Four-story apartment building eyed for downtown

Haley Dobre, who last year purchased the Boerner Mercantile Building on Franklin Street in downtown Port Washington, wants to build a four-story, 50-unit apartment building on a parking lot between Pier and Washington streets that came with the building.

She told the Plan Commission last Thursday the building is proposed to be between 50 and 55 feet tall, with the west side lower than the east side due to a 14-foot differences in the grade, Dobre said, on a site that the city has earmarked for redevelopment.   

In addition to the one and two-bedroom market-rate apartments, Dobre said, the design calls for two commercial spaces on the main floor.

There would be underground parking for the apartments as well as covered surface parking for about 20 vehicles, she said.

Commission members approved a concept plan for the building but they warned that they will not allow the height of the structure to increase.

“We’re going to be hyper-vigilant about the height,” Mayor Ted Neitzke said. “Everyone that’s come to us in the past has crept with ‘Now we’re going to add a sign.’

“That can’t creep. Please know that I’m going to stop that every single time.”

Bob Harris, the city’s director of planning and development, noted that the city’s zoning code does not set a cap on building heights, but any building taller than 35 feet must be approved by the Plan Commission and Common Council.

Members also asked that the building design reflect Port Washington and its historic downtown.

“Anything you can do to try and incorporate some materials that are in more historic buildings downtown to make it not completely different,” commission member Eric Ryer said. “If you can do something to mimic some of them, that would be nice.”

Neitzke added, “Port Washington is not ‘everywhere.’ I ask you be respectful to the historic nature of downtown.”

“That is part of the plan,” Dobre said. “I hope to reflect and pull through the rest of the area and downtown. I don’t want this to stick out like a sore thumb.”

Dobre told the commission that her idea is to take what is now an underused parking lot and turn it into something that will benefit the community.

“The idea is to align with the downtown plan,” Dobre told the commission.

The apartments, which will range from about 933 square feet to 1,129 square feet, would not only provide needed housing and a variety of housing options in downtown, she said, they would also bring in residents who will support the downtown businesses throughout the year.

“I could have gone the condo route,” she said, but many condo owners spend a portion of the year living elsewhere, she said. Apartment residents tend to be year-round residents.

The apartments would have amenities that include some balconies with lake views, in-unit laundry facilities, an elevator, mailroom and open-concept designs with nine-foot-high ceilings, she said.

“We felt it would slide right in and offer a diverse housing type for downtown,” Dobre said.

The proposed data center campus  would provide a “substantial influx of potential tenants,” according to her proposal.

The apartments would likely attract the young professionals working at the data center, the proposal states, noting many young professionals would look for walkable, modern living options near the lake. 

Those residents would enhance the vibrancy of downtown and provide customers for the shops and restaurants in the area, Dobre said. 

The building would make better use of what is now an underutilized parking lot, Dobre told commission members.

“On any given day if you drive by there, there might be five spaces filled,” she said.

And, she said, it would provide parking. The current parking lot has 53 spaces, she said, while her design has 63 spots, 43 of them underground for tenants and 20 at the street level.

The project will require funding from the downtown tax incremental financing district, according to the proposal, which does not specify the amount that would be sought or what costs it would offset.

“Without TIF assistance, the project is not possible and thereby is not able to aid the city in implementing their comprehensive plan,” the proposal states, adding that the proposal would help meet the TIF goals.

Dobre said she’s already talking to potential tenants for the two commercial spaces, including such uses as a coffee bar, juice bar and wellness or fitness facilities, including a bike shop.

Noting that parking in downtown has been an issue for years, Neitzke stressed that the project will not remove public parking.

“This is a private parking lot that is not utilized after 5 o’clock,” he said. “We’re going to hear that we’re taking more parking away in downtown. We’re not.”

Neitzke praised the fact that Dobre is looking at an apartment project, noting the city needs workforce housing, but said that he would like the city to place limits prohibiting short-term rentals.

“A lot of buildings like this will have a whole floor designated to Vrbos,” he said.