Royal Capital Group’s plan to purchase the former Phillis Wheatley (aka Tenth Ward, aka 20th Street) School, 2442 N. 20th St., and convert it into apartments is on the agenda to be discussed by the City's Zoning, Neighborhoods & Development Committee at its Oct. 30 meeting at City Hall.
The Milwaukee-based developer – working with Engberg Anderson Architects and ACC Property Management – plans three residential buildings on the 3.8-acre site, including in the 84,222-square foot school building – designed by Van Ryn & DeGelleke – and built in 1902, with additions in the 1960s and early ‘70s.
The new and old buildings are connected via one of only two skywalks at MPS schools. The other, much higher and longer, is at Golda Meir.
You can see photos inside Wheatley here.
Wheatley closed in 2011 and MPS declared the building surplus four years later. The city listed it for sale to non-school operators – after there had been no takers during the two-year period when only school operators could make offers – in 2017.
There would also be two newly constructed two-story buildings added along the north and south edges of the property.
Royal Capital would create 82 apartments, all told, including 21 two-bedroom units, and 61 three-bedroom units – the goal is to attract mixed-income families. Some units would be market-rate, while others would be priced for families making 30, 50 or 60 percent of the median income for the county.
The developer also plans a range of resident amenities including community room, Wi-Fi in each residential unit, fitness center, business center, movie theater and on-site management office.
Community amenities, open to the public, would include a community commercial kitchen, fitness center/gym basketball court, playground and café.
According to a report filed with the city, the purchase price for the property is $585,000 with a scope of work estimate of $19.8 million.
The report notes that the developers will seek to use a combination of conventional debt, tax credit equity, historic tax credit equity, developer equity, Tax Incremental Financing and Affordable Housing Program funds from the Federal Home Loan Bank. A Low Income Housing Tax Credit application is expected to be submitted to WHEDA by Dec. 14, 2018.
If the plan clears committee – a board on which Russell Stamper, the alderman for the district in which the site is located, sits – it moves to the full Common Council for a vote.
The then-20th Street School in 1927. (PHOTO: Milwaukee Public Schools)
The former Garfield Avenue School recently opened to residents after having been converted to apartments and tenants will begin moving into Fifth Street School next week.
Plans to convert the former McKinley Elementary into veterans housing and 37th Street Schools into senior housing are also in the works. A meeting on McKinley is slated for 6 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 30 in the community room at Highland Gardens, 1273 N. 17th St.
The former Wisconsin Avenue School was purchased by the owner of the Ambassador Hotel for conversion into a hotel.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
