Groundbreaking held for luxury Monona apartments on Yahara River with 'destination' eatery

Another new restaurant from Tim Thompson will occupy the ground floor of a $22 million, mixed-use riverfront development in Monona featuring 121 luxury apartments and advanced erosion control strategies.

Thompson co-owns the Free House Pub in Middleton and just opened The Flying Hound in Fitchburg. Both feature a European focus with a draft-beer focus and menus with German and English influences.

Robin Pharo, a Madison native and sustainable building operations expert, said the restaurant for her new Monona development, to be known as Treysta on the Water, will have similar themes.

"It's meant to be a destination restaurant," she said. "It will be in the vein (of the other restaurants) with a full-service bar and brunch on Saturdays and Sundays."

City officials and Pharo held a groundbreaking ceremony Thursday for the project, slated for completion in early 2015. Fitchburg-based Tri-North Builders will be the general contractor.

The building also is slated to be the state's first mixed-use development to achieve a "Clean Clear Waters" designation, a new certification requiring the advanced use of best practices in erosion control, landscape conservation and storm water management.

It's administered by the Madison Area Builders Association and the Wisconsin Environmental Initiative, with third-party verification of standards.

Madison area lakes are a vital asset to our region's livelihood, WEI Executive Director John Imes said in a statement. By educating builders and developers about the easy steps that can be taken to avoid harmful effects during the construction process, we can help improve the quality of our lakes.

The site for the four-story, 79,000-square-foot building is on the 400 block of West Broadway, adjacent to Lottes Park. It's the former home of the Hickory Lane Mobile Home Park, which closed in 2007 with residents moved out under pressure from a former developer.

Beyond the planned restaurant and retail stores on the building's first floor, and 24-hour-a-day concierge services for the apartment tenants who live above it, the 5-acre site will boast amenities including public and private boat slips, boats for rents, an expanded riverfront boardwalk and an outdoor public performance space for concerts and other events.

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Groundbreaking held for luxury Monona apartments on Yahara River with 'destination' eatery