Community Corner

Mandel Breaks Ground on Apartment Development

The Mandel Group broke ground on an 83-unit apartment development known as Beaumont Place on Wednesday morning.

Construction will soon begin on the development, which is to be built in the parking lots bordered by Santa Monica Boulevard, Beaumont Avenue, Consaul Place and the alley abutting the rear end of Silver Spring businesses.

Once the initial utility work is done, construction crews will start working in about three to four weeks on the eastern parking lot. The 18-month project will be performed in three phases, with the first building being completed in spring 2014 and the final building completed in November 2014.

At the groundbreaking ceremony, Dick Lincoln, senior vice president of The Mandel Group, said he and former trustee Jim Roemer first came up with the idea for a high-end apartment development in the north municipal parking lot 10 years ago.

A 27-year Bay resident himself, Lincoln said he is happy to see that vision come true.

"In my business it's always a great day when we break ground on a new development, but you can see how today is particularly gratifying to me personally," he said.

Ray Krueger, the chairman of the village's Community Development Authority, said village leaders have talked about a project like this for more than a decade, and he is confident it will be "the crown jewel" of Whitefish Bay for years to come.

"This project here has always been the one we dreamed about," he said. "We thought if we could get the right developer with the right vision to fulfill needs here in Whitefish Bay of people who want to stay in the neighborhood but no longer want the big house, we might be able to work something out."

The apartments will be financed with $4.6 million in public assistance through a tax incremental finance (TIF) district. Once the project is built and stabilized, the developer estimates the property will be valued at $14 million, and return an additional $320,000 in annual tax revenue.

The developer expects the TIF will close by 2035, six years earlier than the 27-year maximum prescribed under state law.


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