New Amtrak station may spur development in area

The train ride from Milwaukee to Chicago can be amazingly relaxing - - once you get out of the dreary Amtrak station in Milwaukee, which has all the appeal of a wet cardboard box and sits in a frayed neighborhood. The proposed renderings look very nice indeed; perhaps an attractor of new commercial business in the area that would make avoiding freeway traffic to Chicago all the more sweet.

Now, if only they'd put a station somewhere near Franklin...

Neighbors might get on remodeling train
Amtrak redesign could spur new development

By TOM DAYKIN
[email protected]

The $15.8 million remodeling and expansion of downtown's 41-year-old Amtrak station - an extensive face lift for what some consider one of Milwaukee's homelier buildings - is expected to attract additional development to other nearby properties, city officials said Monday.

 

The remodeled Amtrak station, 433 W. St. Paul Ave., "will serve as
the destination and a point of first impressions" for many visitors to
the city, Mayor Tom Barrett said at the project's dedication ceremony.

The remodeling, which will take a year to complete, also will serve as a catalyst for new development along St. Paul Ave., said Barrett and Joel Brennan, assistant executive director of the city Redevelopment Authority.

Among the possible projects would be the eventual conversion of a warehouse just north of the Amtrak station, at 420 W. St. Paul Ave.

That 125,000-square-foot, seven-story building is leased to Iron Mountain Inc., which provides data storage services. Iron Mountain has the right to renew its lease for another five years, said Frank O'Connor, who owns the building. But he plans to convert the warehouse, possibly to condominiums or to a hotel, once that lease eventually expires.

"We definitely want to do something with it," O'Connor said.

Link: JS Online:Neighbors might get on remodeling train.

 

Another site with development potential is at the northwest corner of W. St. Paul Ave. and N. 5th St., Brennan said.

That lot, which once housed the former Allied Glove Corp. building, is used by the state Department of Transportation as a staging area for the Marquette Interchange project. Once that project is completed, by the end of 2008, that land will be available for development, Brennan said.

The Amtrak remodeling also could help developer Kendall Breunig's plans to convert the former Pritzlaff Hardware/ Hack Furniture buildings, at the southwest corner of W. St. Paul Ave. and N. Plankinton Ave., into apartments, offices and retail space. Breunig is assembling financing for the project and has nearly completed the removal of asbestos from the buildings.

"It can't hurt," Breunig said about the Amtrak remodeling. "Anything that brings more traffic through there helps."

House Greyhound Bus Lines

Once completed, the Amtrak station also will house Greyhound Bus Lines, a potential future stop for an extended Metra commuter rail service from Chicago and commercial tenants, including office users and retailers.

Financing for the public-private project includes $5 million in federal funds and $6 million in city funds. The city funding will be repaid through property taxes generated by new development near the station.

The state Department of Transportation's original plans to redevelop the station were delayed when Barrett, Ald. Robert Bauman and other city officials raised concerns.

Bauman, whose district includes downtown, questioned whether the remodeled facility would be large enough to handle both train and bus passengers. Bauman and other city officials also said they wanted the redesigned building to be an attractive gateway to the city.

The Amtrak station, with its plastic seats and dim lighting, is beloved by few. The remodeled building will feature a three-story glass atrium designed to make it more attractive.

The station will remain open throughout the project.