14-story mixed-use apartment building proposed for Downtown Madison

DEAN MOSIMAN | Wisconsin State Journal | dmosiman@madison.com | 608-252-6141 madison.com | | Posted: Wednesday, February 29, 2012 6:00 am

A developer is offering another ambitious project for the core Downtown, this time a 14-story, $25 million mixed-use project near Overture Center and State Street.

The city is intrigued and also asked Hovde Properties to explore the feasibility of including new Downtown Fire Department facilities, which could roughly double the cost, size, housing units and parking spaces in the project.

Hovde wants to demolish three buildings for a project that would reach the Capitol height view limit with 190 apartments aimed at workers rather than students, up to 12,000-square feet of ground-floor commercial space, and a 200-space parking garage on the 300 block of West Johnson and Dayton streets.

The developer has long owned two buildings and related surface parking and recently gained control of the third building, which "afforded an opportunity to do something truly meaningful on the larger site," Hovde President Michael Slavish said.

If approvals are secured, construction could begin by the end of the year and be done in the spring of 2014, Slavish said.

Mayor Paul Soglin described the proposal as "dynamic," and asked Hovde to consider expanding the effort to include new homes for Fire Department administrative offices and Fire Station No. 1, older facilities located next door to Hovde's project site.

"At first blush, it appears it could work," Slavish said of incorporating the fire offices and station one. "The questions come down to whether or not it works financially for us and the city, and if it can be done in a reasonable period of time."

Soglin said city officials are exploring cost and other issues and expect to give Hovde a more firm indication of city interest in a larger effort in two weeks or so. "We can't drag our feet on this one," the mayor said.

Ald. Mike Verveer, 4th District, who represents the area, said Hovde is moving in the right direction by making rental housing the centerpiece of the project and that the possibility of incorporating fire facilities is "a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."

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14-story mixed-use apartment building proposed for Downtown Madison