Mixed-Use Project in Milwaukee Seeking $19 Million from City

According to the Journal Sentinel, the Mandel Group Inc. is proposing an upscale development of 265 apartments in five three-story buildings at Ballpark Common, which is about 13 miles from downtown Milwaukee. The Velo Village project would cost about $57.2 million and the developers are requesting $19 million in financing help from the city.

Mandel Group needs the city financing help so it can secure a $41 million bank loan, and provide a high enough return to attract equity investors, said Ian Martin, the firm's vice president of development. Velo Village would have monthly rents ranging from around $1,200 to $2,200, Martin told council members.

Those would be the highest rents in Franklin and other nearby communities such as Oak Creek, Greenfield and Greendale, Martin said in an interview.Velo Village would need around $1.60 a square foot in rent for its apartments, he said, compared to around $1.10 a square foot for the average rent in those communities.

Martin said the gap between the construction costs and the project's value isn't the result of any specific site conditions at Ballpark Commons — part of which is being developed on a former landfill."Construction costs have risen to the point where you can't build nice apartments for $1.60 a square foot in rent without a public-private partnership," Martin said.