An 11-storey apartment building is currently being proposed for the Walker point site, which has seen similar proposals fail over the past decade.

Developer Ryan Bedford is seeking General Council permission to change the zoning for the site, at 234 S. Water St., to accommodate the 133-unit building.

The $ 41 million Admiral Admiral project will look across the Milwaukee river, South of the Pittsburgh Avenue bridge.

It will include the RiverWalk, according to a zoning change application filed with the Department of urban development.

“We hope to begin construction in early 2020,” Bedford said, “with the opening in the summer of 2021.”

Development amenities for residents will include a top-floor club room with a rooftop patio, a fitness center and an outdoor dog run, Bedford said. 

The second floor, which will be at street level with Pittsburgh Avenue, will feature office space. These offices will also be available to residents of the building.

The lowest level along the river would include kayak storage or possible maintenance in kayak rentals, he said.

The monthly rent will be about $ 2.15 to $ 2.20 per square foot, Bedford said.

Units will range from 700 square feet to 1,600 square feet. So the initial rent would be about $ 1,500.

“We believe our biggest market will be to empty nests seeking to cut into the city rather than sacrificing interior quality down to the apartment class,” he said. 

Funding for the project is still underway, he said.  

Bedford is Executive Vice President at Waukesha-based Bedford development LLC.

The firm’s other apartment projects include Walker’s Landing, 2070 N. Riverbot road, and Kendal Lofts, 456 W. Main St., Waukesha.  

The 31700 square foot Admiral Wharf site is owned by groups affiliated with Pewaukee-based VJS Construction services Inc 

The property has been the subject of three major housing proposals in the past 10 years.

The General Council in 2009 approved the Rivianna proposal, which featured three 15-story towers for 200 apartments, and a 128-room hotel.

But, in a deep recession, developers Robert Schultz and Harry Drea were unable to get funding.

In 2015, the Council approved 234 apartments, a 12-story, 164-apartment building. It was proposed by a group of investors led by developer David Vinograd and commercial real estate broker Scott Revolinsky.

Grapes in 2017 canceled these plans.

Vinograd, who has designed several other buildings in Walker point, said he was concerned about an oversupply of new apartments as well as rising construction costs.

A few months later, a proposal for a seven-story, 72-unit condominium building was submitted.

South Water Condominiums were to be built by architect and developer Peter Renner, whose nearby condo buildings include Waterfront, 130 S. Water St.; Hansen Landing, 541 E. Erie St.; and Harbor Front, 601 E. Erie St.

But that proposal was rejected in 2018 because it could not get proper permits from the state Department of natural resources, said Chris Corley, a listing development broker.

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