APRIL 2008 - Updates FROM THE PRESIDENT

Updates from the President

Well, it looks like spring is finally here. I thought we might break the all-time snow record, and I confess that I had started hoping we would. However, it looks as if we are about a foot short. Of course, it is only the start of April, and this is Wisconsin, so there’s hope yet!

I trust most of you got out to vote in the Spring Election. Of course, as responsible BSAA members we were all part of the 20% of the voting public that participated. As most of you know, 3rd District voters selected Nic Kovac as our new Alderman in an extremely close contest (Nik won by 71 votes out of 8513 cast). There were plenty of opportunities to see and hear the two finalists in various forums/debates and "meet & greets" in the District to make an informed decision. I’d like to extend commendations to both campaigns for engaging in a very respectful, positive race. Congratulations to Nic, and we look forward to working with him in the future.

On April 15th , after you’ve sent in your tax forms, be sure to attend the BSAA General Meeting at St. John’s on the Lake. The BSAA is sponsoring another Developers' Forum (see back page and page 2 for more information). We’ve invited a half dozen or so developers who would like share their plans and visions of projects both underway and in the planning stages, including the expansion plans of St. John’s. We encourage neighbors to join us for a lively and possibly inspiring gathering.

Speaking of building developments, the developer of the proposed mid-rise apartment building on the northeast corner of Van Buren and Pleasant has decided not to proceed with the project. I am hopeful that another developer will approach Three Holy Women Parish with a proposal for this currently underutilized and potentially vital property.

Hope to see you around the neighborhood!

Russ Drewry – BSAA President

B Street Scene by Michael Horne

Dear Neighbor,

The sun made its way north of the equator since the last time I wrote, and eventually it will be doing its business with great seriousness. It’s about time. Thanks to the additional precipitation we picked up last month, we vaulted up a couple of places and will close out the year as the second-snowiest on record. And while the snow is gone, the memories linger and there are some lessons to be learned. Over at the pharmacy, Jim Searles states the obvious fact about shoveled sidewalks: like a chain, any missing link renders them useless. The missing link Jim had in mind was the south side of Brady Street, particularly the five unit apartment building on the corner of N. Marshall St. and the vacant former fish market at 915 E. Brady. There was not a single instance when either of the properties was properly tended over the winter. I called the owner of one property, and he said the fellow he had hired to take care of shoveling simply did not. We’ll have to come up with some sort of strategy to keep our high-traffic street safe for pedestrians. Jim thinks the BID can buy a snowblower and keep it in his garage, and pay somebody to use it from one end of the street to another each time it snows. Why don’t you tell him what you think? Something must be done.

THE THAW

The Milwaukee River remained frozen well into March, and as it broke up, it sent large chunks floating downstream for much of the month, with things finally clearing up from bank to bank around Easter, March 23rd. Good Friday provided a surreal snowstorm, and as late as the first week of April there is still snow here and there in isolated shady places like my back yard. But the birds are returning to our neighborhood, and they have finally found my feeder.

NEW ALDERMAN

After a spirited campaign voters in our district narrowly selected Nik Kovac to be their new alderman, choosing him by a mere 72 votes over his Riverwest neighbor Patrick Flaherty. Flaherty held his election night party at Balzac, and seemed somewhat stunned by the results, especially after coming in first in the primary. Kovac greeted his supporters at Linneman’s Riverwest Inn on E. Locust St. on election night, and was stunned in his own way – but pleasantly. Our new alderman says he thinks this is the time for all residents to come together to work on our area’s future. At his election night party he discouraged divisive talk by supporters, and had no time for those who derided Ald. D’Amato’s service. I’m sure he’ll hear plenty from us during his term, and if the alderman is as energetic in office as he was as a candidate, it’s a good chance we’ll be seeing him around the neighborhood quite a bit. Since Nik is a writer, I think it’s fair that he consider penning a column for the Brady Street News to keep us up-to-date.

BELLA’S GOES BYE-BYE

Eight years ago our neighbor, Mike Schmidt, opened Bella’s Fat Cat, a contemporary take on the traditional Milwaukee custard stand. He transformed a cramped building on a postage stamp lot into a popular destination for residents and visitors alike. As has been chronicled in this column, Schmidt used Brady Street to launch two other Bella’s – one near UWM and the other in Bay View. Those stores are going great he says, but he shut down the Brady Street store on April 1st for a variety of reasons. The other two locations with their better parking, physical access and room for such necessities as dumpsters were doing so much better than the Brady Street store that he thought it best to leave until such time as he can find a spot that he feels more suited to the operation. However, the store will remain open in a slightly different format under a new owner. More on this later.

NEW JUDGE ON THE BLOCK

The residents of the Village of Whitefish Bay have put aside their parochial differences (some go to St. Monica’s and some go to Holy Family) and got together to select the Hon. Paul D. Christensen as their new municipal judge. Paul’s day job is at the Ziino Germanotta Knoll & Christensen  law offices at 1700 N. Farwell Ave. … Our neighbor and representative to the assembly Jon Richards might advance in the leadership of the assembly if current Minority Leader Jim Kreuser wins a special election to be the next Kenosha County Executive. Jon’s the assistant minority leader now. If Richards takes

Kreuser’s job and the democrats win the assembly in the November election, there is a very good chance that Jon will be Speaker of the Assembly for the next session.

LENDER TAKES OVER LANDMARK ON LAKE

The Rubicon America Trust, which trades on the Australian stock exchange under the symbol "RAT," has taken over control of the Landmark on the Lake, 1660 N. Prospect Ave., after NVG Residential, which paid $56 million for the 275 unit building two years ago, failed to keep current on its payments. The $56 million was twice what had been paid for the building just a few years previously.  Richard Ruvin, who very successfully sold the Blatz condominiums over the past couple of years, will take over the marketing of the property. The most prominent resident of the property is Milwaukee Bucks player Andrew Bogut. … The Edge continues on the far side of the river, north of the Marsupial Bridge. Developer Gary Grunau says construction will proceed very quickly on the spancrete structure now that the foundation is complete. …

Likewise, Barry Mandel is pounding pilings into the old Pfister and Vogel site, wasting not a moment despite the allegedly crummy real estate market. … Scott Fergus, developer of the 601 E. Ogden Building is $81 million in debt on the First Place on the River project. Let’s see, that works out to a little over $800,000 per unit for the 100 units in the building. It will be a long time until 1,000 square foot condos command that kind of price in our town, especially when the Landmark couldn’t sell them for $235,000. … Our neighbor  Natalie Schneider has a little more sunlight streaming through her window ever since they tore down the small cottage next door to her bungalow on E. Hamilton St. Don’t expect the lot to remain vacant for long. … Construction continues on the townhouses south of the Brady and Humboldt intersection. … Graffiti vandals spread their handiwork to Red Room, the Astor St. stairs, Ferrante’s lot, Pecoraro’s building (what else is new) and other choice neighborhood locations. The choice of color this time was black; the work crude. Before too long this whole neighborhood will look like the alley side of the  DigiCopy building if we are as casual about cleaning up this mess as the owners of that property have been about cleaning theirs. … The windows have been boarded up on the long-vacant Gallun Tannery building. …

Well, that’s enough for now.

Until next time,

I’ll B-Scene You!

Michael Horne

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