Mandel Apartment Proposal Headed to Public Hearing

The public will soon have an opportunity to voice their opinions about the Mandel Group's

The public hearing will be held at 6:30 p.m. on July 30 before the Village Board and the Community Development Authority. After the public hearing, a joint review board made up of Plan Commissioners and Architectural Review Commissioners will discuss the details of creating a tax incremental finance district at a meeting at 5 p.m. on Aug 6.

The Mandel Group gave a brief presentation in front of the village's Plan Commission Tuesday night regarding their request to rezone the parking lots on the north end of Silver Spring Drive as a planned development district. The commission referred the rezoning petition to the CDA.

The plans, , calls for a $27 million three-building development containing 103 high-end apartments in the north municipal lot spanning from Santa Monica Boulevard to Diversey Boulevard.

The two buildings on the east end would feature underground parking for residents, ground level parking for business customers and three levels of apartments above the sheltered parking area. The four-story building on the west end would offer underground parking for residents but no ground level parking.

Stakeholders on Silver Spring Drive will weigh in on project

The Board of Directors of the Whitefish Bay Business Improvement District also met last week to develop an opinion about the proposed apartment development.

John Stuhlmacher, the Chairman of the BID, said he would have liked stakeholders on Silver Spring Drive to have been consulted by village officials when the project was first talked about. Now that the project is moving through the pipeline, he said the business community should have a seat at the table.

"This is something that directly affects us, and I think we have an obligation to comment," he said.

The group decided to draft a letter to village officials explaining that they are in favor of development, including the Mandel project, but would like to be more involved in the process.

Several board members also said they would like The Mandel Group to consider a restaurant or a retail store on the western end of the project along Santa Monica Boulevard.

Under the proposal, the parking lot nearest Santa Monica Boulevard would be replaced with an apartment building. If those parking spots are lost, members of the BID said they would rather have them replaced with store or a restaurant. 

Board members agreed that the project, if done right, could be a catalyst for commercial development on Silver Spring Drive.