Million-Dollar Goll House Condos Get Preliminary Approval
But many neighbors oppose the plan
Monday’s marathon joint meeting of the Historic Preservation Commission and the City Plan Commission resulted in the approval of New Land Enterprises’ plan to build a 26-story condo tower behind the historic Goll House mansion at 1550 N. Prospect Ave.
New Land’s plan is to use funds from the backyard condo tower for the
restoration and maintenance of the 1898 mansion. The condos would be
built between the mansion and the bluff overlooking Lincoln Memorial
Drive.
New
Land proposes to build a tower with 35 units that have a starting price
point of $1 million, a private gym with a lap pool, and five floors of
above-ground parking. The mansion would become the entrance to the
condo tower with a restored ballroom, guest suites and a concierge. The
two buildings would be connected by a 7 foot-long glass walkway. The
condo tower requires a zoning change because it does not con form to
the shape currently allowed on that site. The zoning change still
requires the approval of the full Milwaukee Common Council.
The
developer and owner, Boris Gokhman, bought the property in 2005, after
the Milwaukee Common Council designated the mansion a historic
structure in November 2002.
Gokhman argued that if the commissions did
not approve New Land’s proposal, the historic mansion—now being used as
offices—would fall into disrepair. “It
doesn’t work for us financially” to restore the building without the
funds generated by the condo tower, Gokhman told the commissions.
New
Land supporter Alderman Bob Bauman, whose district includes the site,
warned that opposing the plan would lead to the mansion’s demise. “There’s
still the option of demolition,” warned Bauman, a member of the
Historic Preservation Commission.
Alderman Nik Kovac, whose district
borders the Goll mansion, successfully argued for more guarantees that
New Land would complete the mansion’s restoration before it finishes
the condos.
As a result, New Land will not receive a certificate of occupancy unless the restoration is finished.
Neighbors Question Preservation Commission’s Responsibilities
New
Land’s plan was approved by the commissions, but many of the meeting’s
attendees ques tioned whether the Historic Preservation Commission was
right to approve the mix of modern and historic buildings on one
property.
These neighbors warned that the commission should
consider whether the modern condo tower would change the integrity of
the entire site, and not just consider the changes to the exterior of
the historic mansion itself.
Todd Farris, an attorney representing the condo association
of the neighboring 1522 Prospect Ave. building, argued that the
Historic Preservation Commission must consider whether the new construction on the Goll House property is compatible with the historic
mansion itself. Farris argued that the modern tower is not. “You have
jurisdiction over the entire property,” Farris told the commission.
“You cannot change the law on the run.”
But Milwaukee City Attorney
Grant Langley had written an opinion stating that the commission could
only consider whether the proposal would change the exterior of the
mansion itself, because the mansion had only been considered a
“historic structure,” not a historic site or district.
Assistant
City Attorney Gregg Hagopian testified that “we are aware that there
are differing opinions” about the commission’s jurisdiction over the
mansion or the entire property.
Sandra McSweeney, the only
commissioner to vote against New Land’s proposal, objected to the
effect of the new condo tower on the historic mansion. McSweeney
disliked the solid wall of the parking structure, the visible
air-conditioning vents, the “shed-like” connector between the two
buildings and the complicated access to the tower through the mansion. “I think those [additions] all very negatively impact the Goll House,” she said.
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