closed doors and bring it to the community and tell us this is what you want. He is sad about the lack of paying attention on the part of people who should know better in a community that is deeply involved and that deep involvement is castigated and dismissed and condemned when it is the healthiest part about us. Applause. Applause
Rosemary Lee wants assurance that what happens with the Pleasant projects in Aurora New York doesn’t happen here. They divided a town. She got what she wanted, but even family members are not speaking to each other, she hopes this doesn’t end up like that. Do not tell us what we will have and what we will accept, even tho formal processes what happened in Aurora New York was a disgrace, she said this is the way it is going to be and to this day people in Aurora New York are not talking to each other and she doesn’t want that to happen here.
Austin says he doesn’t think that was intended as a personal attack but sounded that way, there are two sides to every story, a lot of good happened that would not be possible without the investment they made, communities heal. It’s a bit unfair, but he appreciates the comment.
Rosemary says she did her research.
Austin says no one will building anything without support of decision makers from the City of Madison, if it doesn’t add value over what is removed it should not be approved, the project is looking forward, respecting the past, and over time we can work together to come to that conclusion.
Fred Mohs says that he believes in Frautichi’s good will, he has the best intentions, we may not like the way the first rendition is, that’s not unusual, but we also should look at another part of this, people are willing to assemble property to put a lot of money to bring buildings back, he is not worried that they will bring national chains here, he would be totally shocked if that was the result, let’s take the next steps, probe for ideas, Austin and his team have not said that its their way or the highway, they are willing to talk and explore, this could all turn out great, let’s work on it in good faith and believe that Frautchi’s have best interests of city at heart.
Erika Gehrig on the Lanmarks Commission missed the beginning of the meeting because they were looking at the demolition of this project. That was the first time it was brought to them, she is wondering if this project will be brought before preservation communities, there are three city landmarks on this block, two are part of the project, Madison Trust has had an Executive Director for two years, we have a new preservation planner for one year, have either of those people been a part of the discussions?
Austin says that they engaged city staff to discuss the proposal in the form it is tonight, they met with the alder and neighboring property owners and now additional groups. Jason Tish has exchanged voice mail before he left for two weeks. Let me translate for you. No.
Levitan asks about an informational presentation for Landmarks.
Austin says they can talk about that after the meeting.
Levitan asks if there will be one before the day they are asked to vote on it.
Austin says yes.
Pete Ostlind says that Capitol Neighborhoos has long urged development teams to have conversation with neighborhood before informational presentations so that they have a chance for input and comment before being reviewed by commissioners, we push the other way.
Another person wants to clarify there will be no city funds.
Austin says “zero, none”
Gary Tipler sees it as a valiant first effort at making a presentation on a proposal to solve a perceived problems, there is probably a lot of creative abilities to seek other solutions, he looked at the ideas from the lobby to see how much of capitol he can see, unless they remove the historical society they won’t be able to see the capitol, but we need to assess the importance of other buildings on the block. It is worthy of preservation, its a piece of Madison’s history, bedraggled as it is, you can put a two story building inside a building, the stark building was designed by Frank Riley across the street, its a beautiful limestone with original fixtures, it could be an asset. There are 4 or 5 building with firescapes, its an urban inigma, that could be addressed, even the height could be addressed with a façade alteration, garden arrangements, there could be rooftop gardens within the block, there are a lot of solutions out there and he wants to know if there are other ways to address these solutions.
No response.
Woman says this is exciting, she is happy to see they are adding green space, Overture levels you can see a long way and when going to performance they look out the windows and it makes a huge difference if looking at fire escapes or gardens.
Levitan asks about a response to Tipler’s question.
Austin says the woman was handed a mic too quickly and he had no chance to respond. That is not the way I percieved it at the time. I thought there was a pause. Austin says that while this is vision for what is trying to be achieved, they put great thought into why this approach being presented and is being chosen, clearly as they work with neighborhood they will look at other options as suggested and evaluate them, but if get to point where all buildings saved as they are today, he can’t predict.
Ostlind made some closing remarks and then that was it!
I was, as you can probably tell, very annoyed with their approach to this whole thing. The dismissive comments, the attitude towards the neighborhood and the fact that they didn’t even talk to the businesses impacted was pretty stunning. Probably not so much coming from a developer, but coming from a developer that claims to be doing this for the community and who has hired people who know how to get things done. It was disappointing. It felt like the beginning of Edgewater all over again. Bert Stitt was right.
