After spurring new development on the 27th Street corridor, Near West Side Partners is turning its attention to a central section of 35th Street.
Lindsey St Arnold Bell, the organization’s executive director, said it heard from stakeholders that 35th Street “really kind of lacked that sense of character, that there were some safety concerns about traveling along the corridor, but there were sites that just weren’t being utilized.”
To start a collaborative design process on the street’s future, Near West Side Partners hosted the 35th Street Design Charrette on April 10 at the Harley-Davidson campus, 3700 W. Juneau Ave.
Neighborhood residents, architects, business owners, local officials and developers gathered to discuss plans for35th Street between Vliet Street and Park Hill Avenue/Interstate 94.
Five architectural and design teams used community ideas to draft possible designs for five sites, including streetscaping and placemaking along the corridor, the former Mid City Shopping Center site on Juneau Avenue, the AT&T building site on Wells Street, a property at 35th Street and Wisconsin Avenue and the destination district between St. Paul and Park Hill avenues.
What’s the goal of a charrette?
During the event, each design team talked with attendees during two working sessions about design options for a site, sketched renderings of initial plans and presented them to the full group to get more feedback.
“The end goal is to have some visuals that get people excited about what’s possible on the sites that will attract investors to those areas,” said Carolyn Esswein, the facilitator of the charrette and owner of Ce Planning Studio.
The five neighborhoods that intersect with the 35th Street corridor – Merrill Park, Concordia, Martin Drive, Miller Valley and Cold Spring Park – have areas with strong rates of homeownership, which is a sign of investment by residents, according to Esswein.
Esswein and St Arnold Bell hope the interactive process leads to project concepts that are supported by residents and developers and could also be used by employees from nearby anchor businesses, such as Molson Coors and Harley-Davidson.
“As we develop our neighborhood, how are we ensuring that we’re doing so and being mindful about the needs and desires of our neighbors currently so that we can develop without displacement?” St Arnold Bell said.
Designs in progress
Possible areas of focus for the street corridors ranged from widening the sidewalks and adding more traffic-calming and bike-and-pedestrian-friendly measures to installing public art, planters or neighborhood signs.
“I think walkability and accessibility has to be top priority,” said Amber Bricco, a Martin Drive resident. “When people are driving 45 to 50 miles per hour down streets that are also residential areas, it’s scary to cross the road.”
For the commercial sites, groups discussed multiple options that could incorporate housing, public spaces, neighborhood retail stores, food halls, community recreation facilities or workforce development/job training centers.
One of the goals for the sites is adding more fresh food access to the Near West Side, which could take the form of a grocery store, farmers market, food hall, co-op or small grocer.
“It’s very slim margins,” Esswein said. “I’d say any one of these sites would be great to have a grocery store, it’s just who will develop it?”
Bricco, who owns Denizen MKE, an event and wedding venue at 4227 W. Vliet St., said she hopes to see housing and food options included in the plans.
“We don’t have many restaurants or grocery stores that are walkable for people, so I’d love to see that being addressed,” she said.
For more information
The teams will continue to work on the design proposals and present them at a community meeting in early summer.
For more information about the charrette or plans for 35th Street, visit Near West Side Partners’ website or sign up for the newsletter.
